CHENNAI: Conversation with Virat Kohli, using new gadget similar to what Shubman Gill uses to monitor fitness and the joy of climbing the ranking ladder at the age of 31. These are some of the highlight during a virtual interaction with double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu on Wednesday. Understanding the body and remaining injury free are her main targets as LA 2028 approaches. She is still the highest ranked badminton player in the country shows her longevity.
Sindhu spoke about key parameters she would like to keep track of recovery through use of a device that monitors sleep, heart rate variability (HRV) that would eventually help in better cognitive performance. She uses Temple and is similar to what Gill uses. But she clarified that he would have his own way of using it. "I'm sure he has his own things to look at because in their sport, definitely, recovery is a key point for everyone to take care of. When you see the data, you also understand how your body is, how the recovery is or how the sleep is. It depends on every individual," she said.
She later spoke about how speaking with Kohli help her to be mentally more relaxed. "I have spoken with Virat and he's been an amazing person. We've had conversations and he has really given me a lot of inspiration. When I was really low at times, he told me how to pump myself up, what I need to do and just go out there and enjoy," she said adding interacting with fellow athletes help.
"It does inspire a lot of athletes, because what they're doing in their sport for themselves is inspiring to see, the way they're working hard, maybe in a different way because every sport is different, every individual is different," she said. "Seeing and talking to them definitely helps in knowing their perspective of how they take their success or how they feel or what they think when they're at their lows and at the same time how their mentality is and what are the positives that they have. And I think all these things definitely help."
She also recalled conversations with two-time Olympic medal winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. "I've had a lot of conversations with him and the way he thinks, when he won gold, what was going on in his head; knowing that definitely help each other because it's always nice to connect with different athletes from different sports and getting a lot of insight, inputs and motivation," she said.
Sindhu, who has had an eventful year after missing out on the All-England Championships due to the West Asia conflict. She won two BWF Tour titles -- Hylo Open last Sunday and Japan Open in July -- has climbed to World No six in world rankings. On top of that she finished runner-up at the French Open last month. However, her Asian Games campaign was not as she wished. “I'm happy that I have climbed to the top six now. I just feel that if you keep doing well, you automatically start winning and your ranking also comes up. If you perform well and win tournaments, you don't have to think only about the ranking. It will automatically improve," Sindhu said.
But the BWF World Tour finals in December will be crucial for the ace shuttler. A good performance there will set the tone for what could be a crucial year, with the points system set to change from 21 to 15. "Badminton as a sport has been changing all the time. Staying patient on court is important, and from next year, it's going to be 15 points (per game), so things will be different. We have to adapt accordingly,” she added.
Physically, Sindhu has undergone a transformation under her new team that includes new coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama, Wayne Lombard (head strength and conditioning), Heera Mundluru, a strength and conditioning coach and Shreyasi Sanjay, her physiotherapist. The team has been helping Sindhu take decisions in which tournaments to participate to manage her workload.
Smart decision making is what she believed was key. “We make sure we smartly make decisions on what tournaments to be played, how is the body condition, am I feeling good or am I feeling my 100%? Every single day we analyze it accordingly and make sure we are doing 100%. If we are not 100%, at times you make sure you change the schedule or accordingly work how my body conditions are. So that way it's been really working out,” she said. She has decided to skip tournaments like the ongoing Korea Open in order to be 100 per cent ahead of the finals in China. The Olympic qualification cycle also begins next year.
"I think after playing a long tour, I thought that I would not be playing the Korea Open and the following tournaments because it was important for me also to get back and relax," the former world champion said.
"It was important to take care of my body, then again get fit for the next tournaments. I'm not young anymore, but you know, 31 is the new 21. So I need to take care of my body, isn't it? "Hopefully, I'll be there at the World Tour Finals and I'll be focusing on that,” she said.