Hyogo Prefecture, Nishinomiya City, Naroo Town.

In the Hanshin 2nd Army Stadium, the players were shouting and the training of the outfield team was in full swing.

Zhang Zhe is also among them.

The coach hit the ball from a distance in the home plate area to the outfield. Zhang Zhe and others stepped forward to catch the ball and completed an outfield fly ball.

The balls hit by experienced coaches may be far or near, fly high and erratic, or fly flat and land suddenly.

Zhang Zhe, whose jersey was stained in many places, was wearing an outfielder's catching glove on his left hand and was looking attentively at the coach at home plate dozens of meters away.

His body was slightly bent, and his knees were slightly bent, so that his legs were ready to start at any time.

With his excellent eyesight, Zhang Zhe captured the movements of the coach in the distance.

The baseball was thrown to the coach, then hit outfield, flying quickly.

The flight trajectory of the ball was not high, about four or five meters above the ground, and it broke through the infield between the first and second bases.

Zhang Zhe immediately started running towards the landing point.

While running forward, his brain quickly predicted the outcome of handling the ball and found that the chance of getting it in time was only 20 to 30 percent.

"That's too late!"

This is a fly ball that is about to land in the front area of ​​the outfield.

Due to his position at the back, even if Zhang Zhe had started at the fastest speed, it was still very difficult to get there in time.

Unless he continues to accelerate with all his strength and pounces on the ball the moment it hits the ground, there is a slight possibility of completing the catch. However, the consequence of a failed catch is that the ball will leak behind him and cause more serious defensive damage.

"Just to be on the safe side."

Zhang Zhe immediately slowed down and adjusted his pace, put down his left hand, opened his glove, and picked up the baseball that bounced off the ground.

After catching the ball, he immediately passed it back to the infield.

So the result of this defense was a one-run hit.

Zhang Zhe, who was born as a catcher, is better able to consider the impact of defensive results on the game situation from an overall perspective.

If a fielder leaks the ball, the impact of the fielding error goes far beyond the hit runner getting a run. The bad defensive atmosphere can even change the flow of the game.

Zhang Zhe is not a person who is keen on artistic skills and defense, but he is also not lacking in adventurous spirit. If he judges that the ball is worth fighting for, he will try his best to save the ball even if it is bruised and bruised.

Close contact with the grass is a daily routine for an outfielder, and rough-skinned skills can only be learned through training.

Afterwards, after completing his training tasks, Zhang Zhe rubbed his sore shoulders and trotted back to the rest area.

After resting for a while and changing into dry inner lining, Zhang Zhe continued his next training task.

After the day's training volume was exceeded, Zhang Zhe went to the technical analysis room of the Second Army according to the schedule. Today it was his turn to receive guidance.

Various instruments and computers are placed in the technical analysis room.

Hidaka, who serves as a hitting coach and technical analyst, pointed out one of the things that makes Zhang Zhe different from others.

"Xiao Zhe, your timing to start the baton is earlier than others."

Rigao just demonstrated the analysis video to Zhang Zhe through the computer.

Judging from the average data, Zhang Zhe's timing of batting is much earlier than that of players in the same period in high school. According to professional baseball standards, he also falls into the category of starting to bat too early.

The premature start of the bat is related to the swing path.

The larger the swing trajectory, the earlier the bat starts.

The problem caused by starting too early is that it reduces the judgment time. It is necessary to judge the ball type and ball path very quickly, and then decide whether to release the bat.

However, in professional baseball games, judgment time cannot be reduced.

Professional pitchers' pitches are very concealed, often inducing batters to swing wide. One of the batter's responses is to put the ball further in, and the corresponding start time is a little later.

Hidaka just said: "I will send you the analysis data, and you will take a careful look at it when the time comes."

Adjustment of hitting skills does not happen overnight, so the coaching staff is not in a hurry and plans to first let Zhang Zhe have some understanding of the requirements at the professional baseball level.

The transition from high school baseball to professional baseball doesn't happen in a day.

Before you are severely beaten by reality, your own feelings are not deep enough.

Practice games during spring training are just appetizers, and the real barrier to professional baseball has yet to officially emerge.

During the rookie physical examination, Zhang Zhe's data was 10% higher than the average of players from the first team. Based on past experience, the physical fitness of high-level rookies can be improved by another 20% in the first year after entering professional baseball. Therefore, at this stage, the second team players

The first task given by the coaching staff to Zhang Zhe is to improve his physical fitness.

Even though the team gave up harvesting traffic, they still put Zhang Zhe in the second team to train, just to give him quiet time to lay a solid physical foundation.

Eat well, exercise well and sleep well.

Once these three things are done, everything else can be done slowly.

After returning to the dormitory and taking a comfortable bath, Zhang Zhe looked at his analysis data in front of the computer.

After reading it over and over again, he gradually figured out some information.

"It turns out the coaches had issues with my hitting mechanics."

Zhang Zhe's strike mechanism is more American-style and is quite different from the traditional Japanese style, so it has been discussed by the outside world.

Regardless of which one is better or worse, the difference in style is obvious.

Although the coaches didn't say anything, they had a lot of questions in their hearts.

Zhang Zhe's hitting mechanism was so devastating in high school, can it still be used in professional baseball?

Based on the coaches’ years of experience in professional baseball, the answer is probably not necessarily, at least they are worried about the risk of not being able to apply it.

If Zhang Zhe's growth fails to meet expectations and the team and fans are angry with their coaches, then they cannot take responsibility.

The proven Japanese style of play has a higher probability of success.

In the face of frustration education, it would be best for everyone if Zhang Zhe could realize this on his own and proactively raise the need for technical guidance.

Zhang Zhe became serious.

The coaches' cryptic opinions do have some merit.

Because I had made many friends who played baseball in the past, Zhang Zhe talked to them about the difficulties after entering professional baseball. Most of them lamented that there is a huge gap between professional baseball and high school.

For example, Osaka Kirin's Kyōdai Fujiwara and Aki Neo hit a wall of strength disparity after entering professional baseball, and had to seek radical changes.

The experience of our predecessors is of great reference value.

"Should I change too?" Zhang Zhe asked himself.

The 25 consecutive no-hit games in the practice game slightly stimulated him and made him feel the frustration of being unable to do anything.

The practice match is just a preview before the official start of the professional baseball career, and the more severe test is yet to come. The preseason games of the second team, the league and the first team competition are far more difficult than the practice match.

Rationally, changing the striking mechanism to adapt to the current game is a suitable solution.

But deep inside, there was a voice shouting.
Chapter completed!