Sports

Sports

Whatever happened to the sweet flowing rugby?
By Vimal Perera
After five weeks of Rugby Football, what have we got to talk of? It has been plain sailing for Kandy Sports club and CR & FC who have virtually bulldozed their way over the opponents.

In Welisara, on the 15th May, Navy beat the Havelocks in a close game. Scores 10/8 in favour of the Navy tells nothing of the match as both sides seemed guilty as though they were playing a game that seemed somewhat alien. The following week saw Havelocks redeeming a little of the lost prestige by holding the Army to a Draw at Galle face on the 21st. But, still they could not muster their first win of the season. At Welisara the CH and FC struggled against Navy before beating them by 19 points to 9. CR and FC on Sunday the 22nd had a field day against a helpless Old Zahirians beating them by 87 points to nothing. Over the weeks the rugby played seemed, pathetic to say the least. CR and or Kandy have yet to be tested. It looks as though, till these teams meet, there will be very little resistance the others could offer as things are played as at present. May be the break will give some of the clubs time to do more homework and come somewhat smarter.

A case in point are two of yesteryear champion teams Havelock's and Police playing at a level far below one may expect. In the case of Havelock's there are the die hard supporters who move from field to field lustily cheering the side even though bad times are seen? The talent available is acceptable or better as they boast of a number of skillful players who have done well at the school level while some are playing for the national team. They have a coach who has vast years of experience and have trained teams to success. The players, keen club officials and committed supporters, a recipe for success is with them. Then the question is what is going wrong. The impression seems that they lack a winning will. They seem to carry out the motions without direction. The problem, maybe, needs a different approach if they are to wake up and stand without falling every time they try. In today's competitive sport psychology is being actively advocated. This is a subject that is relevant to all competitive games and or events. Not only to Havelock's but to all others drowning at the bottom.

We must remember that success is not achieved accidentally. It is a systematic, deliberate process of getting players to decide what they want, in life, playing rugby. When you know, what this is, steps are necessary to get them there .

Why are people playing rugby? What motivates players? Is it money at all times and with all? If you want to get the most out of your players you have to be sure that you can give them want they want out of the game. One problem that the loosing athlete faces is the psychological barrier of failure or the cant phobia.

Most of us put up psychological barriers that interfere with performance and enjoyment of our sport or event, whether we like the idea or not. The four-minute mile was the classic example of a psychological barrier. The common perception was that running a mile in less than four minutes was physically impossible. Almost everyone believed it till Roger Bannister broke the barrier.

Time is spent honing skills and developing physical readiness, in all kinds of sports. Complete many laps of running, passing and tackling. But, unless you are mentally there, the winning performance will miss you. Training the psyche can actually make a better player of the material you have. The will to win needs more than physical practice as teams start failing. The imaging of success is not easy but is a must. Creating, or recreating, an all-sensory experience can have profound effects on physical performance and psychological functioning. Imagery can be applied in many different ways to performers, and is one of the most regularly used tools of the sport psychologist.

Getting into the correct mind-set prior to competition is one of the most crucial aspects of top performance. A study of Olympic athletes showed that the combination of mental and physical readiness was a key factor that distinguished more successful athletes from their less successful counterparts in the Olympic Games.

Austarlia has enjoyed great success as a result of crosstraining. It has applied different and a forward thinking process in its sports training and is is now the world's leading sporting nation. The Australian rugby union team used crosstraining to great effect. Their players learned how to fall in the correct body position from Judo coaches, how to jump better from volleyball and how to kick better from Aussie Rules. These and other skills, when added to their rugby talents, created a coherent rugby-specific approach. The Australian cricket team used crosstraining by employing baseball coaches to help develop their throwing accuracy and velocity. Now most major test sides can be seen using baseball gloves to help with match preparation.

When you are scrapping the bottom of the barrel it is necessary to think outside the box and look for new trainning methods and the guidance of therapists than to remain perceiving that the die hard supporters and ex players are all that is there to help us. Maybe that's where some of the development money can go to.

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