Almighty Coach

On the sidelines of the training field, Dai Li pointed to the video and said to Sean Ford beside him, "Now you need to increase the time your left foot touches the ground. Our next training will also focus on this."

"Is it really possible?" Ford looked puzzled. What Li Dai said was contrary to all the previous coaches who instructed him. The other coaches hoped that he could shorten the time for him to touch the ground with his left foot as much as possible, but Li Dai unexpectedly Let him increase the time his left foot touches the ground.

"Coach Li, I once did a test in a research institution. Because my left leg is longer, the time for my left foot to touch the ground is longer than that of my right foot, about 14% longer." Ford said immediately.

"So the coaches you met before would tell you to reduce the length of time your left foot touches the bottom in order to achieve a balanced pace of both feet, and their training is also for this purpose, right?" Dai Li asked .

Ford nodded honestly. He didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Balanced steps are the most basic requirements for sprinters, and the more balanced the better, no one wants to take one step faster and one step slower. This kind of common sense even sprints Beginners know it all.

Dai Li continued to ask: "Then when did you go to the research institute to take the test? After you won the world championship?"

Ford nodded: "Yes, I won the 200-meter championship at the World Championships. At that time, I received some advertising endorsements. I had a lot of money, so I spent a lot of money on improving my performance."

"As expected!" Dai Li sighed softly, and continued: "Under normal circumstances, there is nothing wrong with pursuing the balance of your legs, but your situation is different. Your left leg is longer than your right leg. It means that when running, the moment of your left leg will be greater. According to the formula of physics, the moment is equal to the force multiplied by the moment arm. In order to achieve the balance of your legs, you must deliberately reduce the force of your left leg when running. Strength, or deliberately increase the strength of the right leg."

Ford nodded. The previous coach had indeed done such targeted training.

Li Dai went on to say; "It's also because your left leg is longer. When running, your left leg will touch the ground earlier, so your left foot will stay on the ground longer. Your previous coach must have required However, let your left foot get off the ground faster, the reason they ask for this is to make your stride frequency more balanced, but I think this will affect the integrity of your running instead.”

"You mean, I shouldn't pursue the balance of pace?" Ford asked with a look of surprise. He didn't understand Dai Li's thinking. After all, Dai Li's thinking ran counter to the traditional theory of sprinting.

"Correcting the asymmetry of your legs will not help you increase your speed, it will be counterproductive. Your legs are not the same length, so that kind of symmetrical running is an unnatural step for you. attitude." Dai Li paused for a moment, and then continued: "For the world's top sprinters, the peak strength of one foot on the ground can reach five times their body weight, and this peak occurs within 0.03 seconds after touching the ground. This is a very important source of motivation in the pre-process, and it can even determine the final result."

"For normal sprinters, their stride frequency is coordinated, and the peak power of the left and right legs should be similar. Even if there is a gap, the gap will never exceed 3%. But you are different. The power of your left and right legs is equal. The peak value should exceed 10%. Do you know why?" Dai Li asked.

"Because of the previous training?" Ford asked thoughtfully.

Dai Li nodded: "Correct, I just said that in your training a few years ago, in order to balance the torque of your legs, you must reduce the strength of your left leg or increase the strength of your right leg, and at the same time deliberately reduce the contact of your left leg to the ground." Over time, the strength of your left leg will also be lost, and this kind of training for many years will inevitably cause the peak strength of your right leg to strike the ground far more than your left leg."

"Your current situation is that the right leg is shorter, but the peak force of the right leg is higher. This is a situation that is completely opposite to the normal principle of force development, so the normal running method is not suitable for you. For you In other words, the most logical way to run is to keep your left foot on the ground longer, so your left leg will be exerted for longer, which will generate more centrifugal force to achieve the purpose of increasing speed."

"At the same time, this can also enhance your speed in the curve. When running in a curve, the body needs to lean to the left to maintain body balance. If the left foot is on the ground for a longer time, the stability of the curve running will be more At the same time, the peak force of your right foot on the ground can also be better displayed, so that you will have more kinetic energy and faster acceleration in the corner."

