Indian hockey team to travel to Switzerland for a 3-day camp ahead of Paris Olympics 2024
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team is all set to travel to renowned adventurer Mike Horn’s base in Switzerland. It will be for a laborious three-day training camp to enhance their mental toughness.
The training camp has been arranged by renowned South African mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, who will assist the Indian hockey team at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Notably, Upton played an important role in helping the Indian cricket team win the 2011 ODI World Cup on home soil. Furthermore, he also arranged a similar camp for the South African cricket team way back in 2012.
“We will be taking the Indian hockey team to Switzerland to the Swiss Alps to go to Mike Horn’s training camps. It is something we did with the South African cricket team back in 2012, we climbed down mountains, jumped off waterfalls, went down canyons, walked in mountains,” Upton said on his Instagram handle.
Upon reaching the base, the Indian team will have a few sessions with Mike Horn about handling real pressure. Upton stated the experience will take the players out of their comfort zone.
“It was actually amazing experience to take players out of their comfort zone. Went a lot of time listening to Mike Horn who is probably the greatest adventurer ever to have lived and alive today,” he stated.
“He tells incredible stories which just puts into perspective what real pressure is about. He faces pressure of death and the players get to see the pressure we experience, for example, the hockey team is gonna experience is not real pressure,” Upton added.
Indian hockey team to train in the Netherlands before heading for Paris Olympics
Paddy Upton further stated that after training in Switzerland, the Indian hockey team will head to the Netherlands for a short training camp before taking the flight for the Paris Olympics 2024.
It’s worth noting that Mike Horn, arguably the greatest adventurer and motivational speaker, uses his real-life experiences to motivate sportsmen and others involved in challenging works such as deep-sea drilling.
Notably, he also conducted motivational sessions for the Indian cricket team after Gary Kirsten requested him in 2010-11. Additionally, he was also roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in 2014 when the IPL team won the title under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir.