Soft skills in hockey: Grossly undervalued

Value of soft skills

Soft skills add an element of surprise and grace which have no match, as they make the game more attractive and elegant. This is what differentiates the great from the good. The three photo sequence examples above clearly demonstrate how good foot work, stick work, dexterity and recognizing the instantly changing game patterns – game sense – could have served the Aussies better in the final outcome. In the long run, these skills could serve to improve the standard of the game.

Charlie and his angels with the soft magic touch

If there was any team in the world which optimized the implementation of soft and hard skills since the mid 80s, after India and Pakistan’s domination had evaporated, it was Australia’s men’s and women’s teams from the 90s. That that was their peak era; the era of “Charlie and his Angels”. The records speak for themselves.

The Aussies had many skilful players on the team who could turn on a dime and make the opponents look really bad, forcing them to bite the dust. Some of the names that come to mind are Rachelle Hawkes, Alyson Annan, Nikki Hudson and Jenny Morris. Now the Aussies have drifted away from their very core strengths, which had made them untouchable and consistently victorious, and this has allowed their traditional rivals to catch up.

A ray of hope

I see a wave of change coming in the Australian women’s national team, where the combination of hard and soft skills is being implemented nicely. Their recent results are proof of that. This is encouraging. Credit for that goes to Coach Adam Commens’ vision and coaching philosophy. The Hockeyroos are not there yet, but they are not too far either; hopefully the next generation of juniors will get there and start dominating the game with the right blend of soft and hard skills, as they did in the 90’s.

After the final of the 2013 Investec World League semifinals, Kate Richardson-Walsh, captain of the England national team, said, “It’s never nice to lose a match, especially in a final, but hats off to Australia; I thought they played a fantastic tournament. Around the circle they looked like Aussie teams of old.” A well-deserved compliment for Coach Adam and his Hockeyroos, indeed!

Example 4: Clean elimination in a 1-on-1 contest - During the WHL Finals semi-final match between England and New Zealand, the England player had the ball in an offensive 1-on-1 contest, with ample space to outwit the Kiwi defender and take a solid try on the goal. Instead, there was a bit of a physical contest. Study the following photo sequence, which says it all.

When I look at the open space and the sequence of photographs, it reminds me of a sports car coming at full speed on a wide open freeway and hitting into a post and crashing. This isn’t hockey as it is supposed to be.

In my opinion, this is the defining moment; the world-class England player has made a right move in the wrong place. In other words, he is thinking like a right inner in the position of a left inner. This resulted in him not cleanly eliminating the Kiwi defender, but rather getting physical to pin him down. Observe the ample space “mini gold mine” he has on all sides of the Kiwi defender.

Greatness cannot be achieved by doing big things. If you really want to be great, do small thing in a great way. – Rishika Jain.

Remember: little things make big things happen.

Conclusion

It is vital to have both hard skills and soft skills in a player’s repertoire. There is a time and place to implement each, during the run of play, to play the game at its highest level. But yes, there are specific training methods to develop these soft skills, to play the role in a given position and be successful during the various tight pressurised game situations which crop up from time to time.

In this article, an attempt has been made to bring awareness – need analysis and identification of the knowledge gap – for our current coaches and players. Of course, there is more than one way to play the game and execute the game plan. I have tried to present my view from a different perspective.

We must remind ourselves to be aware of the time-tested tactics and patterns of play which have added and will add more grace and beauty to our game, as has been done in the beautiful game of football. The introduction or revival of soft skills will result in developing more imaginative, creative and deceptive players/teams. Exactly the way Spain and Germany have done in football, while imitating Brazil to a certain degree.

Now is the time for our current developmental coaches to make a sincere effort to introduce soft skills to the players, who are hopping through the various stages of their development. This will certainly go a long way in taking our game to the next level and attract more spectators.

Cause and effect: We are frequently changing rules, experimenting with 5-a-side and 9-a-side games. There’s nothing wrong with that; winners are innovators. The questions we need to ask ourselves are:

1. Have we done the diagnosis correctly?

2. Are we treating the symptoms or the causes?

Treat the causes and the symptoms will disappear. Spectators come to see art, grace and surprise in a game. And these are sadly missing, as the game is becoming more and more power-based, predictable and mechanical. More light will be thrown on these segments of the game in the coming articles.

Constructive conflict: It is never easy to speak against the hierarchy. I am writing this series of articles to confront some of the current trends, and more importantly, to suggest ways to improve upon them. This is “constructive conflict”; suggesting methods – strategic plans – to do things in a different way, which is probably a better way. And a way – or style – which can be defined as more artistic. Yes, we can agree to disagree with the processes, but still respect each other, because none of this is personal. It is all down to the love of the game and coaching, and the passion to see the game being played at its very best.

“There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys, how’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the hell is water?’

I am not the wise old fish. The point of this fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to seek and talk about.”

- Author, David Foster Wallace

Acknowledgement

The action photographs in this article are courtesy FIH. Thanks!

If you have any questions, please contact Shiv; Email: [email protected]