Zak,the hard task master

Basketballs new strengthening coach draws lessons from his US Air Force stint.

At the national basketball camp in Delhi,Zak Penwell,the newly appointed strength and conditioning coach, is haranguing the players over a drill he feels isnt being done perfectly. It may appear to be a simple stretching exercise but Penwell isnt having any of it. I dont need the players to love me. I dont want to be their Facebook friend. I simply need them to do what is required, he says. We need to work hard and give attention to detail, he asserts.

His beliefs may seem hard but Penwell,31,a former staff sergeant who spent six years in the US Air Force,including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan,believes it has served him well. To illustrate his point he gives an example.

In our basic training we were asked to fold our T Shirts to a square exactly 6 inches. 6 inches and a tenth and we had to do it again. If you cant fold a T shirt properly how can you be trusted with someones life. Its the same with basketball. If you miss a easy layup because you are not focusing,then you are costing your team-mates. Basketball may be easier than doing battle. You may not be dodging machine gunfire,but there are things that carry over, he says.

The Alaska born Penwell enlisted in the US Air Force in 2000,to do something for his country. A year later,after 9/11,he was posted in Kuwait followed by stints in Korea,Afghanistan and Mosul in Iraq. In Iraq and Afghanistan his job was to coordinate with the fighter pilots flying overhead as Army soldiers went on patrol. I have been shot at a couple of times,but nothing really scary. I havent been in a hour long firefight when guys around me are dropping. I have had friends die,but I have been lucky myself, he says.

Penwells millitary stint had its humorous moments as well. In Afghanistan he was posted in a remote outpost near the city of Khost. I dont know the exact area but we used to call it Nixons nose. Its very near the Pakistan border. We didnt have to do a lot of patrols but a lot of meetings with the local elders, he recalls. Penwell isnt really sure how the impact the stint made. The people were really friendly. They really look like they want to move on with their lives. We got a tractor to help them grow crops,but the only thing we saw there were cannabis plants, he says with a smile.

After retiring in 2006,he went back to school at age 27,studying kinesiology. The 65 athlete also played as a defensive linesman for the University of Connecticut football team. He then worked at Sportscotland the national agency for sport in Scotland before the India job came calling. Only a week into his stint,he hasnt had much time to work on players physically but has tried to make an impact on the mental aspect. The first thing I told them at the end of a intense training session,not to be huffing and gasping for air. You need to walk tall and proud. You may be dead tired but your posture must remain powerful. Otherwise whenever you take on someone slightly tougher than you then you will fall apart, he says.

In India now,Zak says his loyalties now lie entirely with the Indian team. He plans to learn Hindi to be able to better communicate with players but also wants them to be proud of themselves. I saw a couple of youngsters who had come for practice wearing NBA T-shirts. I got very angry. I told them you are playing for India,you should be wearing India T Shirts. You should be proud of your own country, he says.