
From the diary of a strengthening coach
Training manual
For someone who found joy in mentoring and working with young athletes, Arun believes being in S&C is more than just teaching. 'It is a lot about personality and personal interaction; how you conduct yourself. Technical knowledge comes last. They have to be comfortable. They have to trust you. All this happens earlier. Even before you can impress them with the results. Then come the results,' he explains.
A thumb rule they have to follow while working with athletes is to try and keep them injury-free. 'Nobody can assure anybody that I keep you injury-free. You can try to minimise the risk of injury. Whatever you do, on the field in the gym or the field in your training session, has to translate to the sport. When you put everything together and get the desired results they have in mind, that is when you are successful. When they come back to you and say this is what I have been feeling,' he says.
Arun believes personal training plans are easy because the results are pretty fast if they adhere to them. 'Augmented feedback is really good. You have one session now, a speed session, you record their time, and two weeks later, they see an improvement. Whether it is about agility or linear speed, or endurance, they are sold. They know it works. Even if it is a shorter spell because cricketers are the most worked athletes in any sport because they play throughout the season. So if you are able to keep them injury-free during the season or minimising the chances of injury here and there, they can say okay. If they come back to you again and again, you know you have made a mark,' says Arun, an ACE and CSCS certified S&C coach.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
15 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Karnataka govt learnt about the first stampede death at 3.10 pm. Still went ahead with felicitation ceremony': JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy
Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy Friday claimed that the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government went ahead with the felicitation ceremony of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players despite learning about the first stampede death outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium at around 3.10 pm on Wednesday. Speaking at a joint press meet held by the BJP and the JD(S) in Bengaluru, Union Steel and Heavy Industries Minister Kumaraswamy said, 'Still they (the government) went ahead with the felicitation ceremony (at the Vidhana Soudha) and allowed a subsequent event at Chinnaswamy Stadium, stretching the celebrations till 6 pm.' He questioned why DNA Entertainment Networks, an event management company, on behalf of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), proposed two events – one at Vidhana Soudha and the other at Chinnaswamy Stadium. 'Despite the police department denying permission to hold a victory parade and limiting the event to just one location, the state government went ahead to toy with the situation,' Kumaraswamy further said. The JD(S) leader also slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for taking his grandson to Janardhana Hotel later in the evening on Wednesday. 'The chief minister and his grandson visited the Janardhana Hotel to relish masala dosa and basundi when people were dying due to the stampede, and their families were grieving their losses. The CM doesn't have an iota of shame,' he said. The former Karnataka chief minister criticised the government for suspending Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda. 'Suspending the Bengaluru city police commissioner is nothing but scapegoating him, and to cover their tracks. The Congress high command should, in fact, remove both the chief minister and deputy chief minister from their posts for their heinous crime,' he said. The stampede occurred on Wednesday, when a sea of fans gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium to attend a felicitation event for the RCB following their Indian Premier League (IPL) championship victory – their first since the league's inception in 2008. Around three lakh fans gathered at the gates, far exceeding the stadium's official capacity of 35,000. Entry for fans was restricted to gates 6, 7, 8, 21, and 1 out of the 21 gates at the stadium. Responding to Kumaraswamy's allegations, Siddaramaiah said: 'The BJP is just doing politics, we won't do politics. Those who are responsible and those who didn't do their job, we have taken action against them.' The Karnataka government Thursday suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and several other senior police officers in connection with the stampede.


Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Fabiano Caruana has painful slip up vs Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh's winning streak ends, ‘Human' Magnus Carlsen blunders whole piece in loss
'This tournament could have very easily been over,' declared Hikaru Nakamura on the Norway Chess broadcast with an undisguised smile on his face as he watched his ashen-faced compatriot Fabiano Caruana extend his hand in resignation to Arjun Erigaisi in round 8 of the strongest invitational tournament of the year. But with two rounds remaining at Norway Chess, the tournament is anything but over. Arjun's victory in 71 moves over leader Caruana ensured that at least five players head into the second rest day of the tournament with their tails up: leader Caruana (12.5 points) finds himself being chased by Magnus Carlsen (12), Nakamura (11.5), Gukesh (11.5), and Arjun (10.5). Wei Yi is last with eight points, but each outright win earns players three points, meaning two straight wins against his next two opponents Gukesh and Nakamura might just ensure him a title. It's very unlikely. But on a day when Carlsen had blundered an entire piece against him for no compensation in return — and then lost! — the Chinese grandmaster cannot be faulted for believing in miracles. Arjun's win over Caruana was another reason to believe in miracles. Till Arjun had made his 49th move, the American was winning. The game, and possibly, the Norway Chess title. But the time control at Norway Chess — with players getting just 120 minutes on the clock, with 10-second increments kicking in from move 41 — has been brutal for all players. World champion Gukesh struggled with it for his first two games. So have other players. On Tuesday, it was Caruana's chance to blink under time pressure. As he made the 49th move, the eval bar was indicating a runaway win for Caruana. 