Athletics: New coach points way ahead for Vili

Coach Didier Poppe talks to Valerie Vili at the Millennium Institute on the North Shore yesterday. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Valerie Vili, world-class athlete, one of the best New Zealand has produced.

But is she good enough to win, even while on the inevitable downward curve that will result from getting used to a new coach and a new technical and training regime?

"That is a very, very, very good question," coach Didier Poppe said yesterday. "We were facing a problem: should we wait for the meetings to be done before starting the real change, or should we start now?"

During their first session together they decided to try to find some middle ground, a slight tweaking here and there, while retaining most of her familiar techniques.

"It was horrible," Poppe said. "So we said, 'Okay, let's start now, whatever goes wrong we can fix it'."

Poppe came to New Zealand via France and its Pacific territory, New Caledonia.

He speaks serviceable English but with Vili fluent in French, there is no language barrier.

The biggest barrier is the body's in-built rejection of change, but Vili's decision to leave the phenomenally successful partnership with Kirsten Hellier proved she was willing to push herself out of the comfort zone.

"It's still early days working with Didier, Mike [McGuigan, power coach] and Matt [Kritz, strength and conditioning coach], but the target is London, 2012," Vili said.

"Like any athlete I'm going to have a down period, that's what change is all about.

"I've got seven weeks until my first competition [a Diamond League event in Shanghai], hopefully I should go okay."

The hope is that under Poppe's guidance, Vili can take her skill to uncharted territory. If that sounds vague, what else is there for an Olympic champion to achieve?

"There is no next level," Poppe said.

"What they achieved, Kirsten and Valerie, is something that will never be bettered, so we have to do something different.

"There is still a possibility for Valerie to make improvements in her technique and a possibility to make some improvement on her conditioning. Hopefully, when we do that, we can have improvement of performance.

"We know she can be faster, she can have faster reaction times, she can be faster across the circle, she can be lower - she is too upright and leaves the shot early.

"This will need time. You cannot change an athlete of 10 years in 10 days. You need, I would say, 10 months to start to have some results."

In terms of power, they will be working on small improvements. They have no choice as, according to McGuigan, Vili is the best female athlete he has ever seen "in terms of the complete physical package".

McGuigan's role is based around science, Poppe's is technical but will require significant feel, too.

He is well qualified, having been a throwing coach for 30 years. He was based in New Caledonia, working on talent identification for the French national team. Javelin throwers were the speciality of the region.

Poppe was a big fan of New Zealand, so he jumped at the chance to work for the IAAF here.

The world athletics governing body's operation has since moved to Australia, but Poppe has stayed, working out of the Millennium Institute on Auckland's North Shore.

It's foreign territory for Vili, who grew up in South Auckland before shifting east.

"I'm not moving over there, but I'm excited by the change. It's worth all the traffic."

BEHIND EVERY GREAT WOMAN

Didier Poppe, throwing coach
* Javelin champion of France.
* French national javelin-throwing coach.
* IAAF coach-lecturer.

Mike McGuigan, power coach
* Academy of Sport power scientist.
* PhD in exercise science.
* Former consultant for AFL and NRL teams.

Matt Kritz, strength and conditioning
* Academy of Sport strength and conditioning director.
* Director of athlete performance at University of California, San Diego.
* Japanese elite swimmers, strength and power coach.