Hockey: Sweating pints in pursuit of Olympic gold

Kyle Pontifex. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Inventor Thomas Edison once said: "Genius is 1 per cent inspiration, 99 per cent perspiration". The New Zealand men's hockey team will see just how true that phrase can be when they undergo sweat testing as part of research and development ahead of the London Olympic campaign this week.

The Auckland-based players will jump on spin bikes for over an hour and have their sweat tested every 10 minutes. Otago University is running the experiment to discover more about how best to hydrate athletes in hot conditions like those expected in London next July and August. The participants will also collect their urine for hydration analysis; and have lactic acid in the bloodstream measured - dictating how long an athlete can perform physical exercise at their peak.

"It's a one per center that could make a difference," Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod says. "You don't get much time to recover when it's day-on, day-off at the Olympics or other tournaments where you are playing every day. How you treat your body and what you put into it makes a direct difference.

"London's unlikely to be as taxing heat-wise as some of the other environments we play in like Asia. But, as an indication, guys drink during a game and still lose three to four litres of fluid. We continue to get guys who are borderline dehydrated and don't recover well enough."

McLeod says hydration slushies, marketed by New Zealand company Red 8, also make a useful difference.

"It's another one of those one per centers that take effort to develop but have a good effect because they're so easy to manage. We've experimented with ice jackets but they are time consuming and the benefits are probably minimal when you need another staff person just to manage them. You can swear by the slushie."

One who should know is goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex when he is decked out in layers of energy-sapping protective gear.

"Wearing an ice vest in a game is too restrictive around my arms; I need to be able to move them quickly. It's easier to grab a slushie behind the goal when play's at the other end."

One advantage for the team in hot conditions is that they are not lacking in fitness. An Auckland University of Technology study subjected players to agility, speed and yo-yo tests (basically a beep test with a small break between runs). They concluded hockey players have better fitness levels compared to international football and rugby league players.

McLeod has the job of translating those fitness levels into hockey victories: "I wasn't surprised with those results. Hockey is fast and our side is one of the fittest in the world. However, the challenge is to create collective flair. Individually we do well in one-on-one match-ups, but sift through our squad and everyone has a different idea on how they want to play the game.

"A number are playing professionally in Europe while others have only just had their 21st birthdays. Those ideas have to be gelled - which is not easy - and makes fitness just one part of the overall strategy."

The research is funded by the $3.55 million received from Sparc until the end of 2012 to help the men's and women's teams through to the Olympics. Both teams won medals at last year's Commonwealth Games (women silver; men bronze) and are ranked seventh in the world.

Given Oceania is guaranteed two places at the London Games, it seems a sound investment. It is unlikely a Pacific Islands nation could beat New Zealand in the October Olympic qualifiers in Australia.

The Black Sticks men embark on a European tour next week culminating in a four nations tournament against fourth-ranked England, sixth-ranked Korea and 13-ranked Belgium. The Black Sticks women open their Champion's Trophy campaign against Germany overnight in Amsterdam.