'I'm not sure where the help is coming from (for Arjun), there are so many threats. Caruana is getting to your king, one way or another,' said Cristian Chirila, one of Caruana's seconds and the co-host of the C-Squared Podcast with the American GM, at one stage on the Norway Chess broadcast. But at that stage, Caruana had just 40 seconds on his clock. Arjun had a minute and 54 seconds. Over the next eight moves — 49… Be4 (mistake with Re4 being the best as per engine) 50. Qf4 Qxc3 (inaccuracy with Ra2 being the best move) 51. Be3 Bg6 52. g4 hxg4 53. h5 Bxh5 54. Qf5+ Bg6 55. Qxg4 Qe5+ (blunder with Qc7+ being best move) 56. Rg3 Qh5+ (mistake with Qxg3+ being best move) — Arjun and the oppressive clock had fashioned a turnaround. What was also notable was that in that phase, Caruana had gobbled up three of Arjun's pawns. And yet, his position was worsening on the board. 'This game pretty much symbolises Arjun's style. Go crazy, try to play for tactical chances everywhere, sometimes it's going to work, sometimes it's not going to work!' Nakamura said. 'If you look at yesterday, I got the sense that when Arjun was down a pawn and then down two pawns, he was still trying to play for complications and trying to win the game. I feel that this is a similar situation. Always going for complications. It's insane actually.' For the last two games, Gukesh has managed to turn around losing positions to fashion wins over Carlsen and Arjun. But Nakamura was in no mood to allow the Indian teenager similar concessions. Nakamura gained an edge on the board by move 20 and never relinquished his grip on the game — unlike Carlsen and Caruana — gaining tiny advantages till Gukesh resigned on move 50. 'Gukesh's results have been very good. But if we're being objective about the chess, I think he's played horribly (at Norway Chess),' Nakamura told Indian media after the win. 'He should have lost to Magnus. He was completely lost against Arjun. Even against Fabiano, he was also losing in that game. So it's very, very hard to judge what his play is.' Nakamura then praised Gukesh for his mental resilience. 'When I look at his game, one of the big things that he has that I would say Arjun and Praggnanandhaa don't have is that he's very mentally strong. I think he's a lot less emotional than the other two players. And that has served him very well, especially in this tournament,' said Nakamura before praising Gukesh's defensive skills. 'Today, I thought there were probably three or four moments when I was winning. But even then I still had to find more moves to convert. He's definitely showing very, very strong defensive skills.' Elsewhere, the Wei Yi vs Carlsen game saw the world no 1 blunder a knight in the Armageddon after he had evaded his opponent's tactic to play out a quick draw in the classical portion. As soon as Wei picked off Carlsen's undefended knight, the former world champion laughed at himself for making such an error. Wei explained later that because of his defeat in the previous round, he had been unable to sleep. Consequently he had tried to play out an easy draw in the classical against wantaway Carlsen and then take his chances in the Armageddon format, where the player with white pieces (in this case Wei) has 10 minutes to get a win while the player with black pieces has just seven minutes, but they only need to draw to be victorious. 'I was happy to beat Magnus but I want to say sorry this time,' Wei said later like tennis players do when they win a point with the ball hitting the net cord. 'In Armageddon he just blundered in a solid position.' 'I think Magnus is getting used to joining the club, being human. Obviously, as you get older, you start to make more mistakes,' Nakamura said in an interview with Take Take Take. 'I actually thought my game against him yesterday, Armageddon, was extremely sloppy by both of us, so it's not a huge surprise. But I think after that loss to Gukesh, Magnus just kind of zoned out completely. Happens.' (The writer is in Stavanger at the invitation of Norway Chess. Norway Chess is live streamed on Sony LIV.) Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More


Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Virat gesture brings smile to face of multi-disabled teen artist
1 2 3 4 5 6 Lucknow: In a heartwarming moment, cricket icon Virat Kohli signed a portrait of himself painted by a 14-year-old orphan boy suffering with multi-disability including cerebral palsy. The portrait was presented to Kohli by the boy, Arun, at Ekana Stadium where multi-disabled children from Drishti Samajik Sansthan were invited to watch a cricket practice session and meet their sporting heroes. Abandoned in early childhood, Arun was taken in by the NGO in 2016-17. He had severe muscular issues, minimal mobility, and both hearing and speech impairments. Over the years, with intensive physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech support, his mobility and communication improved significantly. He now walks independently and communicates through Indian sign language and speaks a few words. Arun's transformation also included the discovery of a deep passion for art. What began with basic tracing exercises grew into a remarkable talent for sketching expressive portraits. Despite muscular challenges that make fine motor work difficult, Arun patiently completes detailed drawings — each taking over a week. His subjects range from family and caregivers to public figures he admires. Ahead of the stadium visit, Arun made a portrait of Kohli, hoping to have it signed. Although Kohli could not attend the practice session, team officials promised to arrange the autograph. True to their word, the portrait — signed by Kohli — was recently handed over to Arun. Director of Drishti Samajik Sansthan, Shalu Singh, said: "Arun came to us from Meerut about seven years ago, abandoned and severely affected by cerebral palsy. With consistent therapy and encouragement, he made incredible progress, both physically and artistically. His journey is truly inspiring." This visit to the stadium marked Arun's first time experiencing a live sports venue — something he had only seen on television. The event highlighted the power of sport to uplift and connect, transcending physical and social barriers.