On The Rise As A Catcher [EN]: Chapter 19

Hiroto patted Song Seok-hyun on the back.

“It’s not easy, is it? I understand the feeling of deprivation. Enduring in the Futures League is as tough as trying to get promoted to the first team. But hang in there. I’ll help you out as much as I can, even if it’s just for a little while.”

Hiroto started with toss batting.

Song Seok-hyun lightly tapped the balls.

After hitting about six or seven balls, Hiroto stopped throwing.

“Your batting form is… unique. Where did you learn that?”

“Ah, this? I copied it from watching Babe Ruth videos.”

“Babe Ruth?”

“Yes, he keeps his elbows close to his body and increases the cocking [the angle between the bat and wrist] at the moment of impact. Have you heard of CSR?”

“I think I’ve heard of it before…”

“Babe Ruth used that form a lot in the U.S., so I tried it out.”

“Nobody taught you?”

“I read books, searched the internet, watched videos, and then filmed myself and watched it back.”

Hiroto clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t you say you’re only 20 years old?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“A 20-year-old doing this much research?”

“It’s not so much research, but my friend is really into baseball, so I’ve heard a lot just being around him. Even if I didn’t want to, my friends made a fuss about helping me train, so I had no choice.”

“I thought I had studied quite a bit, but I was nowhere near that level at your age. Amazing. With that kind of passion and effort, you’ll definitely debut in the first team.”

“Thank you for the compliment. If I’m a few steps behind others, I have to work harder. I’m just struggling because my skills are lacking, so it’s a bit embarrassing to be praised for this.”

Hiroto grabbed a bat.

He swung exactly like Song Seok-hyun and exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Doing it this way definitely limits the power of the top hand, so the bat doesn’t flip over. The swing path becomes longer in an oval shape, which widens the contact area and helps keep the head still. So that’s Major League Baseball… I can reduce my coaching by more than half.”

It was around the time Song Seok-hyun and Hiroto finished training.

The translator couldn’t hide his sigh as he saw Kim In-hwan and Kim Jeong-ryul walking towards them from afar.

“What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since this morning.”

Kim Jeong-ryul waved at Song Seok-hyun.

Song Seok-hyun took off his hat and bowed.

“You’ve arrived!”

“Yes, yes. You should rest on days like today. Your rest days are also part of your routine. Are you going to skip rest days because you have energy left over?”

Hiroto greeted Kim Jeong-ryul and Kim In-hwan, then pointed to Song Seok-hyun.

“I brought him here. I thought I’d help Seok-hyun since it’s a day off today.”

“Haha, Coach, don’t you ever rest?”

“This is my rest.”

“Then how long will you be doing this today?”

“I’m just going to do morning training and stop. It’s a rest day today.”

“Is that so? Then can we join you?”

Hiroto looked troubled.

“Ah… what should I do? I promised to help Seok-hyun train. If you’re going to train today, shouldn’t you do your coaching in the afternoon as per your original routine?”

“Ah, ah. It’s okay. We’ll train separately. Please watch over Seok-hyun as you were doing.”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, we just came out because we were bored, so we don’t plan to train too hard.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“No, we should be the ones thanking you for coming out like this on your day off.”

Hiroto returned to Song Seok-hyun.

“Kim Jeong-ryul said it’s okay for me to teach you today. Let’s train together in the morning.”

Song Seok-hyun thanked Kim Jeong-ryul several times.

Kim Jeong-ryul was the one who hired the personal trainer and is paying all the expenses.

Some stingy players adjust all schedules and training to suit themselves. Not everyone is as generous as Kim Jeong-ryul.

“Shall we continue?”

Song Seok-hyun continued with free batting after toss batting.

As it was free batting, Song Seok-hyun consistently pushed the ball to the outside.

Even balls coming inside were pushed to the outside, and none of them went foul.

Kim Jeong-ryul and Kim In-hwan, who were watching from afar, couldn’t hide their admiration.

“He’s a developmental player? Something seems wrong, doesn’t it?”

“His bat handling skills seem better than mine. His swing itself is pure. Even though his form is unique, the consistency of his swing path means he has his own form.”

“Does reading baseball books make you like that?”

“I don’t know, I don’t read them.”

“You look like you’d be good at studying, but you don’t read those either?”

Kim In-hwan scratched his head.

“Do you read them, hyung [older brother/senior]?”

“No.”

