With old friend, Sreeshankar working on polishing final steps before take off board

CHENNAI: Over the last few years or so, Indian athletics has gone from strength to strength on the back of some impressive performances. One Olympic gold, multiple Worlds finalists, eight Commonwealth Games medals and many new national records is an indication of this new-found strength, relative to where they were as late as six years ago.

One man who has been identified as the symbol of this next generation is M Sreeshankar, the long-jumper who soared into the history books with his silver at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Sreeshankar is preparing for a loaded 2023 including the Worlds and the Asian Games. During the course of the year, he will also attempt to win a quota at next year’s Olympics.

Keeping that in mind, he rang up an old friend when he decided to make the US his training base for a short time before moving to Europe in peak Spring. Sreeshankar and father, Murali, have known coach Keith Herston for a long time. Herston, a member of the coaching staff at Texas Tech, had recruited Sreeshankar to the University five years ago. Since then, they have stayed in constant touch with each other and have become ‘very good friends’. So, it was logical that Sreeshankar and his father, who doubles up his permanent coach, picked the facility at the Lone Star State ahead of multiple tests.

Herston will have Sreeshankar only for a few more days before the father-son duo depart for California. So time is of the essence considering they are working on something highly specific. “We are just working on the finish of the approach before the jump,” Herston tells this daily. “The last three steps before take-off. Just making sure it’s accurate and consistent.”

How are they doing that? By repetition. “It’s really just setting a pattern that he can replicate in his last three steps and his approach to the board to set himself for the best jump possible. If he’s even off by a little, that’s the difference between medalling and not medalling.

“The biggest thing we want to do is ensure his entry to the board is correct so he can channel his explosive abilities as much as possible because if you are out of position going to the take-off board, you are not going to quite have the same take-off angles. That’s what we are really focusing on the most. He’s so strong that it’s easy for him to have big strides so we want to tighten those up just a bit.”

Herston, who has a Masters in kinesiology, is also at the ideal place to comment on Sreeshankar’s growth. “I have been watching him for five years,” he says. “He’s got much stronger and faster, of course he’s a man now. Five years ago, he was still in his youth. His jumping ability, he can really get off the ground now. He was a talent then, he’s a world-class talent now.”

When Herston first saw him, the then teenager was jumping around 7.70m. Now, he’s a regular 8.1m+ jumper whose current ceiling is just north of 8.35m. Herston is of the opinion that Sreeshankar, because of the pace with which he approaches the board, is ideally placed to add a few more cms as long as he converts the speed at take-off point into vertical velocity. “They (all the professional jumpers) all have similarities. Speed is obviously the biggest one. (Olympic gold-medallist Miltiadis) Tentoglou is very similar as well. But it’s not about how fast you are, it’s about converting the speed into vertical to get height off the board but you can’t lose your speed and that’s what both of them do well.”

Ever since Herston first saw Sreeshankar, the latter has been sending videos of his jumps to him and the former has been helping him with a few minor tweaks here and there. This relationship works because both Herston and Murali know what their roles are.

“His dad is his coach so you want to stick to the programme. They still have the main things set up the way they want to set up. I don’t do anything except for go through dad. I don’t want to do anything that dad doesn’t approve of. So, it’s really just making sure that I go to his dad and make sure he approves. If he sees what I see, then we go and try to change. If not, then the biggest thing is let it be. Make it as comfortable as possible. The biggest thing with athletics is you don’t want to force things if you are not quite comfortable.

“I have known them for so long, really good friends of mine. It’s really two coaches doing the best they can for their athlete. That’s really it at this point. There’s really no reason to be worried about stepping on each other’s toes. We respect each other and both just want the best for Sree.”With the partnership already yielding rewards over the last few years, it could result in more honours in 2023.