Deception life blood of Indian hockey, says Jude Felix

BANGALORE: Jude Felix is both tutor and pupil. The former India captain, now a coach with the Indian hockey team, says he is as much a student of a game that has dramatically changed since his playing days as he is a master.
Apparently, in its unabashed worship of everything European, India has forgotten a few of its own skills that Felix can help restore.
"For example, how many players use the wrong-foot technique to confuse the defenders?" asks Felix."We have been playing predictable and straightforward hockey for over a decade now, trying to do things that the Europeans do. In the process, we have forgotten deception, which has defined our game all along."
Felix, who spelt out his ideas during a two-hour interview with high performance director Roelant Oltmans and chief coach Terry Walsh before he was appointed as coach last month, is of the firm view that India has to play to its strengths. Walsh too shares the view.
"I have told the boys to be professional and responsible and more importantly, hockey intelligent. It is not okay if you do everything right during practice and do not reproduce it during a game. What you learn in a classroom atmosphere has to be repeated under pressure situations. This is what hockey intelligence is all about," says Felix.
In the few days that he spent with the team, Felix showed the players the merits of the wrong-foot overhead pass and the reverse overhead pass to split the defence and catch the opponents off guard.
"Also, I demonstrated to them the concept of camouflaging a pass - that is, how to outsmart the rivals by redirecting a pass at the last moment. I told them there were five different ways of receiving a pass. In a game, it is not a simple situation of hit and trap. You don't always stand and receive the ball in a match. You are forever on the move. I showed them the different ways of doing it without losing the ball."
A self-taught player who was known to thread a long-distance pass with precision as the central midfielder, Felix learnt the nuances by observing others before adding their skills to his repertoire.