Seeing And Taking Action In Development -Part 3

One of the questionnaires in a survey done by the USA Olympic Committee with the USA Olympic medalist from 1956, Melbourne Olympics to 1984, LA Olympics was, "who are the key people behind their success", the answers were:

1. Parent
2. Coach
3. Friend

Parents and coaches have to work hand to hand in a child's progress from fundamental stage to all stages, an enjoyable learning curve.

There are seven stages in the development of a child in sports: as illustrated below:

• Stage 1: Active Start ( 0-6years old)
• Stage 2: Fundamental (girls: 6-8, boys 6-9)
• Stage 3: Learn To Train (girls 8-11, boys 9-12)
• Stage 4:Train To Train (girls 11-15, boys 12-16)
• Stage 5:Train To Compete(girls 15-21, boys 16-23)
• Stage 6:Train To Win (girls 18+, boys 19+)
• Stage 7:Active For Life

In what are the qualities, these Olympians saw in their coach:

1.Former international
2.Ability to teach
3.Motivational skills

Coaches must have the ability to imbue their players with their knowledge on the game, and that will only happen when there is a two way relationship between them.

How successful is your development program from Stage 1 to 4, can be gauge at the Stage 5 level.

At Stage 5;after the age of 21,if the dropout rate among the youth players are very high, and the quality of players are not as desired, then the development program must be revamped from Stage 1.

Vice Versa,when you have embodied excellence from Stage 1 to 4,players with such qualities as below will blossom from the development program, and will end up playing hockey for life.

Self-discipline-The word discipline is derived from a relationship between a disciple and a master, and the etymological meaning is to learn. We will see players with self- discipline, that is want to learn.
Learning doesn't happen by compelling, or by instilling fear or suppression on players

Self-training-Short camps, and during off camps players doing self-training to master the skills the coach had thought them. Creativity cannot be given by a coach, it's the players that must work hard for the creativity to flower out.

Self-knowledge- You seek answers, to uplift your game.
You will question yourself " Where is my game heading?";Understand your own strength and weakness, and seek ways to improve your game, that will elevate your team to greater heights.


Thank You.

Seeing and Taking Action In Development Part 2

The two areas we see from past results that need more attention are physiology and psychology.

Let's move on to what are the components in Developing players and my thoughts are in blue,

1.Anthropometric
The measurement of the size and proportions of the human body.

From the talent detection stage, we must look for youths who are not involved in hockey but have the anthropometric to be a world-class hockey player as speed is the prerequisite to be one. Look for youths from the outskirt of Pahang(Felda Settlement), Perak(Trolak) and Sabah, as the environment they are in as played a role in developing their neuromuscular, cardiovascular and energy system, the much needed multilateral development before we move to specialize a sport.

2.Physiology
The measurement of aerobic and anaerobic system i.e speed with and without the ball, Beep Test, ISRT(Interval Shuttle Run Test)
Researches done in hockey had shown that the ability to change direction while maintaining balance without loss of speed is a key physical component necessary for world-class hockey player i.e agility.

Malaysian players' main strength in physiology is speed and agility, we must not lose this key physical component. Endurance is another area we need to improve.
All Sport and Project schools must have a full-time Physical Trainer to monitor and measure the players' progress.

3.Technical
The measurement of dribbling skills with speed and other basics skills i.e hitting, pushing, slap hit, etc
Dutch coaches consider these technical skills are one of the most important factor's affecting the performance of top level hockey players. Other technical skills that are key in the field are being able to dribble without losing speed and good vision.
Coaches must be equipped with portable video camera i.e handphone or tab to video players technique in training and on the field, itself show the video and correct the players' technique. With excellent technical skills, players will learn other specialized skills i.e drag flick, injector, and trapper with ease.
Basic stance in dribbling that the Dutch coaches emphasized, "Vision Dribble" must be imbued to all our young players.

4.Tactical
The measurement of tactical or game intelligent i.e positioning & deciding, knowing ball actions, acting in changing situation and knowing about others.
A player will get a proper understanding of the game when he is good at reading the game, right action at the right moment and the outcome is successful.
Coaches must create many mini-games that will stimulate the player's brain and show videos of high-quality international matches.

5.Psychology
The measurement of motivation, confidence, anxiety control, mental preparation, team emphasis and concentration.
Excellent psychological skills play a decisive role in an important match.
All sports school and project schools must have a fulltime sport psychologist to guide the players.

Below every component, I have put the sentence "The measurement" is for coaches to measure the players progress and with the results to guide the coach and player.

Another area of concern to me is " SAFETY", "Excellent" in your development program start with attire and please make it compulsory for all youth hockey players in Sports Schools, Project Schools and in 1 MAS Development program to wear mouth guard.

Now we will move to the key people behind a successful athlete in the final part.

Seeing And Taking Action In Development Part 1

Will be disseminating information on the Development of players in three parts as this is a vast area to cover.

Looking back at the past results, especially in the Olympics and World Cup Qualifiers, we have consistently lost concentration in the last ten minute of the game e.g

• 2010 World Cup Qualifier in Invercargill (New Zealand 2 Malaysia 1), Malaysia was leading from Amin Rahim's goal until Hayward scored in the 57' and 60' minute for N.Z to take the one spot available for 2010, World Cup.
• 2012 Olympic Qualifier in Ireland(South Korea 3 vs Malaysia 2)it was 2-2 till Jung Hyun scored the winner in the 67 minute that put Malaysia in a difficult position against Ireland)
• 2016 Olympic Qualifier in Antwerp, Belgium(Malaysia 2 India 3)India scored the winner in the last 3 minute)

From the above results, we can see that two areas of concern are physiology and psychology.

Whatever the weakness we see at the Senior level must be due to our Development program, where improvisation must be put in place.

Excellence must be embodied in the development stage in producing quality players.

There is a Malay proverb "Nak lenturkan Buluh, Biar Dari Rebung" in English is "If you want to bend the bamboo,do it when it's young.

During my tenure coaching the age group teams,I can see that coaches and parents are obsessed with winning without realizing the psychological damage they are doing to the child.

Excellence allows room for failure and learning, while obsession with winning does not.


Below is a video where Coach Stan Van Gaudy, former head coach of Miami Heat (NBA), shares the problems in developing quality basketball players at the youth development level in America.

We are also facing the same scenario here in Malaysia.

The issue of thinking players was brought up by some hockey officials during the Junior Asia Cup in Kuantan, Pahang.

The question to ask is, how did we train our youth hockey players from the development level, did we coach them on "what to think" or "how to think".

If it's what to think then we have created robotic players who won't be able to make decisions when they face situations new to them.


"To create thinking players, we need thinking coaches".


Before I pen off, I will share with you the key to my successful penalty corner conversion rate in 1991,Olympic Qualifier in Auckland, New Zealand.


Till today I can still vividly remember after our Saturday video session,our coach "Terry Walsh" will remind us to take a book from the coffee table, where there were many books written on how athletes and personalities achieved success in their respective fields.


Guess what, I took a book on how America going to regain the prestigious "America Cup" from New Zealand, written by "Dennis Conner".


"Dennis Conner" shared in his book that even the smallest details are important to regain the America's Cup.


"Dennis Conner" achieved his dream to regain the prestigious "America's Cup", and so did Malaysia; qualified in style for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

"Psychological aspect distinguishes between elite and sub-elite". 

Thanks for Reading and will continue on this topic in my next posting