Behind the goals,a specialist

Former international Jugraj Singh helped Sandeep Singh rediscover his touch

Drag-flick coach Jugraj Singhs preferred position when India is playing a match is near or right behind the goalpost. His sharp eyes observe every movement of the opposition goalkeeper and his keen mind analyses strengths,while a mental note is made of any technical weakness.

Jugraj,once one of the feared practitioners of the art of drag-flicking the hockey ball with great momentum,uses his collective information to second guess which way the goalkeeper will move when one of Indias drag-flickers execute the final stroke of a penalty corner. The drag-flick experts Sandeep Singh,Rupinder Singh and VR Raghunath often are armed with the advantage of knowing which side the opposition goal-keeper will move as Jugraj conveys his readings via eye contact. Jugraj isnt the first coach to place himself behind the opposition goal and these methods have been tried and tested by other coaches too. But a troika of drag-flickers have been transformed under his tutelage into a potent unit,and not many teams can boast of such improvement or consistency.

Of the 44 goals scored by India in the Olympic qualifiers,20 came off penalty corners. This percentage is equally impressive 17 of 29 if Indias 15-1 win over Singapore is excluded,a game in which India players had a field day. The increased success percentage was brought about by helping the drag-flickers realise their potential,fall back on their strengths and remain focused even when the success rate fell.

At this level one cannot teach a player something completely new. What you can do is to make sure they know what they have to do. Confidence is the key when it comes to converting penalty corners, Jugraj said.

Rediscovering touch

Sandeep Singh progressively rediscovered his touch. Sandeeps biggest strength is his reach and height. He is tall and so is able to drag the ball further than most others. However,he tends to lose focus when he misses a couple of shots. He starts to think too much. Getting him to forget about the previous stroke and concentrate on the next one was key, Jugraj said.

Stock weapon

In the case of Raghunath it was a question of getting him to rediscover his strengths. Raghu has great power. His style is unique and his biggest strength is his jerk-the way he breaks for a split second before taking a shot. That disorientates the goalkeeper and PC defenders. But in between,he forgot what his strength was and tried to go for a direct shot like everyone else. Its good to learn new things but one should never forget his stock weapon, Jugraj added.

Sandeep acknowledges Jugrajs contribution. Jugraj puts in a lot of effort and spends hours on the field. He works as hard as any of us to ensure we are fully prepared when we step out on the field, Sandeep,the highest goalscorer of the qualifiers,said.

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The players are ready to go the extra mile for Jugraj because they know that if it wasnt for the career-ending road accident in 2003 he would have perhaps been one of the top goal-scorers in the world and could have still being playing.

He was one of the best. Even now,he is one of the keenest readers of the game, Rupinder opined.

Sandeep believes he has been transformed as a player thanks to Jugrajs influence.

Jugrajs inputs have helped me improve my accuracy and find better angles for my shots. He has been an attacking player and thats what we are trying to do,you can call me an attacking defender now, Sandeep added.