Staying nerveless in crunch moments has enabled Velavan Senthilkumar, proper, to register come-from-behind victories.
| Photo Credit: R. Ragu
Velavan Senthilkumar (25) has been having his finest yr as a full-time skilled squash participant.
Velavan, who accomplished his commencement from Columbia University final yr and started this yr exterior the highest 200 within the PSA World rankings, is now ranked 66, courtesy of 4 PSA titles.
One hanging side of his recreation this yr is that he’s been nerveless in crunch moments and that’s enabled him to register come-from-behind victories.
“I would say I worked really hard on my physical and mental fitness. I’m better at it now, compared to before, and I’m able to keep pushing through for a longer period of time,” stated Velavan on Tuesday.
Asked if he might say something particular he did as regards mental fitness, Velavan revealed: “I think, a lot of meditation; just, like, different techniques of meditation.
“It was like an everyday thing — in the morning and the evening. Probably, like, 10 to 15 minutes. A bit of visualisation as well. I kind of visualise myself on the court and how I play. It’s just some visualisation techniques.
Asked if he envisages how he would take on a particular opponent on matchdays, he said: “Obviously. Like, how I would see myself playing the match. Like, I would see myself playing the match from inside the court, and from outside the court from the spectators’ point of view.”
Velavan graduated in Psychology. Asked if that helps in any method, he stated: “I would just say that it was easier for me to understand more about how my mind was in certain situations. I just felt like I could know. I was aware of it easier than usual. If I didn’t do psychology, I might have taken more time to be aware of it.”
On dealing with nervy crunch conditions, Velavan remarked: “I would say that’s something I’ve been working on — to be more present, and just focus on every single point rather than the outcome. I think that’s kind of helped me to play each and every point the same way irrespective of what the score is.”
