Reid wants to rope in psychologist to work with mentally fragile Indian players

A "stable mind" is the need of the hour in modern hockey, says new chief coach Graham Reid, hinting that a full-time psychologist may soon join the Indian team in its quest for Olympic qualification.

Very well aware of India's perennial habit of succumbing under pressure in crunch situations, Reid wants to rope in a psychologist to work on the mental side of the players.

"In modern day sport, every player needs to be mentally stable and tough to deal with different sort of pressures," he said.

"I am still trying to work out how best to do that because the last thing you want to do is bring someone (psychologist) in who doesn't really get on with the team. Over the next month or so we will work on the best way forward on the mental side," Reid told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the ongoing FIH Series Finals here.

"To me it's a really important part but I also understand we have cultural differences. So those things have to be balanced."
"When I was coming through I always played against India and Pakistan. They were always the teams that we heard about. There is an Anglo-Indian connection between India and Australia. The Anglo-Indians formed a big part of Perth hockey. There is a deep history there and may be that's where my passion comes from."
"When I was in Australia they had their training environment in Perth and I think it's a competitive advantage. We have to try and work out how to utilise it best."