"So that's the case!" Ford nodded his head suddenly, and then his expression became extremely depressed: "So, I have been doing useless work in order to balance the frequency of steps all these years?"

"It's not just useless work, you are stabbing yourself with a knife." Dai Li looked at Fude with some sympathy. He could understand Fude's mood at this time.

As an athlete, he has worked hard for many years, spent a lot of time, money and sweat, but was told that all his efforts were negative. This must be a huge psychological blow.

"Don't be so depressed." Dai Li comforted, "It's still too late to start correcting. We can still catch up with the Olympic trials in late June. I will send you to the Olympic venue!"

...

Sean Ford's training is a mid- to long-term process. For an athlete with mature skills, changing his running style is very difficult, because changing a running style for top athletes is not just about running. However, many details still need to be perfected. Under normal circumstances, athletes can fully adapt to a new running style within a year, which is considered very fast.

Sean Ford's situation is somewhat different. The running method he used before was mainly to make up for the physical defects of long and short legs. From the perspective of the body as a whole, it was not an unnatural gait, but now Li Dai is letting His gait returns to nature, and his training efficiency is much faster.

For example, if a left-handed person is forced to use his right hand to use chopsticks, he will definitely feel that the movements are unnatural, but he will get used to it after practicing slowly. But even if he has used his right hand for many years, if he is allowed to use his left hand again, he will adapt quickly. Because that is the instinct of the body.

From this point of view, Sean Ford's previous running style was problematic, and Dai Li just let Sean Ford return to his instincts.

At the same time, Justin Alexander's performance is also constantly improving. After two small-scale competitions, Alexander gradually recovered his game status. He began to participate in some medium-sized competitions and won all of them.

Alexander used to be "the second fastest man in the world". With his level, even in the United States, the most powerful country in track and field, participating in medium-sized competitions can be regarded as overkill.

In three consecutive medium-scale track and field competitions, Alexander ran within 10.05 seconds, which greatly boosted his confidence. He decided to participate in some relatively large-scale and heavyweight events.

...

Pennsylvania Athletics Classic.

This is a semi-invitational competition. In the 100-meter sprint event, five of the eight participating athletes are invited, and the other three need to obtain places to participate in the main competition through the qualifying competition.

Perhaps Alexander's reputation is not very good due to his previous suspension for doping, or maybe he has just come back and has not achieved any very good results. He was not invited, and Alexander can only participate in the qualifying rounds. Then got a place in the race.

In the players' locker room, Alexander had just changed when he heard a familiar voice from behind: "Justin, why are you here? I remember that you were not on the invitation list this time!"

Alexander didn't need to look back to know that the speaker was his former coach - Sebastian.

"I heard that you went to the training center of the Chinese coach. Why, didn't he come with you?" Sebastian looked around and began to look for Dai Li.

Pennsylvania is in the eastern part of the United States, a little far away from Los Angeles, so Dai Li did not come to this competition.

Alexander didn't answer. He didn't want to have any interaction with Sebastian at all now, even if he talked, he could avoid it.

Sebastian acted like a chatterbox, and he said with some contempt: "I heard that you participated in several small competitions, but I didn't expect that you, the number one flying person in the United States, would be reduced to participate in those competitions." Kind of a little game."

Alexander heard the strong irony in Sebastian's words, but facing the former coach, Alexander still lacked confidence, so he decided to ignore Sebastian's irony.

Alexander's silence didn't stop Sebastian, he pointed to a young black athlete behind him, and said, "I'll introduce you to someone, 'Miami Lightning' Wharton, you should have heard Let’s go with the name. He started training with me a year ago, and in the last five consecutive games, he has scored under 10 seconds, including a time of 9.88 seconds.”

"So he is the talented sprinter Wharton from Miami!" Alexander had obviously heard of Wharton's name, and he couldn't help but look at Wharton a few more times. He was sensitively aware that this young Wharton would Will be his strongest opponent in the game.

