More than 60 000 hits later, Erick Hernandez took the ball in his hands, kissed it and kicked it in the direction of his brother Douglas. It had been 12 hours and seven minutes after he began, at eight in the morning, to control the ball with his feet only to break a longstanding record of the world, his as well.
With visible discomfort in the legs, back and neck, Erick collapsed on the floor and his trainers took over, and with massage and ice freed him of his pain, caused by an exhausting day in which he dealt with the gradual physical exhaustion and pressure not to drop the ball, at the Copacabana Hotel in the capital, the venue of his umpteenth attempt to break an absolute record.
“In this variant of ball control you have virtually no defense, because in case of failure the ball goes straight to the floor, there is not a middle ground as the thighs when working with the head or the feet themselves when the attempt is with thighs,” Douglas Hernandez, pioneer of this discipline in the Island, explains to OnCuba
Erick, knowing these little details and supported in his sovereign experience controlling the ball, handled all possible records not to fail and in fact, he was far from losing control on the Brazuca, official ball by Adidas for the coming World Cup in Brazil .
“You always fear for the setbacks that may arise, but today was a pretty quiet day, a clean exercise, although very tiring, of course. If anything I cared was to find a place with good light, moving from site when I was sweating a lot and there was a danger of slipping, and the environment in general, smokers, those who speak softly, flashes cameras, but my coach, my wife and judges were responsible for controlling these issues, ” Erick says, who made a stable process of nutrition and hydration during the half day.
“In the days before the record, Erick was subject to a slight nutrition, fruit, fresh ham and cheese, to avoid any digestive disorder. During the attempt he kept the same routine, with pineapple, guava, papaya, apple, plenty of fluids and solid food in the afternoon, in order to provide energy in the final stretch of the mark, since he can lose three to four kilos, ” his personal trainer Jorge Velasquez says, attentive to his pupil all the way.
On hydration, Erick says he did not plan it based on time, but when the body asked him, in order to satisfy the physiological needs and avoid contractures due to muscle fatigue.
However, mild discomfort appeared about six in the evening in the left hamstring, so he was hitting the ball with some difficulty. Anyway, he didn’t overload work one leg or another and kept his rate at 85 hits per minute, slow and deliberate as suggested by the specialists in this type of long-range records.
A LONG ROAD AHEAD
To squander half a day just by controlling the ball with his feet, Erick Hernandez needed multiple daily training sessions with duration of five to six hours, when he worked endurance, muscular and psychological strength.
Such preparation would have to be doubled and add new elements to realize in the near future, the absolute record of ball control, consisting of hitting the ball over 24 hours with any body part.
“I think we have traveled half way to achieve a full day dominating the ball. Specifically, I want to take the preparation not to have to start from scratch later. I hope to have no objection to the journey and the first half of October I will make the attempt “Erick reveals.
“Having achieved this record he enters a very positive dynamic in the face of an even greater challenge, which we know it can be done. According to our calculations, 12 hours only with feet is equivalent to 20 with the whole body. Then he only needs to strengthen control with head to stabilize it in five hours, and then he would be completely ready, ” Douglas, brother, confidant and guide of the ball controller in history: Erick Hernandez blurts convinced.
