Senior players like Dilip Tirkey have experienced the Sidhu prescription before

Calcutta: There seems to be always something new for the national hockey squad. There was this Arizona physical training camp for the Olympic probables, and now, for the Champions Trophy probables at a camp in Chandigarh, an aroma therapy programme is brewing.

From what psychologist Dr J.P.S. Sidhu, joint director sports of the Chandigarh administration, has planned, the players will not only go through concentration and meditation exercises, they will also be treated to aroma like jasmine oil that sells at Rs 200 for 5gm. ?Of course, just a few drops of this is required for a treatment,? said the doctor to The Telegraph over phone from Chandigarh.

?For example, if a player isn?t getting proper sleep, I would recommend a bath with rose oil essence. Think of quick recovery during rolling substitutions, to cut off the tension? The player can use a towel soaked in lavender water or jasmine oil and he is back in shape in a couple of minutes.?

He said the current coaches aren?t too well versed in this method of treatment, ?but with former national coach Cedric D?Souza I did try this out and the results showed.? Sidhu said Cedric had initiated this programme around 1998, unfortunately only after the Atlanta Olympic Games debacle.

This treatment is accompanied by several other programmes that will ?help players to try and reach beyond their capabilities on-field, to cross that invisible mental barrier.?

He said that players go through different types of pressures. ?They vary from tournament to tournament and also player to player. You may be physically fit, but your concentration levels may be wavering. It is the mental makeup we are talking about.?

One good reason the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has initiated this move is to keep the players? temper tantrums in control. The Indian team has become notorious in the way they challenge almost every action of the umpire and then earn yellow cards and move out of the field. The overall effect on the team is that this particular player is not available for crucial periods in the match.

?The early effects of such programmes had yielded results, and they have again asked me to do this,? said Sidhu. ?It is a crash course in meditation and concentration exercises. It is related to yoga, but not purely yoga. Unlike yoga there aren?t any set asanas. These exercises will be field work related ? how to take penalty corners, how to keep cool, how to instantly throw tension and anxiety out of your head??

He has had little interaction with the current crop (the camp started only Thursday) and though the players have arrived, they are yet to settle down. ?At this point I am evaluating them? how they move on the field, how they move into their rooms and such. I will then prescribe exercises for each.

Some experienced ones, like Dilip Tirkey, Devesh Chauhan, Vikram Pillay and Arjun Halappa have experienced the Sidhu prescription before. ?Though the one-month camp is barely enough time to get this programme moving (he needs around six months to be effective), I believe my effort will bear fruit.?

?It is about the periodisation (a micro and macro-cycle programme of the training), and about emotional resilience (on-field self control), coupled with video sessions,? he said.

On this Sidhu has had interactions with Dr Peter Usher, ?an authority on this mental training programme in Canada (British Columbia) as also with Dr Michael Gagne (Malaysia).? The programmes, says Sidhu, has been a concerted effort of such interaction.

The other interesting thing about the camp is that Sharanjit Singh of Lucknow is trainer, and joining him later will be Sampat Singh of the Services, who was sacked just before the Athens Olympic Games.

Chief coach Gerhard Rach is expected to join the team on November 6.

All players of the Pakistan Test series have reached, except skipper Tirkey, who will join shortly. Six more players will also be added to this.