Essential characteristics of special sports

The first is the extreme development of specific kinematic chains within the boundaries of fixed rules, the second is the solidification of muscle memory in special action patterns with high error tolerance, and the third is the millisecond-level decision-making efficiency game in competitive scenarios. This is the core logic that I figured out after spending three years in the physical fitness position of the provincial team, following the preparation cycles of three events, and going through countless training pitfalls.

Two weeks ago, I went to play football with my friends on a field field. I met an uncle who had been playing field football for more than ten years. He could run 100 meters for 11 and a half seconds and could run a full marathon at full endurance. However, he was playing with a U16 kid from a sports school who had just practiced football for three years. This is the most typical example of "failure to grasp the essence of the special project." No matter how strong the general quality is, if it does not meet the core needs of the special project, it will be an ineffective ability.

In fact, the sports academic community has been arguing about this issue for almost 20 years. One group is the "universal basic school", which believes that as long as the general qualities of strength, explosive power, and endurance are at the top, you can quickly get started in any special event. In the early years, many provincial team selections first went to the track and field team to practice basic training for half a year, and then were diverted to various events.； The other group is the "specialized priority group", which believes that general qualities that are divorced from specialized action patterns are invalid qualities. The more you practice, the easier it is to form wrong muscle memory and affect your specialized performance. There are solid cases supporting both sides, and no one can convince the other.

I have come across a typical counterexample when I was doing physical fitness tests on the wrestling team. There was a member of the 60-kilogram class who could pull 180 kilograms in a squat, which was better than the strength data of all members of the same level. When it came to actual combat, he was always thrown by his opponents and could not even make the top eight. Later, when we measured it with a motion capture device, we discovered that he had practiced weightlifting for two years before and was used to squatting with his feet 30 degrees apart. Wrestling holds require a narrow stance with parallel feet and a forward center of gravity. The strength on the front of his thighs that he had developed could not be used in confrontation. Do you think it was unfair?

However, this does not mean that general qualities are completely useless. If you look at the many freestyle skiers who have been selected from across borders and disciplines in recent years, they all originally practiced gymnastics. They can get rankings in national competitions within half a year of joining the team. This is actually because they have hit the overlapping point of special characteristics - gymnastics. The core control and aerial space perception skills practiced are exactly the core kinetic chain of freestyle skiing aerial skills. It is not that general qualities are useful, but that general qualities just meet the needs of specific events. If you try another weightlifting practitioner, no matter how big the explosive power is, it will be useless.

When it comes to solidifying movement patterns, many amateurs actually have this misunderstanding, thinking that all I need to do is practice more. I used to have a golf friend who played table tennis three times a week. He had been practicing forehand attacks for almost two years. His movements looked so standard that they could be used as an instructional video. When it came to games, he stretched his hips and either hit the net or went out of bounds. Later, I looked up the coach of the provincial team and said that when he was practicing, the coach would feed the ball at a fixed landing point without moving his feet at all. During the game, the ball's landing point changed and he couldn't keep up with his steps. No matter how standard his upper body was, it was useless. Special action patterns are never isolated single movements, but a whole set of chain reactions from footstep adjustment, weight shift to ball release. Without the muscle memory of any link, it would be useless on the court.

As for the final decision-making efficiency game, for example, you can understand the tactical movement of professional basketball players. You don’t have to think about it until the end. Your teammates will know where they are going to pass the ball as soon as they raise their hands. If you were stunned for 0.5 seconds on the court and thought about where to run, your chance would have been gone. I talked to the coaches of the short track speed skating team before, and they said that in the last three laps of the short track confrontation, the players had no time to think about how to get stuck, how to turn, and how to prevent the opponent from fouling. They were all reactions engraved in their bones after training tens of thousands of times. A difference of 0.1 seconds was the difference between the championship and last place.

I usually run marathons. In the past two years, I always heard people say that to train your core, you need to do planks. I practiced hard until I could hold it for 8 minutes, but I still shook badly after running 30 kilometers. Later, I found a retired coach from a professional team and asked me to stop doing planks and practice more single-leg deadlifts and weight-bearing twists. After two months of training, I almost kept pace in the second half of the last marathon. To put it bluntly, whether you are a professional athlete or an ordinary person like us, the most taboo thing in training is to copy homework. You can practice whatever the world champion practices. You must first understand the essence of the special event you are playing, which force chain to practice, what action patterns to solidify, and what scene reactions to practice. Otherwise, no matter how hard you practice, it will be useless work.