As the Indian women’s hockey team puts the finishing touches to their preparations ahead of the World Cup, one individual has been making a difference off the field.Ben Wienk describes himself as a ‘Human Sports Innovator,’ and is helping the players understand themselves better and, in the process, discover their “unseen potential” — qualities that can ultimately help them perform better.“The goal is not for me to understand the player completely. I want her to understand herself better. What gives me energy? What matters to me? When do I feel confident? How do I learn best? What are my natural strengths? And what happens to me when the pressure increases?” Wienk, mental conditioning coach in the women’s hockey set-up, told TOI.And to do all this, he uses methods such as “profiling, personal conversations, observations and, above all, real-life situations”.It is not only about helping the players understand themselves better. Wienk’s work also gives head coach Sjoerd Marijne a better understanding of how to deal with each player.“Maybe if I shout at one player, she freezes and it doesn’t work. I may have to be more friendly with her. With another player, maybe I have to shout because that works for her,” Marijne said.Wienk further explained saying, “A coaching message can work immediately for one player while creating uncertainty in another. One player needs short, concrete information, while another first wants to understand the bigger picture.”Therein lies the importance of his role. In a team where players come from different backgrounds and with different personalities, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The idea is not to make everyone think or respond in the same way. It is to understand what makes each player tick and find the best way to bring out her strengths.It’s challenging, but that is precisely what attracted Wienk to the assignment in the first place.“This assignment brings so many different elements together: elite sport, different personalities and backgrounds, a fascinating culture, and at the same time the ambition to perform at the very highest international level,” said the Dutchman.And when he first started working with the team, he was impressed by what he saw.“The first thing that struck me was the enormous drive and willingness to work hard. There is a great deal of ambition within this group,” he said.That ambition has taken the team forward this year. India qualified for the World Cup, showed encouraging signs in Argentina and Australia and then went on to win the Nations Cup. But the World Cup is a different ball game, and that’s where Wienk’s work could be put to its biggest test.Wienk is not trying to remove pressure from the players. Instead, he wants them to understand what happens to them when the pressure increases. “The goal is not for a player to suddenly become someone else under pressure. The goal is for her to know herself well enough to stay close to her own strengths under pressure while continuing to trust her teammates,” he said.And the players, too, appear to be enjoying the process.“We worked on trusting and communicating with each other and building a connection within the team. I particularly enjoyed the blindfold exercise, where we had to guide each other. It showed us how important it is to trust our teammates and react quickly to their calls,” said Shilpi Dabas, one of the newcomers in the team.The real test, however, will come when India walk out for their World Cup opener against China on Sunday. Wienk has a simple message for them.“Be yourself. Trust yourself. Trust each other. And do it together.”The World Cup is only the first of two major challenges, with the Asian Games to follow soon after. For Wienk, the way to deal with that pressure is equally simple: “Keep the ambition big, but the daily task small.”For now, the task is the World Cup. And for India, the hope is that understanding themselves — and each other — a little better will help them make the most of what they already have.
