For India to grow into a sporting powerhouse, it needs to develop not just state of the art infrastructure but also adopt scientific mindset, champion shooter Abhinav Bindra said on Wednesday, calling upon coaches to embrace sports science in their training methods.

Bindra, India's first individual Olympic champion, was speaking at the Bharat Sports Science Conclave.

"Coaches as the custodians of athletic progress must embrace sports science to fine-tune their training methodologies to this digital age," Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist, said.

"To ascend to the Olympic echelon as a nation, we must embed sports science into every layer of our athletic framework. It is not just the state-of-the-art facilities but the integration of the scientific mindset from the grassroots to elite levels that will catalyze India's growth into a global sporting powerhouse.

"The importance of starting at the grassroots level cannot be overstated. It is here we must begin to instil a culture of precision analytics, and evidence-based training methods," the 41-year-old added.

The one-day conclave, aimed at supporting high-level research in high performance and sports training, was organised by TransStadia University, the education arm of TransStadia Education and Research Foundation in association with the National Centre of Sports Science and Research (NCSSR).

Sports minister Anurag Singh Thakur said sports science plays an important role in the development of players.

"Elements of sports science are used to support athletes in their training to help them understand their strengths, improve and challenge their strengths toward their goals.

"Sports science has played a crucial role in the success of most major athletes across sports disciplines. So, we are also ensuring the presence of a sports science department at our National Centers of Excellence in the country," he said.

Bindra reckoned that the gathering at the Conclave is a testament "to the pioneering spirit in the forward-thinking approach of our nation in the realm of sports science." Multiple presentations came up during the Conclave from those who mostly work behind the scenes as mentors to future sports stars.

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