Often, it's the little things that make a big difference, especially in an athlete's life.
Once the legendary Mahesh Bhupathi was asked what can make or a break a tennis player's day or match and he said it could be anything: a bad breakfast, a wrong call, bad sleep, it could be any little thing that otherwise seems irrelevant.
Players have to be in their zone to give their best.
Leander Paes preferred to be left alone after completing his last training session ahead of a match. He entered his zone and did not appreciate presence of even 'friends' in those minutes leading up to the contest.
Anything could distract.
Small things were changed in the Indian Davis Cup set-up for the tie against Togo and it was evident that they made a difference.
When off-court requirements are taken care of, it helps immensely on court. Tackling Togo was not not even a test for the Indian team considering the sheer difference in caliber of the home players.
But it was evident that the changes made had a telling impact on the psyche of the players, who rejoiced together right from the build-up till the end of the tie.
The locker room is sacrosanct and its privacy was maintained. It was also ensured that the players lounge remained for players only. Even the AITA officials were not allowed to enter that space, which was not the case before.
If the training session was to start at 11am, new coach Ashutosh Singh ensured that the first ball was hit sharp at 11am, and there were no delays. Whatever training modules were set, they were followed to the 'T'. If a serve session was planned, it was executed the way it was devised.
For the first time there were three physios helping out the bunch.
The result was that the players felt free, ready for fight, give their best. There was camaraderie which showed even during the press interactions.
When skipper Rohit Rajpal revealed how Ramkumar Ramanathan has always pulled pranks on Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar was quick to point out that he never was alone and the captain himself was also involved in those acts.
Karan Singh was asked if he was disappointed to miss a live rubber and Mukund was quick to jump in and utter maturely that all players, playing and non-playing were equally important. It didn't matter if the job was to bring water bottles or to swing racket on court in a match.
"I've not been part of so many, many times. But from what I have seen, this is the best team environment we have had. Because if you take Dr. Kanhaiya, Dr. Das or Abhimanyu sir, they're not just physios, but they're also your friends. They're also guiding you. They're also easing pressure off you," remarked Mukund.
"And same with Toshu sir. He's just not a coach. He is much more than that. And same with Ram, with Karan. I feel there was zero differences between anybody, which is very rare. You know, when there's a team of eight people and all eight are bonding very well and there are no differences, you definitely have an edge," Mukund said, further driving his point.
Ashutosh said he does not work on the players' game but on their personality. He said he tries to understand the player as a human being because they did not need much technical assistance from him.
"Gautam Gambhir was my classmate but I work like Rahul Dravid," said Ashutosh, spelling his philosophy.
Mukund said, "it's about the environment."
"It's just about how you keep some people off the player's launch, which I think Rohit did well this time. I just did not see some faces that you normally see and are trying to do things which are not healthy for the team.
"And as long as you do that, I think it's going to be healthy and at the end of the day, the tennis result, nobody cares. We all are here to give our best effort and you can't do more than your best. And just because you lose, nothing changes."
"Even if my teammate has a terrible day, he plays bad, I completely understand that he's human and it can happen to him, to me, to anybody. So, I think we should not mix tennis with that. And it never was about tennis in the past also."
Skipper Rajpal admitted that the old generation of AITA office bearers did not believe in a player development programme but things are changing now.
"That is why we had started the National Tennis Centre, although it is has been closed now. But we are planing a programme and are in talks with the Rafael Nadal academy in Spain for the same," said Rajpal when asked if AITA has ever discussed how to help players in its Executive Committee meetings.
Rohan Bopanna runs a programme through which he helps India players travel with coaches and trainers and it has made a difference.
Mukund said the game's governing body in the country can ensure that the top-20 players do not struggle in finding training courts in India and they are not denied their prize money from AITA tournaments.
Balaji said if AITA can take care of players' expenses related to coaches and trainers, it will be a "massive help."
"During the matches we do not know what mistakes we are making, so AITA can jump in and help. That will be a great step," he said.
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