Chapter 80 - An Accurate Long Pass (2/2)

“I’m asking if it’s possible or not.”

“That… I’m not sure, I’ve never seen it before! That’s very difficult since a goalkeeper could stop the ball if it’s an open big kick. You can’t achieve 100 % accuracy. In fact, 65 % is already very good! For long passes, the goal is to exercise. But, the rate of accuracy would be even lower as a result, about 40%. Nonetheless, that’s also considered excellent. Hey, why are you asking me about this?”

Li Yongle laughed. “Because, I could probably obtain 100 % accuracy in my long passes!”

Zhang Lintao thought that he heard wrongly. “How much?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Are you burning up? Even a professional soccer player can’t do 100 %! Back to the topic, how have you trained for it? Just saying it doesn’t prove it.”

“Good game!” There were cheers coming from the basketball court. An attacker performed a beautiful offense from the third quarter line and the basketball “brushed” into the hollow basket.

Li Yongle looked at the basketball post and he suddenly smiled. “I have a plan!”

Physical education class during the afternoon was normally for free activities.

Zhang Lintao and Zhang Yang had a look of suspicion on their faces as they watched Li Yongle place 10 soccer balls in the midfield. He then stood behind the balls. There were two basketball courts that separated him from the soccer field runway.

The people who were on the targeted basketball courts had been transferred to another place. The number one star of the school’s soccer team had to practice and the students naturally supported him.

Thus, Li Yongle began his special training.

He walked up to the first ball and took two steps before kicking it towards the basket in the opposite basketball court. The targeted hoop was about 30 m away from him.

The soccer ball flew into the sky and fell into the basketball hoop, but it was a pity that it did not hit the backboard or the basket. It fell out.

Li Yongle looked at the basketball post and this time, he got the ball to the edge of the backboard.

The third kick was a partial success again.

And the forth kick was splotched too.

In his series of 10 kicks, except for the second one, which slightly wiped the edge of the backboard, the other nine kicks were all failures.

“Training’s not working?” Zhang Lintao asked him.

Li Yongle shook his head. “Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what it is.”

…

“Good shot!” The basketball court was blasted with cheers as a few of them were watching. It was the three-point shooter from that morning and he just shot another ball from the three-point line. It was a very, very beautiful high throw and the basketball went into the net.

“Beautiful!” Li Yongle could not help but praise too.

“He’s our school basketball team’s three-point shooter, of course he’s brilliant!” Zhang Lintao replied.

“You know him?” Zhang Yang asked.

“I’m interested in basketball too. He’s the main force of our school’s basketball team, how wouldn’t I know…”

Before Zhang Lintao could finish his speech, he was pulled to the basketball court by Li Yongle. “Go ahead, ask him. We need his help!” Zhang Yang immediately followed.

“Guys?” The shooter looked at Li Yongle, who was half a head taller than him.

“Hehe, here’s the thing, we’re interested in your three pointers and we’d like to know how you train.” Zhang Lintao was full of smiles.

“How I train? I just repeatedly shoot the ball every day!”

“What are your tips and methods?”

“Tips?” The shooter laughed. “The shooting practice is kind of a repetitive movement. Find the rhythm and sensation of shooting the ball in these repeated exercises. Record it with your body, arm and wrist, then use it naturally when it’s time!”

“But, there’s always a way to start practicing.”

“The way huh.” The shooter lifted the ball in front of him. “You have to look straight at your target. For example, I’m now staring at the front of the back basket and after this, I’m going to make a clean shot.” Once he said that, he jumped and took a shot. The ball once again flew in a high arc and fell into the net. It was a clean shot!

Li Yongle sighed.

Someone threw the ball back to the shooter. “Now I’m marking the upper right corner of the backboard. From this point of view, I can make a shot.

“Of course, there are hand-held positions, wrist swings, finger movements, knee power and waist-to-belly coordination to consider as well. In short, it is the result of consistent coordination throughout the body!”

“So, do you understand?” Returning to the soccer field, Zhang Yang asked Li Yongle with confusion written all over his face.

Li Yongle laughed. “Let’s give it a try!” He stared at the basketball post on the other side and launched a kick. The soccer ball then rebounded on the backboard. “He wasn’t not wrong!” He raised his fist excitedly.

“Wrong about what?” Zhang Yang did not understand.

“I think I’ve got it.” Zhang Lintao clapped. “That shooter wasn’t wrong. Before shooting the ball, you have to make sure what your target is. To make a clean shot, one has to stare at the back edge of the basket, so that one has a target. If you want to aim for the board, you have to stare at its position. After your eyes have locked on to the target, your body will be consistent from top to bottom, allowing the ball to be thrown at the middle of the target. If you hesitate when you attack, you won’t know where the ball will be shot at and it’ll definitely be a failure. The same applies to soccer. Be sure to know what your goal is.”

Li Yongle nodded. “Correct! A ball without a target will only be a blind kick.” After he was done speaking, he kicked the ball. It hit the backboard and bounced into the basket!

“The results… aren’t bad at all!”