“Why are you asking me then, if you don’t read them either?”

“Just asking.”

The ball hit by Song Seok-hyun went over the right fence.

Kim Jeong-ryul applauded enthusiastically.

“He’s just turned 20 and he’s hitting home runs to the opposite field.”

“Indeed.”

“Well, maybe it’s natural for you, so you’re not impressed?”

“Hmm? It looks like he’s already finishing up?”

“Already?”

Song Seok-hyun finished free batting and put down his bat.

Standing at attention, Song Seok-hyun twisted his body.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve never seen that before either.”

Hiroto gave Song Seok-hyun a few more instructions, then clapped his hands and finished the training.

A training session that lasted less than 20 minutes.

Kim Jeong-ryul and Kim In-hwan approached Hiroto.

“Is the training already over?”

Hiroto nodded.

“There’s no point in doing more here. His swing form itself is already flawless. The way he maintains his posture and matches his swing plane shows that he’s a hitter with his own swing. It’s better for this type of hitter to do less swing practice.”

Kim In-hwan asked,

“Even so, isn’t that too little? Or did you already do a lot before we came?”

“No. He’s probably done about fifty swings today at most.”

“Is it okay to do so few swings?”

“Of course. You shouldn’t do too many swings themselves. Rather, it’s important not to exceed a hundred swings a day, even at most.”

Kim In-hwan tilted his head.

Spending one hour, or even two or three hours, swinging the bat is the standard of training.

Moreover, a hundred swings can be completed in the blink of an eye if done quickly without rest.

“Is that how it’s done in Japan?”

Hiroto shook his head firmly.

“Japan does the same amount [of swings].”

“Then is this Coach’s method?”

“It’s not just my method. There are players in Major League Baseball who also take fewer swings like me.”

“I’m really curious, but does that really help?”

“There’s a common misconception: that doing a lot is good. That’s not true. It’s not always good to do a lot. You have to distinguish when to do a lot and when not to. If your swing is complete, you should focus on maintaining it. If your swing is complete but you still practice swinging for 2-3 hours a day? Then your swing can actually be ruined.”

“…That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Your swing can be ruined?”

“Swinging consumes a lot of energy and uses muscles. The more you do it, the more tired you get, and when you’re tired, you develop bad habits. The more tired you get, the more your swing spreads out, and it becomes ingrained in your body like a habit without you realizing it. If training is needed, you should gradually modify only the necessary parts little by little, not just blindly swinging a lot.”

Kim In-hwan was speechless at Hiroto’s firm words.

Kim In-hwan had endured his professional life with his natural strength and diligence as his weapons. He had never skipped training, and swinging the baseball bat hundreds of times was a daily routine on days when things didn’t go well.

He never rested even on days when he hit well.

Whether he hit well or not, he was immersed in practice, practice, and more practice. There were many days when he swung over a thousand times a day.

Even though his performance hadn’t been good so far, Kim In-hwan felt justified because he had practiced enough.

But Hiroto was saying the exact opposite?

“Practice is a process to achieve results, not an end in itself. If the results are bad, the process is also bad. You shouldn’t get bogged down in practice. Especially if you’re a professional.”

Kim In-hwan’s shoulders drooped.

Hiroto spoke without hesitation, as if he already knew Kim In-hwan.

A player bogged down in practice, wasn’t that exactly him?

A player who only practices without producing results.

“Uh… um… Shall I get something to drink?”

Song Seok-hyun brought drinks when the atmosphere froze.

He handed out drinks to each person.

Kim In-hwan put down his drink and grabbed a bat.

“Could you take a look at me too?”

* * *

Song Seok-hyun and Kim Jeong-ryul didn’t train and sat in a corner, sipping their drinks.

“Ah, what should I do? I’m embarrassed because Coach Hiroto said unnecessary things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think In-hwan is a little upset because you praised me too much.”

Kim Jeong-ryul chuckled.

“It’s not because of your praise. It’s a different issue.”

“In-hwan’s expression hardened, though?”

“Well… there’s something like that. It’s not because of you, so don’t worry about it.”

Unlike Song Seok-hyun, whose training ended so quickly that it was embarrassing to call it training, Kim In-hwan swung the bat, received coaching, swung, received coaching… for over an hour without rest.

Hiroto often shook his head from side to side, and Kim In-hwan repeatedly bowed his head.

The training ended only when lunchtime was approaching.

