Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/02/2023
Chapter 189: Su Bai's Coaching Course
Physical training programs were widely accepted concepts within the national team, but they had not yet been fully popularized in various provincial teams.
According to the traditional views of many track and field coaches, what is physical training? Aren't our daily track and field training sessions already a form of physical training? Is there really a need for separate physical training?
While it might be a straightforward concept for ordinary people to understand that there is physical training alongside specialized track and field training, some traditional track and field coaches find it difficult to digest this concept.
In various provincial teams, not every team has a dedicated physical training coach due to differences in team philosophies and ideas. Therefore, Su Bai took the opportunity to provide these trial athletes recruited into the national team with a conceptual lecture on "physical training."
The specific details of the course regarding the different aspects of physical training are not mentioned here. In summary, Su Bai thoroughly instilled the concept of physical training into the minds of these trial athletes during the course.
Apart from imparting theoretical concepts, Su Bai was also observing each athlete's reactions in real-time during the class. He was assessing their ability to understand and accept these new concepts.
It had been almost a week since the trials began, and Su Bai had developed a basic understanding of the 60 athletes before him.
Overall, this group of trial athletes selected for the national team had excellent physical qualities and talents. Among them, Qiu Mingjie had the greatest natural talent, especially in terms of absolute speed. Another standout in absolute speed was Jing Feibai. Additionally, Wu Tian, originally from the long jump event, showed great potential in absolute speed.
Among the female trial athletes, the one with the best talent was Yang Yi, the girl who had been harassed by Ding Ruihan because of her good looks. Not only was she attractive, but she also took great care of her appearance. She stood out among all the female team members due to her stunning looks. However, Yang Yi was not just about her appearance. Alongside her beauty, she was also incredibly serious and determined in her training. She had a strong sense of pride and didn't want others to dismiss her as just a pretty face. Therefore, when it came to training, she was even more ruthless than the other female athletes.
In addition to Yang Yi, there is another female athlete in the team who possesses exceptional speed, named Lin Nan. She originally competed in the women's long jump event and has strong explosive power. However, like Qiu Wen, she faces difficulties in mastering the rhythm. What sets her apart from Qiu Wen is that she is aware of this weakness and is very eager to improve. She has been seeking advice from many trial athletes who originally trained for the 400m event in order to correct her rhythm issues.
In the past few days, while she was seeking advice on rhythm control from others, Su Bai happened to pass by and personally gave her some guidance. Following Su Bai's advice, she is now making rapid progress.
Although only a week has passed since the trials began, the athletes have already developed a good understanding of each other's abilities and personalities.
For these trial athletes, the initial excitement of joining the national team has gradually faded. Under the guidance of Su Bai and the national team coaches, these trial athletes have already immersed themselves in a rigorous training routine.
Compared to the past, there is a significant difference in training philosophy, and for some athletes, the entirely new 400m event training has made their days much more fulfilling.
The coaches responsible for these trial athletes have become proficient in using the training details and record arrangements provided by Su Bai during this week. Furthermore, during the evening training sessions, these coaches have gradually understood the purpose of each project listed in Su Bai's detailed training records.
In the trial team, things have temporarily fallen into place, and Su Bai has started to give them more autonomy. He only spends a certain amount of time each day observing different athletes and then records their respective progress in his notebook.
At the same time, he has redirected more of his time and energy back to the existing national team athletes.
Since it is currently in the middle of the season, athletes often have various competition tasks and schedules. During the intervals between competitions, coaches need to adjust the athletes' training based on the importance of the upcoming events. During this phase, it is difficult for athletes to undergo overly complex technical adjustments or engage in strength and endurance training that requires a significant amount of time to yield results.
However, during this period, it would be wasteful to have athletes engage in routine maintenance training alone. Therefore, most coaches choose to arrange minor technical adjustments and improvements for athletes during the gaps in their competition schedules.
Su Bai is no exception.
During this time, Su Bai made adjustments for the 400m event veteran athletes, focusing on improving their starting techniques.
Starting technique may seem simple, but renowned athletics coaching teams abroad have conducted research on the "impact of various phases of sprinting on overall sprinting performance." Although the acceleration phase is the most critical phase affecting the 100m sprint performance, the starting technique has an influence on the acceleration phase. Therefore, the starting posture alone has a greater impact on sprinting performance than many people imagine.
