Remove the psychological blinkers

HE DWELLS in the mind's shadows and extends sporting horizons. ``The mind can be trained'' is his mantra. Sandy Gordon loves to crack the battle between a cricketer's ears. And the toughest minds in the business - Aussies - figure in his consultation pad. He has the credentials. Professor of Sports psychology at the University of Western Australia in Perth with five degrees.

Cricket's soundtrack might be `thwack, thwack' but its the grey cells which blur the line between triumph and loss. For Sandy Gordon, its a case of putting mind over matter. ``What you think is what you feel,'' he said when TheHindu caught up with him during the recent All India Coaches seminar at Bangalore.

Cricket pundits love to put Steve Waugh's mind under a crystal- ball. For Sandy Gordon, its a routine nugget in his resume. ``He is a very quiet man. And all this talk about his psychological warfare with India is just media hype. He is keen to maintain this winning form. He is one of the mentally tough athletes I have come across. And he is a shy guy who does a lot of charity without any noise,'' Sandy says.

He does know the mind's role in grasping success. He was a consultant with Steve Waugh's men when they won the World Cup at Lord's. ``Its a simple philosophy. You get the process right and the results follow. We often worry about results. Success lies in doing the right things at the right time. During the World Cup campaign, the players were task-aware and we anchored our positives and there was never any panic,'' he said while discussing Australia's apex in one-dayers.

The key to success hinges on choices. And Sandy explains his paradigm - ``The choices you make can be controlled. The issue is about what to concentrate on and when to concentrate on. I make the players aware of these. For instance with a batsman, the most crucial is the pre- delivery-routine and he needs to be decisive with his choice of strokes. And he got to anchor the positives. In an over he might have missed a ball but he should think about the other deliveries which he played well.''

Does cricket go beyond its visuals of a red cherry doing a ballet on a green turf ? ``Yes, its a mental game. Its not a contact sport and the switch-on, switch-off phases are more in cricket. When the ball is in play, there is a lot of activity. And research suggests that the ball is in motion for just 4.5 per cent of the time. Sometimes a fielder spends a whole day without touching the ball. Or a batsman has a long wait for his turn to bat. All these times, they think and it can affect the way they play,'' he says.

History and culture etch firm footprints in a Nation's psyche. Can Sandy deal with different dogmas like for instance - karma - in the Indian context. ``What I teach is universal. I agree that history or rather exposure conditions the way you think. For instance I am from Scotland and in our past, we braved invasions from England. Naturally Scottish people are tough fighters. But ultimately its the thinking process that matters and it can be conditioned with a `positive mental momentum','' he says. Closer home, Its time for Indian cricket to remove its psychological blinkers and a sports psychologist like Sandy Gordon can burnish our potential with positive scorecards.

He is not a feel-good analyst who instantly peps up a distraught soul. ``I am not a magician. I don't have all the answers. Sometimes I am as puzzled as a player is about his lack of form. I am an academic and all that I say is backed by research. I just help the players think for themselves,'' he says while discussing the mind's labyrinth. And the shrink's stereotype of pale curtains, note pads and a couch does not adhere to Sandy Gordon's world. He loves being happy, enjoys his Thai cooking sessions and during tours pines for his wife and three dogs Down Under.

K. C. VIJAYA KUMAR

Bangalore

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