Chapter 162: This Could Even Be Found By You!
Equipped with an advanced detector that went against the law of nature, Da Li did not want to depend on the cheating device entirely. Therefore, he performed an analysis with the knowledge he had acquired himself, then drew a conclusion. After that, he performed detection on the sprinter with the advanced detector. He used the detection results to verify his conclusion, so that the factors he had neglected could be found.
This was quite similar to working on a difficult problem. You could solve it by yourself and get a result, then compare your result with the correct answer. This way, whether your original result was correct or not, you would always find your weaknesses and acquire new knowledge.
The advanced detector indeed detected several things Dai Li had missed.
My analysis grasped all the points, but it’s still not as comprehensive as the detector’s result. It seems that there is still a gap between me and the high level coaches in observation and judgment, so I will keep learning in future.
Dai Li took a deep breath, then started to give his response according to the "correct answer" the detector had given. "His landing technique has a sufficient push-off, high leg folding, fast hip movement, and accurate forward leg-swing direction; as for his weaknesses, the forward movement of his center of gravity is not fast enough, which results in uncoordinated stride movement; when his heels touch the ground, his leg is stretched out too far, and the results are high stress in the knee and insufficient buffering..."
"Very good!" Li Xue couldn’t help but compliment him. The advantages and disadvantages mentioned by Dai Li were flawless yet again. However, to Li Xue’s surprise, Dai Li had not finished giving his answer. He still had one sentence left to say.
"The high stress in the knee is caused by his sprained ankle ligament, which is still not recovered. "
The strained ankle ligament was the answer given by the advanced detector, which could not have been found by Dai Li with just his observation ability. Even Li Xue had not noticed the injury.
For an athlete, injuries during training or contests were inevitable. Normally, athletes would report their physical problems to the coaches, so that the coaches could be informed of their injuries. The coach could not read their athletes’ minds; without an active report from the athletes, the coach would never know of any minor injuries to the athlete like an ankle sprain or bruise.
But Dai Li had said the athlete was suffering from a sprained ankle ligament.
He sprained his ankle ligament? You even discovered that! Are you kidding me? Li Xue’s eyes widened with surprise
"What did you say? An ankle ligament sprain?" Li Xue asked.
Dai Li nodded his head seriously. He firmly believed that the detector could not have made a mistake.
An injury to the ankle ligament could be anywhere from minor to serious. Li Xue had no time to check the authenticity of Dai Li’s words, so he summoned the coach of the athlete to him immediately.
"Wang, did Xiong Chu sprain his ankle? Why didn’t you report to me?" Li Xue asked directly.
"Ankle sprain? No, Xiong Chu didn’t mention that to me." Coach Wang was greatly surprised. Li Xue gave Dai Li an angry stare as if he was blaming Dai Li for his groundless words.
Coach Wang wanted to make sure Li Xue believed him. He was afraid Li Xue would misunderstand him; after all, Li Xue was not only his boss, but also the second chief coach of the national team. So Coach Wang waved his hand and called over Xiong Chen, the athlete.
"Xiong Chu, did you hurt anything during training?" Coach Wang asked, hoping to get an answer from Xiong Chu. He wanted to prove to Li Xue that he was telling the truth.
However, Xiong Chu’s facial expression changed quickly.
"Coach, I, I am sorry. I didn’t tell you. Last night I tripped on my sink when I was on my way to the washroom and sprained my ankle. After stretching it several times, I didn’t think it would be a big problem, so I didn’t tell you," Xiong Chu said.
"You really sprained your ankle! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Coach Wang was shocked, and a little bit embarrassed. The athlete was injured, but his own coach didn’t know, which could be considered delinquency. More importantly, he had been caught by Li Xue red-handed.
Coach Wang began perspiring immediately, then turned around and tried to explain himself to Li Xue.
However, Coach Wang had not expected Li Xue to look more surprised than him.
He really sprained his ankle? What kind of person is this Dai Li? Does he have X-ray eyes that can detect injuries? If Li Xue had not seen it himself, he would have never believed what had just happened.
"OK, you go ahead. Just have him checked by the team doctor in the infirmary." Li Xue sent Coach Wang and Xiong Chu away, then asked Dai Li, "How did you notice Xiong Chu’s ankle sprain?"
At this moment, Dai Li realized he had said too much. A coach could never find minor injuries like an ankle sprain unless the athlete had showed signs of it deliberately.
But by this point in his career, Dai Li had already acquired thick skin, which made him unflappable. He chuckled and changed the subject with an irrelevant answer. "I learned a bit of rehabilitative massage. I was the rehabilitative massage therapist for several teams many times."
"You can even do that? Rehabilitative massage cannot be done recklessly. It requires expertise," Li Xue said.
"I learned it in university. The teacher said I was gifted in massage, so he taught me more skills," Dai Li said, maintaining his excuse.
But Li Xue wanted to verify Dai Li’s skill. He shouted to Xiong Chu who had left, "Xiong Chu, come back!"
Xiong Chu thought Li Xue was going to punish him, so he ran back with his head lowered and a depressed look on his face, then looked at Li Xue pathetically.
"Dai Li, give Xiong Chu massage therapy," Li Xue requested.
"OK!" Dai Li had Xiong Chu sit on the ground and take off his running shoes. Then, Dai Li began to perform the rehabilitative massage on Xiong Chu’s sprained ankle.
Soon, the training ground was filled with the howl of Xiong Chu.
"It hurts! It hurts so much, Coach Li, please do it gently!" Xiong Chu was sweating because of the sharp pain. Later, however, he seemed to be very comfortable, almost as if he was enjoying the massage.
Standing beside them, Li Xue watched the massage therapy carefully.
His massage manipulations are quite professional! He must have received specialized training! According to Xiong Chu’s reaction, his massage seems to be quite effective. This Dai Li continues to surprise me. It looks like I should talk to Shuren Zhao about keeping this Dai Li on the national team!"
...
Xiong Chu stood up and wiggled his ankle, then jumped several times.
"How does it feel?" Li Xue asked eagerly.
"Fully recovered! It doesn’t hurt anymore," Xiong Chu answered in amazement.
Li Xue turned to Dai Li and said, "Wow, you are really somebody! I saw your manipulations, they are quite professional. You must have received specialized training before!"
Dai Li smiled modestly. Li Xue continued, "That’s quite good! I was wondering whether I should take you to broaden your horizon on the playing fields of the National Track and Field Championship match next month. Now I see that I have to take you with me, for you can act as the massage therapist."