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Lars Gilhaus secret weapon of Netherlands

2010-03-10 06:03:00

South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje sparked a controversy when he used an earpiece during the 1999 World Cup to take instructions from coach Bob Woolmer during his side’s victory over India at Hove.

Though the International Cricket Council has shunned the idea of using electronic devices to as an aid for coaches and managers, the world of hockey has thrived on it for years.
 

Video analysts have been an integral part of the game, giving on-the-run feedback to coaches who use the data to plot their course in a match. One such man is Holland video analyst Lars Gillhaus, who has been involved with the Dutch federation for the last ten years.
 

Together with famed coach Marc Lammers, Gillhaus is credited with many innovations in hockey. He first popularised the use of video masks — specialised glasses that worked as on-field cameras. He followed it with the use of ear microphones to communicate with players during penalty-corners drills, but was denied permission by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to do so.
 

The ongoing Hockey World Cup also has coaches relying on the feedback from the men behind the scenes. But with the world body not too forthcoming on the idea, where does technology limit itself?
 

Explained Gillhaus, “We are not the only team who is doing it, the other teams have their laptops in the dug-out. We at least put it outside on a table. We have always tried to find new things, like the video mask that Dutch coach of the women’s team Marc Lammers invented in 2001 so he could look directly at the penalty-corner as it was taken.
 

“Later we came up with ear microphones to inform players just before taking a penalty-corner. For a time, people used signs from near the dugout, but the opponents figured out the signs very quickly and we had to think of a new sign every day.
“This (the earpiece) was more convenient, but the FIH stopped us. They were afraid that Asian coaches would command their players the whole time through those earphones. I didn’t agree. I still think the time is right to do so, but we are depending on the FIH.”
 

On the job for 10 years, Gillhaus believes there is no escaping the technology if teams are to do well on the world stage.
“Video analysis is an integral part of hockey, but it is not instant coffee. We put in endless hours to analyse the data — of our own team and the opponents — but it requires a lot of work. I spend the entire day here, and then work almost the entire night preparing data for the team, and also individual players. “With a click of a button, you know what went wrong today, the number of chances missed, hits from the right or left. Anything and everything that one needs is packaged neatly,” said Gillhaus.
 

Though it is not possible to change the entire strategy, as it requires hours of analysis and inputs, one area that the teams exploit during the course of a match is penalty-corner conversions.
 

The high octane Holland-Germany match Pool A match at the Hockey World Cup here saw drag-flick specialist Taeke Taekema spent some crucial moments on the bench during the break, scanning the data sent by Gillhaus.
 

“Penalty-corners experts can benefit immediately from the data that we sent. Say in Sunday’s game, we sent data for Taekema. At times, we suggest that the right was a better area to score keeping in mind the oppositions’ strengths and weaknesses. The player goes through it and can take decisions there and then.”
 

Europeans teams are adept at this, but the Asians have been reluctant to depend on technology.
“India and Pakistan, I was told, were reluctant to use too much of video analysis, because they thought it could disturb their creativity. They did not want to think too much and wanted free-flowing hockey based on skills.
 

“Nowadays, I see a lot of Asian teams, including India, use it though I do not know how advanced their methods are. But one has to learn these things. It is essential. It only enhances your skills, when you know how to use them in a perfect manner,” he said.

Source Asianage