Of course, Su Bai does not intend to adjust all athletes' starting postures to a so-called "uniform scientific standard posture." Instead, after thorough research and conducting numerous experiments with simulated athletes in a systematic space, he has roughly planned suitable starting postures for each athlete on the team.
During this week, while the trial team's training was progressing, the official team was not neglected. Su Bai reviewed the starting posture videos of each athlete one by one and analyzed each athlete's preliminary technique.
Similar to what he did with the trial team, Su Bai conducted an internal analysis session for the 400m event within the team. After allowing the athletes to see their own technical actions clearly, they could develop their understanding of concepts like starting techniques and preliminary techniques.
In the past, the national team athletes had indeed devoted themselves to studying their starting preparations, and their respective coaches had diligently corrected their relevant postures. However, analyzing each athlete's preliminary posture collectively in front of so many people had never been done before.
As Su Bai explained the preliminary technique to everyone and displayed one after another athlete's preliminary posture on the screen, the team members, including Zhang Ziyi, couldn't help but chuckle.
These athletes had all learned what was considered the textbook-correct preliminary posture. However, it wasn't as simple as learning it. Not every athlete could adapt to the so-called standard posture. It was similar to everyone knowing the proper handwriting posture for better physical health, but when it came to actually writing, people still did it in a way that felt comfortable to them.
Of course, because the preliminary posture was related to the sprinting performance of athletes, they would still make efforts to maintain a relatively scientific posture according to their coaches' guidance. However, during actual execution, these movements inevitably varied due to the athletes' individual body dynamics.
For example, take Qiu Wen as an example. On the projection screen were four images capturing Qiu Wen's starting preliminary posture from different angles. From the images, it was clear that Qiu Wen's hips habitually tilted slightly to the left.
In accordance with the standard posture, during the preliminary technique, the athlete's hips should be positioned in the center between the athlete's arms and legs when raised.
Qiu Wen's issue was relatively minor, but it looked quite noticeable, which made him blush and refuse to look at the screen in the meeting room.
As for Zhang Ziyi, he was already a very meticulous technical template in the team. After his posture and angle analysis were displayed, it could be seen that his muscle memory had allowed him to lock every angle to the most standard criteria. However, Su Bai still made adjustments to Zhang Ziyi's movements.
"Ah? Do we really need to adjust Old Zhang's technique?" Qiu Wen looked shocked, his face displaying a look of astonishment. He couldn't understand why there would be a need to make adjustments to Zhang Ziyi's already excellent technique.
Su Bai smiled and nodded, "Ziyi's technique is indeed very standard, but standard doesn't necessarily mean it's the best."
"If there were such a thing as the 'most correct posture' in the world, then our criteria for selecting athletes might not be who has the most explosive power but rather who has the most adaptable technique."
This statement, though simple, made sense. The athletes in the room also remembered occasions in their past training careers when adjusting their technical posture to be 'more scientific' had actually led to a decline in their performance.
Su Bai went on to explain that maintaining Zhang Ziyi's current starting position had an impact on his force application when pushing off the starting block and the direction he moved after pushing off, which made it difficult to achieve the best results.
It was only after Su Bai pointed it out that Zhang Ziyi recalled that, indeed, there was a period of time when he struggled to adapt to the new technique after making the adjustments to his starting posture. Back then, he and Coach Wang simply thought it was a short-term discomfort, which was common when adapting to new techniques. Usually, after a period of adjustment, performance would improve.
After adjusting to it for some time, Zhang Ziyi had forgotten about the issue with his starting technique and had focused on other aspects of training. However, now Su Bai had brought it up again.
In this day's training session, the athletes in the team once again marveled at Su Bai's meticulous observation of athletes and his keen attention to detail.
Over a week had passed since then. Although the internal trials in the trial team had not yet begun, there was a group of athletes in the national team who were already preparing to fly to the Netherlands.
A new competition had begun, and this time, the Netherlands leg of the World Athletics Challenge would mark Li Junhao's first appearance in the 400-meter solo event on the international stage!
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 190: Expectations of Fans
Starting from June 6th, athletes from the national track and field team traveled in groups to countries such as the Netherlands, Finland, and Norway. Before these athletes went abroad, Fang Yu, Cui Luoheng, Zhang Ziyi, and a few others had gone to the city of S to participate in the IAAF Diamond League S City Meeting.
