Train smart, don't burn out: Esha Singh

Esha Singh is an Indian sport shooter Image: PTI
 
She’s all of 19, but Esha Singh knows how to hold her nerve. At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Singh faced a number of hold-ups—caused by equipment and target malfunction—during the final of the 25m air pistol. It could have been her kryptonite, given how success in shooting calls for astounding levels of calmness.  But Singh ended up winning the silver medal in the event. As she proceeds into her first-ever Olympic Games, Singh will expect to hold similar composure on a stage that’s dubbed the world’s most prestigious. In an interview with Forbes India, the teenager reveals how she gets into the zone, and why it’s important to know when to take a break. Edited excerpts:     

‘Never be afraid of failure’

I took up shooting as part of my summer holiday routine. The first ever competition I took part in was at the state-level, and I won a gold. There was no looking back since. Since I started shooting as a hobby, I never really had a role model. But as I went on, I got to know the champions. My first big inspiration came from Gagan Narang—I started off in his academy and would hear stories from him about how he made it to the top. Next came Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist. And I would also look up to Greek shooter Anna Korakaki, who won two medals in the 2016 Olympic Games. The great thing about these champions is they were all willing to share their knowledge. They also told me not to be afraid of failures, but embrace them. I never understood back then what that meant, but now, after now I can relate to it and realise how every failure builds you up for your next success.

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‘Train smart, don’t burn out’

Yes, I had a sensational run at the Asian Games with four medals, but I didn’t do any extra-rigorous training just because it was the Asian Games. It’s a myth people have about how athletes train. During training, one should just stick to basics. Shooting is a simple sport, but it’s very hard mentally. It's like writing an exam—it’s the same problem that you solve at home many times over, but it presents itself in a different perspective. At the shooting range, too, it’s just your mind making it complicated. All you need to do at competitions is make yourself familiar with the surroundings and calm yourself down. That’s what I focussed on in my training. It’s not always a great strategy to overtrain before competitions—train smart, else you might burn yourself out before big competitions. Having said that, I do feel the pressure of playing a big tournament. But I try to remind myself that, at the end of the day, I don't play for any audience—I play for myself because I am the one who discovered the joy in shooting.

‘My dad ensures I never go through a burnout’

For me, the red flag for overtraining is when you start getting bored. You feel like it’s enough, but you still keep pushing because you have to. Getting this feeling once or twice is fine, but if it becomes repetitive, you need to stop. It’s a sign of burnout and exhaustion. If you don’t stop at this stage, it’s not really quality training. I’ve gone through the early phases of boredom many times and I’m really grateful for my dad because he identifies the signs very quickly, and makes sure I wrap up and leave the range. It’s because of him that I’ve never really faced burnout before competitions.  

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‘The disruptions in the Asiad helped me regroup’

During the 25m air pistol event during the Asian Games last year, there were multiple disruptions due to equipment and target malfunctions. In fact, it was the first final I saw that had so many disruptions. We were pausing after almost every series, and since in the 25 m event you can’t sit down, we kept standing for a very long time. There was a 10-minute break once, when the target couldn’t record the shot. It could be disturbing for any athlete, more so for a shooter because shooting is a deeply mental sport. But I am a person who can quickly move on and switch zones. Besides, my start in this event was quite poor. So, these breaks gave me time to reset—I was breathing and calming myself down—and that’s how I bounced back, finishing with the silver medal in the event. 

‘Self-discipline has got me where I am’

One of the key traits that help me succeed is that I am a fighter. I may not look like one, but I am one who doesn’t care how I started, I will see it till my last shot. Second, is my love for the sport—how much I adore it and how thrilling I feel about shooting is something I keep reminding myself. The other thing that has helped me is my self-discipline—I don’t go overboard with anything. It’s something my mother taught me when I was young and I’ve always held on to it. Like, in national camps it’s very easy to get distracted, but even when I first went to the camp, when I was 11 or 12, I was very conscious about my routine—I knew I was there for training and I would, for example, sleep on time so that I could attend training next morning. I am goofy by nature, but I am also extremely aware that that some things should be done within limits in order to achieve some other things, even if no one was monitoring me. 

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‘I faced my fears to overcome them’

The central theme of shooting is stability. Our bodies can’t even have the mildest shake. Initially, I would feel a lot of pressure to keep it that way, and I would be so scared to press the trigger because I wouldn’t even know where the shot is going to go. So, I initially would delay the match a lot. We have one hour for 60 shots and I would just delay my shots, ending up shooting quickly, in a bunch, at the end. And I could never understand why I wasn’t able to press the trigger on time. After a few matches, I realised I needed to be bold and I have to press the trigger. It’s through going through this experience that I learnt what was wrong with my approach. So, one has to go through failures and up and downs in order to reach one’s peak.