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IIT Kharagpur collaborates with Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy for producing ‘happy players’
IIT Kharagpur will then develop programmes which will focus on improving the mental well-being of the athletes with the aim of enhancing the quality of performance and resilience of the players of PGBA.
IIT Kharagpur signed an MoU with Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy (PGBA), Hyderabad to carry out joint training and research in the area of the happiness and well-being of players. IIT Kharagpur director Prof. P P Chakrabarti and Chief National Coach for the Indian Badminton team, Gopichand, signed the MoU on behalf of their institutions at Delhi on Saturday.
The collaboration is spearheaded by S S Rekhi, US-based entrepreneur and alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, who is a sponsor of the Gopichand Badminton Academy and seed funded the Rekhi Centre for Science of Happiness at IIT Kharagpur. The training programme is likely to start from June 2019. A profile and data base of each athlete at the academy will be built for the purpose.
IIT Kharagpur will then develop programmes which will focus on improving the mental well-being of the athletes with the aim of enhancing the quality of performance and resilience of the players of PGBA.
“Our objective is to provide more mind related training. The wider goal is to produce happy players,” said Prof. Chakrabarti. “Happiness is just one of the multi-layered platform that we are building. We are also setting up a Sports Academy (at IIT Kharagpur) that would promote collaborative research related to happiness in sports in general and badminton in particular, and science and technology in sports training.”
“Mental strength and physical strength go hand in hand,” Gopichand said. “Motivation has to be converted into physical work and mental strength. Both are an integral part of performance.”
Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu, who trains at the Gopichand Academy, said that a programme like this will help players.
“There are a few moments in a match that are extremely crucial. Your mind should be trained to change the thought in a few seconds,” Sindhu said. “ Mental aspect is very important but each one’s journey is personal and their ability to tackle stress differs.”