The IAAF Diamond League S City Meeting, as a world-class athletics series event rarely held in China, naturally attracted a lot of attention. Although Fang Yu, Cui Luoheng, and Zhang Ziyi did not meet the participation standards for the Diamond League during the 2018 outdoor season, based on their current performance, at least Fang Yu and Cui Luoheng had already secured the qualifications to participate in the Diamond League.
With the current fervor for track and field events in China, this Diamond League event held in the city of S also received widespread attention. However, compared to the performances of Fang Yu, Cui Luoheng, and Zhang Ziyi, the athlete who truly wowed the live audience in this competition was Wang Shen.
Previously, many people believed that Wang Shen's career-best performance of 2.35 meters at the Asian Championships was a bit unfortunate because it had not fallen within the qualification period for the Tokyo Olympics track and field standards.
High jump has many uncertainties, with various factors such as an athlete's competitive state, psychological state, and more significantly influencing each jump. It was rare for any athlete to boldly claim that they could clear the height of 2.30 meters in every competition.
Therefore, before the competition started, no one had high expectations for Wang Shen's performance in this Diamond League event. At most, they hoped that Wang Shen could achieve a decent result in this competition.
However, while the audience was still discussing when Wang Shen would be able to clear the Tokyo Olympics qualifying height of 2.33 meters, the bar at the Diamond League S City Meeting had already been raised to a height of 2.33 meters.
Wang Shen, in the tense atmosphere where almost no one in the audience could breathe, effortlessly cleared 2.33 meters. After landing and flipping, he smiled and waved to the surrounding audience. His relaxed demeanor made it seem as if he had just cleared a small bump instead of the Tokyo Olympics qualifying height of 2.33 meters.
Even the athletes present at the scene were amazed by Wang Shen's outstanding performance. They enthusiastically applauded him, and the audience in the stands went crazy, shouting Wang Shen's name in unison, causing a 3-minute pause in the competition.
On that day, a photo taken by the media received hundreds of thousands of likes on Weibo. The photo captured Wang Shen facing the audience, slightly tilting his head with a smile, raising his clenched right fist in celebration. The excited shouts and waving of red flags in the audience stands created a scene that could almost be felt through the photo, with deafening cheers piercing through the image.
During the Diamond League event that day, the Chinese athletics team performed well, but the international top athletes who came to compete delivered even more magical performances. In the men's 100 meters event, four athletes ran under 10 seconds. Despite Fang Yu's excellent form, his time of 10.00 seconds placed him fifth among these exceptional runners.
In the 110 meters hurdles, Cui Luoheng didn't set a new personal best but achieved a good time of 13.23 seconds. However, he finished third against two top-class hurdlers in the same race.
In the men's 400 meters event, the competitors seemed to be exceptionally fast that day. Among three American athletes, only one ran under 45 seconds, making him the only athlete to achieve this feat that day. Following him was Zhang Ziyi, who ran 45.12 seconds and secured second place. While this was a good result, the overall level of competition in this event was not top-notch, which tempered the excitement.
After a full day of competition, the highlights of the day were Wang Shen clearing 2.33 meters and leaving the second-place athlete 3 cm below, as well as the women's javelin victory and the setting of a meet record.
June and July were already months stacked with various sizes of athletics events. This year, with the World Athletics Championships scheduled and the need to secure qualifications for the Tokyo Olympics next year, athletes were actively participating in competitions to adjust their competitive status, find better performance feelings, and set new records. As a result, news of athletes participating in various events started to flood in.
Domestic athletics Grand Prix events, short sprint and jumping group competitions, throwing group training competitions, and others were also attracting the attention of athletics enthusiasts and internet users. Competitions that involved a large number of national team members garnered even more attention.
When the national team announced the news of athletes heading to the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, and other countries for competitions and released the list of participants, internet users instantly turned their attention to the consecutive competitions scheduled for June 9th, 11th, and 13th.
On the internet, athletics enthusiasts on the TAthletics Kingdom forum began discussing the list of participants as soon as it was posted by the national team's official social media account.
