BENGALURU: In a week’s time, the Indian men’s hockey team will throw away their sports gear for some jackets, headlamps and hiking boots. As part of a team bonding exercise before the high-pressure environment of the Olympics, the contingent—the playing members and the support staff—will meet up with the side’s mental conditioning coach, Paddy Upton, in Switzerland for a three-day camp.

“There will be no hockey there,” Craig Fulton, coach of the national team, said during an interaction with this daily about their Olympics preparation.

“Everything that we need to focus on to be the best team we can be. Most have a good time doing it because it’s been tough, training really hard. Sometimes, we also need to see the wood for the trees (laughs). The mountains could be what we need. (There will be) no hockey there, we will pick it when we get back.”  

While there, the plan right now is to do some trekking before 2021 bronze medallists switch base to Netherlands for three friendlies before they leave for Paris on July 20.

The three-day team bonding session could also see the side have a spell with Mike Horn, a motivational coach who has worked with the Indian cricket, the Germany men’s football team as well as Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Doing these sort of team exercises is nothing for Fulton’s wards. Last year, they climbed Table Mountain. Before the Asian Games, the players were split into small teams and were asked to shoot short movies (movies were shot on a mobile camera before they were screened).