Chapter 166: What Coach Li Said Makes Sense!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Apparently Liang Du already knew about his deficiencies. As a brilliant student who had been admitted to Tsinghua University, Liang Du was not just a dumb athlete. On the contrary, his IQ was very high, and he was very good at discovering and thinking about problems.
There was no Physical Education Department in Tsinghua University. Therefore, if talented athletes wanted to be admitted into Tsinghua University, they had to take the national college entrance examination and be admitted as sports-specialty students after lowering the minimum passing score. This score reduction was not very large, however; normally a reduction of 30-50 points for a passing grade was satisfactory. Sports-specialty students whose score on the national college entrance examination was just over 100 points would never be admitted by Tsinghua University. A full score for the national college entrance examination was 750 points; as one of the best universities in China, the admission score for Tsinghua University was always around 670 points or higher.
Of course, the admission scores differed depending on province. Sometimes the difference was quite large. But it was undeniable that the students who wanted to be admitted by Tsinghua University must be elite in their respective province.
So, because the Sports Department of Tsinghua University was filled with a number of elite students, Dai Li did not need to say too much. By commenting on the key points, Dai Li knew the athletes would understand what he meant.
Liang Du had been greatly shocked by Dai Li's words.
He noticed all of my deficiencies. How could he have known that? He just got here yesterday, and we only had some regular training yesterday afternoon. Did he see my weaknesses during yesterday afternoon's training? Premature contraction of the hip and ankle muscles are really small defects. I knew of these problems already from sending my training video to the Sports & Human Body Science Laboratory and having them analyzed by Professor Zhang by computer systems; this Coach Li was able to discover these problems just by watching me!
As he realized this, Liang Du no longer felt that Dai Li was incompetent. He asked sincerely, "Coach Li, how can I solve these problems?"
"I have already prepared a short-term training plan for you, just have a look!" Dai Li handed an A4 paper to Liang Du.
Liang Du took the paper with both of his hands and began to read carefully.
"Is this exercise a trot with half high-knees?" Liang Du asked.
"Exactly! Have you done this training before?" Dai Li asked.
"No, but I have read about it once in a article," Liang Du replied.
"For your problems, you would be asked to perform a trot exercise according to the traditional training method. However, the regular trot exercise is effective for beginners; for someone like you who has already mastered some sprinting techniques, the trot exercise will not be very effective," Dai Li explained.
"Right, I have been using the trot exercise to solve my premature contraction of the hip and ankle muscles, but it is almost completely ineffective," Liang Du nodded immediately. He found Dai Li's words to be very pertinent.
Dai Li continued, "So, I chose training that involved a trot with half high-knees, which puts more emphasis on the movement and speed of ankle landing. Using the basis of the traditional trotting movement, your thighs must be raised. The angle between the swinging height of your swing leg and the central horizontal line is about 30-45 degrees. When your foot lands on the ground, your hip should be extended rapidly. Through hip extension and pushing, the foot landing will be accelerated. Later I will give you personal instruction on the training of this technique movement."
"Thank you, Coach Li!" Liang Du said sincerely. He was completely convinced by Dai Li.
Discovering problems was only the first step; solving those problems was what mattered. Liang Du knew his weaknesses and had tried to solve them through training, but he had been unsuccessful. Now, Dai Li had brought forth the solution, which had given him more leverage to convince Liang Du.
Watching the exchange take place in front of them, the rest of the athletes had various thoughts and ideas.
Although Coach Li is very young, it seems he has some real skills. He was able to figure out the Liang Du's weak points and provide solutions to them. I underestimated Coach Li.
What Coach Li said is quite helpful. It seems like I don't need to worry about my training plan.
Is this Coach Li really competent or is this just a coincidence? Let me see if he can do it again.
At this moment, Dai Li shouted out a second name. "Xiaotian Xin, step forward!"
Xiaotian Xin stepped forward immediately. He looked at Dai Li with great interest, as if he wanted to know what other correct and astute perspectives Dai Li could offer.
"Xiaotian Xin, you problems are as follows: you focus on raising your legs while you run, but you ignore the hip movements. Your hip extension adaptability is inactive, which results in a lower push distance," Dai Li said.
Xiaotian Xin smiled disdainfully and retorted, "My technique accelerates the backward driving of my swing leg before landing, so that a greater push-off force can be obtained. You said my hip extension is inactive, but the reason for that is that my front swing is high enough when I'm sprinting! My technique can lower the push resistance."
Ordinary athletes would not snap back at a coach like that. However, as an elite student who had been admitted into Tsinghua University, Xiaotian Xin had high academic standing, and his sprinting performance ranked 2nd on the Tsinghua University's sprint team. The only one better than him was Guohong Niu. He had grown up always experiencing success, so naturally he was arrogant, and had the guts to defy Dai Li.
Ha, Xiaotian Xin snapped back at Coach Li. This should be a lot of fun!
It seems like Xiaotian Xin has learned a lot from sports training courses by himself in his spare time, so he has a lot of theoretical knowledge about sports training. Even postgraduate assistant coaches are unable to win arguments with Xiaotian Xin sometimes."
Let's see how Coach Li will respond. He should show off his real ability. If he cannot defeat Xiaotian Xin, it will be such a shame for Coach Li."
With different ideas in mind, the rest of the athletes were prepared to enjoy the fun.
Without hurrying, Dai Li said slowly in a calm voice, "When you are running, your front swing is not high enough; it is too high! I bet you do a lot of high-knees exercise in your daily training, right?"
"How did you know that?" Xiaotian Xin's expression changed a little bit. What Dai Li had said was right.
"High-knees training has obvious positive and negative influences on sprinting technique. It indeed can correct an insufficient front swing; however, for sprinters, leg swing height is limited when hip flection swing movement finishes. The higher the leg swing doesn't mean the better the effect, which can be accomplished through a farther leg swing."
As Dai Li said this, he began to make gestures with his hands. "When you are sprinting, your hip joint has an obvious torsion. Your current technique calls for you to lower the resistance by sacrificing necessary and reasonable push distance. As a result, you may take the lead in the beginning stages of a race, but your stride length towards the middle will be impaired. You also focus on the landing angle, which can result in stiffness in your hip, knee, and ankle joints, as well as tension in your knee joint."
Dai Li paused. He could tell Xiaotian Xin had listened to what he had said and was thinking about it.
"The most important point is that this technique can cause some physiological effects, such as the contraction of the hip joints and a downward shift of the pelvis. These effects will further influence your stride length and running speed." Dai Li paused again, then continued, "Therefore, you have to change the characteristics of your technique!"
As Dai Li said the four words "you have to change," the resentfulness and arrogance of Xiaotian Xin had vanished. He was now just as surprised as Liang Du had been.
What Coach Li said really makes sense! Xiaotian Xin had been convinced by Dai Li.