S. Badrinath launches MFORE to improve mind skills
Former India and Chennai Super Kings batsman S. Badrinath feels the mental conditioning initiative will help athletes come out better post COVID-19.
Published : May 07, 2020 20:28 IST
Former India batsman S. Badrinath and Saravana Kumar have launched MFORE — a non-profit initiative offering mind skill training to athletes and the stakeholders in the sports ecosystem. He feels the enterprise will help athletes come out better post the COVID-19 crisis. They are starting with online lessons but later, there could be an office space. “[If] a golfer wants our sports psychologist to be with him throughout the four-day tournament, we will do that. But now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it is going to start with online sessions. We have a website, mfore.in , and any athlete or any team can go and access that for details. We will straight away get in touch to talk about their needs.” “They can ask questions and ethically, we won’t share who we are working with and how we are working with that athlete. Every month, we will do at least two webinars to create awareness which will help the athletes, family, the coaches and the entire sporting fraternity who are upset sitting at home at present and not feeling motivated enough. They are going through anxiety,” Badrinath told Sportstar in a Zoom session on Thursday. Coaching after lockdown Badrinath’s team wants to attend practice sessions of athletes to study their methods. “We can see how they are preparing and then, we will design a program. We will give them challenges and then, the reports to the players, as to who is best suited to handle the situation. We will be able to watch and provide information in one-on-one sessions,” he said.
The idea occurred to him while playing golf with a friend. “I realised I had played a poor shot. I knew I had the skill-sets to play the right shot but my mind was weaving stories about a tree in front and the water. It was telling me things that was not needed. Mind is so powerful that it can take over yourself, so you need to train it properly,” said Badrinath, agreeing that he could have been a better cricketer had he known these a decade ago. “I had to work hard to earn my dues. I was not a naturally-gifted cricketer. Complete awareness of the self is very important. There is a saying that if a man is hungry, you need not feed him a fish but you have to teach him how to fish better, said the right-hander, who played the IPL for Chennai Super Kings.
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Star Sports 1 Tamil will launch a new show 'Mind Masters by MFORE' on May 10