Trainees to go through longer hours of training under Beng Hai

The national hockey training squad will make better use of time for their daily workouts.

And under the new regime, the morning training session will begin at 6 and it will last for three hours. Previously, it started at 7.30am.

The evening session will start at 4 and end at 7. In between the two sessions, there will be a gym session on alternate days.



Tai Beng Hai, who heads a three-man interim coaching set-up including Nor Saiful Zaini and Lailin Abu Hassan, said that the early start would allow them to maximise the hours for training.

“I want the players to spend quality time in training. It does not matter how they have trained before but from now they have to get used to starting the day early and have a longer training session,” he said after the team reassembled for training yesterday.

Beng Hai insisted that the players needed to be well-versed with their time management to ensure that they have enough time to rest and recover after the training sessions. And there will be no late nights for the players.

The resumption of training yesterday brought a pleasant surprise to the coaches as all the 30 players showed up as scheduled.

“We hope the players will maintain this good start. I have a few more rules drawn up and the players will be informed about them after they are endorsed by the management committee,” said Beng Hai.

He added that the early start time for training was not a totally new idea as he did the same thing when he was in charge of the National Juniors in 2007.

“I do not see any problem with the seniors coming in early. The morning session will be more on the physical and technical aspects of the game while the tactical session will be held in the evening,” said Beng Hai.

The three interim coaches will handle the team until the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and the National Sports Council (NSC) hire a foreign coach.

Beng Hai added that they would prepare a programme for the management committee to consider as they had just four months before the first assignment.

The team will play in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup from April 3-12 followed by the Asia Cup in Dubai from May 8-18.