CHENNAI: Athletes these days are on a forced break, not sure when they would eventually get to train and compete. More than physical, the time away from action can drain them mentally. Rahi Sarnobat, who had earned an Olympic quota for the country in the 25m pistol shooting event, seems unfazed thanks to a one-year layoff she faced due to a freak injury. That experience ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics is keeping her in good stead in these difficult times.
“The situation these days is a little better for me. Back then, I was the one sitting at home and undergoing rehabilitation. Everybody else was shooting and moving around. Now, everybody is at home. I am not feeling left out,” the 29-year-old told this daily from her home in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. “It’s more challenging when you are forced to stay away from the sport while others are not only competing but also winning medals.
It makes you unsure whether you will be able to make a comeback or not. The injury happened all of a sudden, forcing me to stop everything immediately. But we got to know about the existing situation in advance, as the disease started in China and spread to other countries before infecting people in India. That gave us time to prepare mentally and physically,” she added. Given the situation, Sarnobat, the first Indian female shooter to win a gold medal in the Asian Games (in 2018), is focusing more on mental training. “Being a shooter, I cannot train at home. So I am focusing more on mental training.
When we do live training and go to a shooting range, we don’t have to work on the mental aspect. When we don’t do that, it is better to do a lot of imaginations, mental training and all those things which help us in getting a feel of it. It’s like fooling our brain,” the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist said.How does it help a shooter? “When we work with our psychologist and mental trainer, they try to create situations which we will face in competitions. I try to imagine the issues which might come up while competing.
I also try to remember the good times (medal winning efforts) and the sequence and routine, which I followed back then. It’s about remembering, as muscles have memory and they tend to forget if we don’t practise. It will help when I get back to training. My body might feel different but my mind will stay connected.” Indian shooters have won a record 15 Olympic quotas for the Tokyo Games and Sarnobat credited the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for the success.
“The association brought in brilliant concepts helping us to prepare better. There were innovative ways for physical and mental assessment of the shooters. This delay, in a way, is a blessing in disguise for Indian shooters as they now have more time to use all these facilities to prepare better.” Sarnobat, however, strongly believes that the association should declare the Olympic team soon as it will give the shooters time to prepare for the big event.