Always Watching: Harmanpreet Singh and the mind games behind his drag-flicks

Because when Harmanpreet stands over a penalty corner, it’s never just about power. It’s psychological warfare. He wants to know how goalkeepers think — so he can think one move ahead. “I try to have good conversations with them so I know how to play with opponents’ minds,” he says with a chuckle.

He’s spent a decade doing this in senior hockey, but Harmanpreet still calls himself a ‘learner’. And the HIL, this season at least, is a bit of an ‘experiment’.

The ace drag-flicker talks about developing four different variations — although he won’t describe them (“I’ll reveal at the right time”) — focussing on short sprints to improve mobility, which then helps him being useful with his long and diagonal balls, and improving body balance by strengthening the lower back, shoulders and arms — the three key parts for a powerful flick.

That Harmanpreet is talking about the finer aspects of his skill will come as a relief because for a major part of the last year-and-a-half, he’d been nursing an injury of one kind or another. At the Asian Champions Trophy in 2024, it was hamstring and lower back; an ankle injury during the Hockey India League last season; a wrist injury in the home swing of the FIH Pro League and then, a damaged finger tissue in the European leg of the competition.

“Touchwood,” interjects Harmanpreet, “Body-wise, fitness-wise, I am good. Flicking-wise, I am feeling very good.”

A fully fit Harmanpreet is a massive boost for Craig Fulton’s side, because India tend to hum when their captain is pulling the strings. A quick look at the past two major tournaments tells the story. At the 2023 World Cup, Harmanpreet went through one of the most difficult phases of his career — his drag-flicks refused to find the net despite repeated attempts — and India bowed out in the quarterfinals after a shock defeat to New Zealand. Fast forward to Paris a year later, and Harmanpreet was unstoppable, scoring 10 of India’s 15 goals at the Olympics as the team finished on the podium.

The 2023 World Cup triggers such a strong sense of trauma that Harmanpreet doesn’t want to talk about it. But navigating that barren spell marked the biggest change he has noticed in himself during his decade-long stint with the national team. “Maturity,” he says.

“There were a lot of expectations in 2023, and I was struggling to score in the first few crucial matches,” he adds. “The positivity from my teammates and the coaching staff helped me get through that phase. It was a tough period, but I never really felt the pressure because of the support around me. Coming back from that to score 10 goals at the Olympics reinforced my belief that there will always be highs and lows, and not everything comes together at the same time.”

In a packed year, starting with the ongoing HIL followed by the Pro League and then the World Cup and Asian Games, Harmanpreet says ‘taking care of our health’ will be the top-most priority. Managing workload is something even coach Craig Fulton had told The Indian Express in a recent interview, hinting at the prospect of fielding two different teams for the Pro League next month so that the players get enough rest.

“Let’s hope everything goes well and I stay fit and healthy because it is an important year. There are a lot of responsibilities and a lot of dreams, which we have to achieve as a team,” he says.

He has mapped his opponents’ minds — now it’s about staying one step ahead.