Jan 24 (Saturday) – The “Samurai Japan Baseball Instructor Skills Workshop”, initiated to support the baseball talent pool by providing baseball coaches with proper knowledge, was held in the Community Dome (nicknamed: Tsudome) of Sapporo’s Sports Exchange Facility. This was the second time the workshop has been held. In the morning, participants, mainly coaches of elementary school and junior high school baseball teams, were seated for talks about “preventing injuries” and “meals and nutrition for baseball players.” The afternoon workshops were led by Samurai Japan’s top team coaches and centered on the theme of instruction through skill level transitions.
The morning’s classroom lectures instilled the participants with greater understanding of the physical care and body composition of younger players. Atsushi Masushima, team doctor for Samurai Japan 21U and lecturer for the first talk, explained the thought process necessary for preventing the worst case scenario, saying “always be aware of where the AED is located because there are cases when a person’s heart will stop instantly if hit in the chest with a ball. Also, if a player gets a concussion, always give them at least 2 weeks off from playing.”
Furthermore, Keiko Saitoh, who is a nutritionist for Meiji Corp. (official dietary support partner for Samurai Japan) and provided dietary instruction for Samurai Japan 12U in 2014, also encouraged coaches to actively support children’s physical conditioning as much as possible, stressing how crucial nutrition is for growing kids. “Younger players will have fewer injuries and recover from fatigue more rapidly if they get enough vitamins and calcium, which kids generally lack. Please make sure they get the proper nutrition, especially enough fruits and dairy products.”
The seminars in the afternoon were run by Samurai Japan’s coaching staff. Leading off was Toshihisa Nishi (Samurai Japan infield coach/base-running coach and 12U Manager), who lectured about base-running and leads to take for each base. He offered opinions and advice such as “When you run to first base, you can step on the base with whichever foot you want. People are different,” suggesting that young players develop individuality and not be too stuck on form.
Afterwards, the Samurai Japan coaches lectured on each of the various skills and techniques. The workshops were divided according to position, with Yoshitaka Katori (Samurai Japan Technical Director/Samurai Japan top team pitching coach/15U Manager) offering instruction on ways to grip the ball (a fundamental part of pitching), proper form to avoid injury, as well as checking runners and other skills that can be practiced indoors.
For catching, Akihiro Yano explained the necessary awareness and compassion towards pitchers that catchers must develop. “The important thing for catchers is to notice things. Wiping the dirt off home plate or from the ball after a one-bounce; it’s important to notice things like that.”
As for infield advice, Toshihisa Nishi recommended that kids be encouraged to actively try backhand tosses and jumping throws, saying that “getting them to do various things is important.” In the outfield, Atsunori Inaba (batting coach for Samurai Japan’s top team) expounded on the importance of giving advice on mental aspects in addition to technique, saying “it’s important to give kids confidence.” He also explained that in Hokkaido, there are not as many chances to practice outdoors because of the snow, so a key point is how creatively instructors can create useful practices indoors.
Lastly, participants learned about hitting instruction with a lecture on timing and head placement. Hitting coach Atsunori Inaba urged caution when teaching kids. “People have different stances and there’s no right answer. But young kids are often told to ‘hit a grounder and something good will happen’, and then they start to get their shoulder out too far thinking about that and develop bad habits.” Yano also sought participants’ understanding in creating an environment for an open style of play, saying “I’d like kids to just go for full swings without really caring about what happens. They will find it more interesting that way.”
Given that all overall improvement in instructors’ skills will be major point for the future of Japanese baseball, training of instructors by Samurai Japan will certainly hold the key for such developments. The next “Samurai Japan Instructor Skills Workshop” will be held February 7th at a Niigata location (HARDOFF ECO Stadium Niigata) and will be the last of this year.
