Almighty Coach

Even though the 100m sprint was the easiest activity of the track and field competition, there were still many skills needed for it that weren’t apparent to the average person. However, most of the tricks were meant for professional athletes— the basic movements could be taught to beginners. The most important thing for the latter was strengthening the explosive force of the legs and increasing speed.

There were many training methods whose core idea was built around bearing loads and adding resistance to strengthen the power of the legs. For example, jumping and squatting with weights, running while pulling another person, and running while dragging a tire were all popular exercises. As for speed, the only way to get faster was to run over and over again. To avoid any "speed limitation," racing was often used to bring out athletes’ top speed, this way they could compare with each other.

Dai Li had already bought training equipment like sandbags, which were sold for 30 or 40 yuan each on the internet. However, Dai Li had gone to the shopping mall for sports gear, just so he could buy ten of them for wholesale price, which was cheaper than buying them online. He had also bought some discarded tires. After tying some ropes to them, they could be used as weights for resistance training, which would have costed a few bucks.

Training had never been a problem for Dai Li, since that was what he had majored in. Maybe he was not experienced enough compared to the professional coaches, but when it came to training ability, he was just as good as anyone.

...

During the lunch break, Dai Li dealt with a pair of sandbags for legs.

These sandbags are much easier to use compared to what I had when I was young. I remember these sandbags were literally ’sand’ bags, full of sand that would easily leak out through the gaps and fall into my shoes. I still remember that grinding feeling. Sandbags nowadays are made with tiny steel balls and thin lead, which are much more comfortable. Dai Li lined up the sandbags on the floor, then checked what empirical value he had gained.

He had gotten 18 points of value this morning, even though there were only 13 students. It was the same number he had gotten during the high school entrance PE exam training class, when he trained 36 students.

It’s exceeded my expectations. I got the same empirical value training 13 students as I did training 36 students in the same amount of time. I tripled my experience gaining speed, Dai Li thought to himself, shocked with joy.

The System explained immediately, "I told you before that the empirical value differed from trainee to trainee. The fatties you trained before were worse than sports amateurs, which for sure made you gain value slower. These high school students you are training are strong and healthy, even compared to others from the same age group. You will gain value quicker just because of that. This is normal."

"So if what you’re saying is true, my empirical value will soar if there is a world top-class athlete for me to train!" Dai Li made up his mind in that moment that he would coach a professional athlete someday, as a real coach.

Dai Li took out the list and checked all the students’ sports abilities. Most of them were above 65. One of them was even at a 71. This was an excellent number for a sophomore high school student who was 16 or 17. Even Dai Li only had an 80, even though he was in his physical prime. What made it even more impressive was the fact that Dai Li had been trained a lot because of his major—these high school students focused more on their studies than they did sports.

Dai Li detected the same students in the afternoon, but none of their sports ability numbers had improved. Dai Li wasn’t upset, however, because he knew that the higher one’s sports ability was, the harder it was for them to improve. This is what he had expected.

The teenagers I trained before improved very fast because of their low sports abilities. But now I’m dealing with kids whose sports abilities are above 60. it’s going to grow slowly, Dai Li thought to himself.

"Not only that," the golden head’s voice said, "you benefited from the top-level coach trial card when you were getting those results. Right now you are only a sophomore coach. There is a big gap between the two."

I need to upgrade as soon as possible, Dai Li thought, drawing himself back to the training field.

...

It was already five o’clock, but the sun was still high in the sky with its dazzling light, which made the air hot. School had almost come to an end. All the students were exhausted after a full day of training. Dai Li bought each student a popsicle using his own money, then gathered everyone together to take a rest.

They sat on the ground as the wind blew. Everyone was holding a bottle of mineral water in their hand and a popsicle in their mouth. Everything was at ease. Dai Li had told them to rest and recover their physical strength. He sat right next to the door and stared at the end of the road, waiting. After a while, a black Land Rover SUV showed up.

Here he comes. That’s Haiyang Chen’s father. Dai Li turned back and asked, "Haiyang, feel better?"

"Kind of. My legs still ache though," Haiyang Chen answered.

"Let’s warm up for the 100m sprint to show your father the today’s training result," Dai Li said.

Haiyang Chen’s father parked his car and walked out. Dai Li walked up to him and gave the electronic timer to the father. "I was just about to test Haiyang Chen. Would you mind timing your son to see how much progress he’s made today?"

Haiyang Chen’s father had thought he would just pick his son up, but he still took the timer after hearing Dai Li’s words. As a father, he was definitely curious about his son’s improvement after a full day of training.

Haiyang Chen had not been on Dai Li’s training list this morning, but now he was. That meant he would benefit from the explosive force halo from now on.