New Delhi, Aug 2: It is not the first time when ace Indian archers have taken the help of experienced psychologists.

Olympian archers Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Champia had, in the past, took the classes of popular sports psychologists before their appearances in major international tournaments.

This time, ace Indian female archer Deepika Kumari and the country's most promising archer Atanu Das are strengthening themselves through Neuro Linguistic Programming system.

Before their engagement in the stage four of World Cup, scheduled to be held in Germany, Deepika and Atanu have been attending sessions at Kolkata's Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus to strengthen their skills.

Explaining the reason behind her decision to choose a top sports psychologist Deepika said, “I have been playing well in the recent international tournaments. Still I am not being able to achieve medals. It seems I have been losing both physical and mental precision in the final lap of the tournaments."

Deepika and Atanu are being guided by renowned sports psychologist Mrinal Chakrabarty who had earlier worked with World Cup winning junior Indian hockey team.

Chakrabarty, when asked about how he's helping the two archers, said, “I am trying to follow the teachings of Dr Richard Bandler, who is the founder of neuro linguistic programming system, and he even applied this method on legendary sportsperson like Lionel Messi and Usain Bolt.

"The archers will not get success only by trying to make it accurate. Mental preparation which includes concentration, psychological relaxation just before the championship and visualisation of own target, is highly important. I am trying to set up their mind in this system," he said.

Chakrabarty citing example of his applications added, “Atanu Das is being shown images of his recent match winning performances in different international championships. Even he is being shown the video recording of his brilliant show in the Rio Olympics where he missed a bronze medal by whisker. In this way Atanu's mental strength is being built up."

In a similar way, Deepika is watching her recent performances where she too missed by a whisker. The archers have been getting the messages on how to keep cool and relax before tournaments.

OneIndia News