Kim In-hwan was drenched in sweat and exhausted.

“Let’s stop here for today and rest. I’m tired too.”

Hiroto went back to the dorm first without saying anything else.

Kim Jeong-ryul looked at Hiroto and Kim In-hwan alternately, then approached Kim In-hwan.

“What, did you guys fight?”

“No.”

“Then why is the atmosphere so cold?”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

“What did you guys talk about that made you keep talking and training and talking again?”

“I said that I’m weak against low outside pitches, and he said that it’s usually because the top hand turns too early. He said that if you do an uppercut swing, a lot of power goes into the top hand? I asked if there was a way to fix it, and he said it would take a long time to correct, so I asked about other methods.”

“So, is there a method?”

“He said to stand close to the front of the batter’s box and inside the box, that the only way is to hit the outside pitch before it breaks too much.”

“That’s the opposite of what you did, right? You hit from the back.”

“Yes, since it’s a problem with my swing anyway, and I’m not going to hit breaking balls even if I watch the ball a little longer, it’s better to hit when the breaking ball doesn’t break as much. So I’m going to go in that direction from now on.”

“Hmm… then aren’t you screwed against inside pitches?”

“That’s true, but it’s important to hit the outside pitch first. I’ll have to worry about it when they throw inside pitches.”

Kim Jeong-ryul didn’t say anything more.

No swing is without flaws.

Every swing has its strengths and weaknesses.

Kim In-hwan maintained his posture to not lose the advantages of a power hitter, but he insisted on watching the ball longer from the back of the batter’s box, but it didn’t work well.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Kim In-hwan just nodded silently at Kim Jeong-ryul’s question.

Saying that he would abandon inside pitches and target outside pitches meant that he would accept a decrease in slugging percentage.

Even if he hits outside pitches well, it’s hard to hit for extra bases.

As much as you compensate for weaknesses, your strengths also decrease.

“You seemed to have realized something after talking to Seok-hyun, so why are you changing your form so drastically?”

Kim In-hwan smiled bitterly.

“He said that the reason Seok-hyun hits like that is because he’s untainted. He can hit anywhere with his own swing because he doesn’t have bad habits, but my bat flips too quickly. He said that if I do what Seok-hyun does, it would be hard to get a hit off a professional pitcher’s breaking ball that breaks to the outside, even if it’s a batting practice ball.”

“Hoo… I don’t know. Your strength is ultimately power hitting.”

“I was worried about that too, but what he said about surviving first as a pro really resonated with me. He said it’s too late to completely overhaul my swing. He said that I have no choice but to improve from what I can do first, so I’m going to try to improve one thing at a time, starting with outside pitches.”

“Okay, well, give it a try. It’ll be much faster than spending time overhauling your swing.”

Kim In-hwan looked at Song Seok-hyun, who was cleaning up.

“I wish I had learned to swing properly since I was young… I’m jealous of Seok-hyun.”

“Don’t be jealous. All the hitters in our country are jealous of you. Who in the world is stronger than you?”

“What’s the point of being strong if I can’t hit the ball?”

“You’ll hit it now. Don’t think so negatively.”

Kim In-hwan sighed.

“I just did what the coach told me to do at that age…”

The month-long training camp was already in its final week.

Kim Jeong-ryul’s arm swing had come up to somewhere between underhand and sidearm.

Kim In-hwan had become accustomed to standing close to the top of the batter’s box.

Song Seok-hyun had lost more fat and gained muscle.

Kim Hyeong-seok only repeated participating in and dropping out of training, without any particular progress.

Five days before finishing the overseas training camp, Hiroto made an unusual proposal to the four of them.

“If it’s okay with you, would you like to have a practice game here?”

“A practice game here?”

Kim Jeong-ryul asked back.

“It would be good to have a light skill verification time before everyone goes back to Korea. Isn’t this Okinawa? Many Japanese professional players also come here for personal training. Around this time, they have a lot of internal practice games here. Independent baseball teams and social baseball teams, that is.”

Kim In-hwan raised his hand at Hiroto’s words.

“We’re front office staff, so wouldn’t we be causing trouble by joining in?”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. It’s not an official game, and professional team players who have come to train locally also practice together, so the skill difference is similar. And unlike Korea, the level of Japanese amateur baseball is quite high. At the higher levels, there are amazing players. There are many players who are preparing to enter professional teams.”