For a 100-meter sprinter, if they can run within 10 seconds in five consecutive games, it can definitely be regarded as an extremely excellent result, and a score of 9.88 seconds is likely to win the championship in a world-class large-scale competition . But judging from these two statistics, this player named Wharton has the world's top 100-meter sprint level.

Wharton is a sprint rookie who has risen very rapidly in recent years. He won the National Youth Games championship in his youth, and now he has won the American College Athlete Championship for two consecutive years. In professional competitions, he also He often overcomes obstacles and achieves good results. Because Walton is a native of Miami, everyone gave him the nickname "Miami Lightning".

Now that Wharton and Sebastian are working together, the results are improving rapidly. Sebastian has won the award of the best track and field coach in the United States, and he has trained many athletes who are world champions. Regardless of character , Sebastian's training level is definitely the top in the world, and he and Wharton are a strong combination.

...

The 100-meter trapeze race is about to begin, and all eight contestants are on the starting line.

Sebastian looked at Wharton confidently. In his opinion, Wharton, who is in good condition, will definitely win today's game.

"Among the players participating today, although there are many powerful guys, they are definitely not Wharton's opponents. During training, Wharton's fastest time has already entered within 9.80 seconds."

A time of less than 9.80 seconds is enough to win the championship no matter in the World Championships or in the Olympics.

Of course, practice is different from competition. Athletes usually achieve better results in practice than in competition. Especially in some large-scale sports events, athletes who can display 80% of their strength are considered successful. However, it has to be admitted that the result of less than 9.80 seconds in the practice can still show that Wharton has extremely strong strength.

"Now Wharton should be the number one flying man in the United States. Next, I will train him to become the number one flying man in the world. Gitel has retired, and sprinting will inevitably return to the era of segregation. This kind of opportunity , of course you have to hold on firmly!"

Sebastian couldn't help thinking of Alexander again.

"Although Wharton's talent is very good, it is still slightly inferior to that of Alexander back then. I think Wharton's peak is at most becoming the second Alexander. It's a pity that Alexander refused to be used by me. But it doesn't matter anymore, Alexander is nothing to be afraid of now..."

"Crack!" The starting gunshot interrupted Sebastian's thoughts, and the athletes all rushed out of the starting line in an instant, and Sebastian's attention was refocused on Wharton.

Just as Sebastian expected, Wharton was indeed stronger than the others. After thirty meters, he was already more than one position ahead of the left and right athletes.

"Sure enough, we're definitely going to win." Sebastian just breathed a sigh of relief, but found that on the most marginal runway, there was someone as fast as Wharton.

"It's Alexander!" Sebastian's heart tightened suddenly, as if his heart had been pulled by someone.

In the 100-meter sprint, the two middle tracks are the best, while the last track is the worst. As a player who broke through in the qualifying round, Alexander could only be assigned to a relatively side track.

But this did not affect Alexander's amazing speed.

In the 60 meters, Wharton has clearly stood out from the competitors, and the only one who can keep pace with him is Alexander.

The audience at the scene began to boil, no one wanted to watch that kind of one-sided game, like now, two athletes fight together, no one knows who is the final winner, that is the most exciting game.

On the sidelines of the arena, Sebastian's expression had already froze, and an ominous feeling vaguely rose in his heart.

Sebastian used to be Alexander's coach, so he knows Alexander very well. To a certain extent, Alexander can be regarded as his outstanding disciple. In his memory, he still retains the appearance of Alexander at his peak.

But now, Alexander's performance on the field is exactly the same as the peak Alexander in his impression.

"It's not good!" When this idea came to Sebastian's mind, the athletes on the field were already approaching the finish line.

Wharton leaned forward, trying to reach the line with his head.

Alexander did not make the same movement, he just lowered his head slightly.

Because Alexander knew that he was in the lead, and his leading advantage prevented him from making a large touch line.

In the blink of an eye, all the athletes crossed the finish line, and then began to slow down.

On the big screen at the scene, the rebroadcast camera would only focus on the champion.

That person is Justin Alexander!