CHENNAI: It is going to be a long wait for Indian squash players before they step on to the court for competitive games. Even though many federations have slowly started chalking out resumption plans after the shutdown, the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) is in no hurry to restart.
With squash being a high-risk sport because it is played in an enclosed area where players are in close proximity, SRFI has ruled out the possibility of conducting competitions at least for a few months. The federation wants to make sure players take care of their mental well-being whilst staying at home. Senior players such as Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal have already voiced their concern saying there is a lack of motivation to train due to the prevailing situation.
In order to help the players — especially those at the junior level — SRFI conducted a webinar on sports psychology on Wednesday. It was the third of the six-part webinar being held this month. The session was presented by sports psychologist Sumiran Tandon.
The webinar was attended mostly by junior players, parents, coaches and referees. The objective was to discuss ways to deal with competitive anxiety, understanding various emotions before, during and after training and competition. Tandon also touched upon aspects of starting practice after lockdown and preparations needed before getting back on court while following new guidelines that will be in place.
"Mental training is an important aspect," said Cyrus Poncha, secretary-general of SRFI. "Currently, people are all feeling the effects of not playing squash for three months. Mentally, they are affected. Likewise, they need to know what needs to be done once we get back — to start slowly and take care of themselves. That's why we felt it was important to conduct a webinar on psychology."
Having received positive feedback from parents and players after the session, SRFI wants to conduct such seminars on a regular basis. It was not the first webinar that the national body conducted on psychology but Poncha admitted something on this was being held after a long time.
"It is a good step forward. The technology, which had been there, was neglected. I feel it is good and positive that we are doing such activities. We will certainly look at continuing with these," added Poncha.