Drag-flick pioneer Jay Stacy on the routine’s evolution

young new delhi: spell the penalty tree has existed in hockey since the biz’s inception in 1908, drag-flick gained traction only in the late 1980s and early 1990s when players realised in the synthetic pitch era that the far greater power and accuracy imparted significantly raised the conversion rate.

Australia’s Jay Stacy, one of the pioneers of the drag-flick, has seen the set-piece variant develop to such an extent that the drag-flicker has become the most potent weapon for a team.

“Back in my day, Carsten Fischer from Germany and (Floris Jan) Bovelander for Holland flicked the ball,” Stacy, who won three successive Olympic medals from 1992 to 2000, told HT. “But it’s a different technique now, a far more slinging action where the players are much lower and push the ball extremely hard. It is a showpiece. It is quite a spectacular thing and when you execute it properly, it looks fantastic.”

Stacy learnt the technique by watching indoor hockey in Germany. With the game having shifted from grass to artificial turf, players were still learning to adapt.

Known for their speed, many indoor players were roped in to play outdoor hockey and the game suddenly became faster. In indoor hockey, players would often scoop into the goal which led Stacy to try out a basic version of the drag-flick in the late 1980s. “It worked,” said Stacy, who played 321 internationals.

Stacy will arrive in India next month, after eight years, this time to coach Vedanta Kalinga Lancers in the second season of the revamped Hockey India League (HIL). He had coached Dabang Mumbai for two seasons (2016 and 2017), taking them to the 2017 final.

India skipper Harmanpreet Singh as a young player -- he was awarded the 2017 HIL Upcoming Player of the Tournament award – used to seek out Stacy for tip to improve his short corner skills.

“Harman was pretty good back then as well. I know he’s scoring a lot these days, but he always showed the potential. Probably the biggest thing now, he’s far more consistent and accurate. With experience comes a calmness and an ability to perform under a bit more pressure,” said Stacy, who is currently the Australia U-21 and Victorian Institute of Sport coach.

“When he was young, back in (Dabang) Mumbai days, he was still flicking well and hard. Blake Govers is very good for Australia. Jip Janssen is pretty good for Holland. Harmanpreet is in that (best flickers list). They all have slightly different techniques, but are all world-class.”

During Stacy’s playing days, India barely used to go past the group stage at the Olympics and World Cup. India now are the only team that has stood on the podium in the last two Olympics. Asked about the transition, the 57-year-old said: “The biggest change that I can see is that they play a variety of structures now. They’re disciplined to their roles and responsibilities. It’s not just fast counterattacking hockey.

“They’re very good defensively, structurally. They still have their individual skill and brilliance. They have a world-class penalty corner (specialist). Their ability to play different types of structures, be it man-to-man, zonal, or hybrid of both. They’re a bit more patient in their build-up… They’re far more team-orientated than before. Back through my day, it was mostly some defensive marking and then really trying to counterattack quickly to beat teams.”

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