At Lotte's Miyakonojo first-team spring training camp, the fielder were swinging their bats every day from early in the morning.
At last year's first-team spring training camp in Ishigaki Island, morning batting practice mainly consisted of strategy-based practice such as bunting, but this spring, five to six players have been swinging their bats hard against machines and other equipment from the morning.
When asked about the differences in morning batting practice between last spring's and this spring's camps, Coach Kurihara Kenta, who has been the first-team batting coach since last year, explained, "Until last year, we did a lot of creative and bunting practice, but this year we've been doing it properly from the morning.It started last fall, so I wanted to have them continue doing it."
Some things remain the same. Regarding hitting practice in the whole team, "There's an advantage to doing five swings so you can concentrate on each one," he said, and it's the same as last year's pre-game practice, with each player doing four sets of five swings. Even now, even after the season starts, he said, "It depends on the time, but I think we'll decide whether to do four of five or three of five."
Before the team practice, the fielder practiced batting drills, and after the team practice, they did extra batting practice, tee work, and some players even practiced batting individually in a batting cage. Some players took a considerable number of swings in a single day. Coach Kurihara said that the amount of swings required from the players is managed by batting coordinator Yazawa (Daichi).
Coach Kurihara explained, "I spoke with Coach Nishioka and Coordinator Yazawa about the first session, and we decided to do a lot of repetitions, and then in the second session we'll reduce the number and increase output. We give the players a goal and keep things balanced."
What I'm curious about is whether there are any rules regarding the roles of Chief Hitting Coach and base running Coach Nishioka Tsuyoshi and Coach Kurihara, such as who will be coaching this player. Coach Kurihara said, "There's no one in particular who will be watching this player, but we each give advice on anything we notice. We share it all." They share information about players so that the coaches can "unify" the content of their coaching.
◆ More players are able to verbalize their ideas
When interviewing the players, we heard comments such as, "I'm conscious of not moving my head position" (Fujiwara Kyota Fujiwara), "Coach Nishioka Tsuyoshi told me that my start was inconsistent and I was often passed or fooled, so I should start faster, pause, wait, and then hit. He's been telling me this for a while, and there were some things I needed to fix. I think I need to establish that within myself," "I think eliminating unnecessary movements will increase my success rate, so I'm trying to make it easier to swing through more compactly" (Ryusei Ogawa), and "(Regarding timing) I moved my foot back a little, as if I was making a bigger swing, but I kept that image in mind, without rotating my foot. In my mind, I was rotating (my foot), but I didn't. I'm conscious of how the bat is coming out" (Daito Yamamoto). It seems that not only the players introduced here, but an increasing number of players are able to verbalize their own weaknesses and the direction they should take as they go through rigorous training.
I wonder if Coach Kurihara, who served as the first-team batting coach last year, has noticed any changes in the players.
"We give the players a sense of purpose and make sure we explain things clearly before we let them do what they want, so I think the players are conscious of what they're doing."
The players have become stronger after overcoming the winter. "Manager Saburo's comments are strict and in the 'Showa-style.' I think everyone is watching, so I think they've been working hard from the independent training stage," says Coach Kurihara, smiling.
From now on, the actual games will begin in earnest. "I think it's important to keep a close eye on the main players, especially Takabe and Fujiwara," said Coach Kurihara. A large amount of practice doesn't necessarily translate to results, but watching the practice sessions, many players are willing to swing the bat in order to secure a regular spot. I sincerely hope that as many players as possible will be able to achieve results.
Interview and text by Yuta Iwashita
