Training camps are where teams build on their strengths, systems and tactics. How they match-up with rivals can be gauged by results. But coaches also like to compare their players in non-match situations with other teams—indicating where the players stand vis-a-vis other teams.
To make such an assessment, the Indian hockey team had a joint training session with the Netherlands during its recent tour of Europe when they played against reigning world champions Belgium and Spain.
In the joint session at Arnhem, Netherlands, players from both teams had GPS devices strapped to their bodies which helped the coaches collect data, like distance covered by each player, acceleration and deceleration, sprint intensity etc and compare it with data collected during the national camp at Bengaluru.
The idea behind a joint training session was to inspire both sets of players and trigger the competitive juices between them, making them exert a little extra.
The idea, worked out with the help of Dutch coach Max Caldas, also helped the team management tell the players the levels needed to become the top team in the world.
The support staff had the GPS numbers from team’s domestic training and compared those to the numbers recorded during the joint training session with the Dutch. They can now show the players what sort of level they need to achieve.
Reid had participated in such joint training sessions with other teams during his stint as assistant coach with the Dutch team and introduced it for the first time for the Indian outfit.
The European tour was ideal for such an exercise as the Papendal Sports Centre at Arnhem was just two hours by road from Antwerp, Belgium.
“Training with the Dutch team was very good. It was high intensity training and we got to see the energy they bring to their sessions. We got to see first hand how they train and overall, it was good experience,” forward SV Sunil said.
The Indian team had an excellent tour in which they remained unbeaten in five matches (two against Spain).