The primary reason for this discussion was to assess how many Tokyo Olympic and World Athletics Championships qualifications the national team had secured so far. Additionally, they were interested in identifying how many domestic athletes had the potential and opportunities to secure qualifications for various events.
After going through the list of participants for this competition, many people noticed the presence of Li Junhao.
Subject: 【Exciting! Li Junhao Appears on the Entry List for the World Athletics Challenge in the Netherlands!!!】
Subject Content:【For those old friends in the forum who might remember, I've been following Li Junhao since the beginning when he first came out. Back then, I was known as the "Li Junhao enthusiast" in the forum.
However, later on, as most of you are aware, Li Junhao went through a period of low performance, or you could even say he seemed a bit resigned... At that time, me and a few friends who were also following him were really disappointed.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but in the 2018 season, Li Junhao didn't run under 47.50 seconds in any individual race throughout the year. In many races, his time was hovering around 48 seconds, and he even failed to qualify for the 2018 Grand Prix Final in the 400 meters.
During that time, I almost felt in my heart that Li Junhao might have no hope of making a comeback... There have been athletes in the past who had a fragile mindset and completely fell apart.
Afterward, when I saw Li Junhao's name on the 4x400m relay roster at the Asian Games, I was still very worried. He was anchoring the last leg, carrying the heaviest burden in the 4x400m relay! At that time, I was even thinking that maybe Coach Su Bai, being a novice coach, didn't assess the athletes properly and made a random roster... But the performance of Big Hao completely exceeded my imagination...
From the Asian Games to the Asian Championships and the previous World Athletics Relay Championships, watching these competitions, I finally had confidence in my heart—this guy, Big Hao, has truly risen again! Even if he can only contribute in the 4x400m relay event, he is an indispensable part of our national relay team.
I won't hide it from you, my fellow brothers, I am excited and happy in my heart!
However, the previous competitions were all relay events, after all. Throughout this year, I've been waiting for when Coach Su will give Big Hao a chance to compete in his individual event. Now, I finally got what I was waiting for! It's the World Athletics Challenge in the Netherlands!
This is Big Hao's first time participating in international events as a men's 400m individual athlete, and it's even a competition of this caliber...
Without saying anything else, I just want to say here: Big Hao, come on!!! Show us your true performance!!!】
The original poster who posted this thread, judging from his little essay, you can tell how excited he is. As he mentioned, he once thought Li Junhao was going downhill, but in the end, Li Junhao made a comeback in the 400m event.
The upcoming World Athletics Challenge in the Netherlands is Li Junhao's first 400m individual race since his comeback.
Apart from the original poster, many in the Athletics Kingdom share the same eager anticipation.
Ever since Su Bai earned the nicknames "Super Brain" and "Prophet" due to his performance in a live broadcast on Yokohama Television, forum members have compiled summaries of "Su's Predictions" from various sources. Among these predictions is Su Bai's forecast regarding the national team's participation slots for the upcoming World Championships this year.
Su Bai concluded that in the men's 400m event at the World Championships, the 400m team he leads will be fully represented.
Initially, many people were shocked by this statement of a full team, but as Zhang Ziyi and Qiu Wen successively secured spots in the men's 400m event at the World Championships, Su Bai's statement seemed to be just a step away from becoming a reality.
Surveying all the current male 400m athletes in the country, who else has the potential to achieve the 45.30 qualifying standard for the World Championships?
Guo Dun? Lin Chuan? Zhang Wei? Hu Li?
While these athletes have had decent past performances, with Zhang Wei and Hu Li even benefiting from personal coaching by Su Bai, it seems they all still lack that extra edge to break through to the 45.30 level.
Upon closer inspection, Li Junhao, once hailed as a prodigy but who also went through a period of decline, then resurged brilliantly in the 4x400m relay, seems to be the third strong contender for a World Championship qualification spot, as predicted by Su Bai.
However, so far, these are all speculations.
Since his resurgence, Li Junhao has continuously participated in various relay events. Since the beginning of this year, he has been fully dedicated to relay training and competitions, aiming for qualification in the 4x400m relay event for both the World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics.
After waiting for so long, everyone can finally witness Li Junhao's performance at the World Athletics Challenge in the Netherlands on June 9th!
With these thoughts in mind, the excitement among countless track and field enthusiasts is palpable!
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------