this is America It’s been four weeks since I came to the San Diego Padres’ camp in Peoria, Arizona. During spring camp, he was in Triple A and then High Single A메이저놀이터. I came to the rookie league with the opening.
The reason for coming here is clear. I came because I wanted to learn how to teach and nurture players, and to learn baseball. He hits the fungo and throws the batting ball, and he’s doing it like a rookie coach. The hardest part is that there are only two days of rest during the entire camp. I have been playing baseball for about 40 years, but it was difficult to adapt to training for 20 days in a row. Because he’s never done it.
However, on the first day of training, I had a rather shocking experience. I was about to start practicing defense, but a player at first base jumped up to me and said, “Coach Lee, I want you to hit the fungo toward the glove, toward the backhand, toward the back of the glove, and behind the backhand. I want to receive it like this today,” he ordered. As the player said, he hit the ball.
Several types of bats were placed in the batting cage. The players moved according to their own routine. Each player practiced in a different way, such as players who started with T-batting, players who started with short bats, and players who started with heavy bats. In addition, there were various exercise equipments to build up the body before going in for batting. It was like starting to hit after checking the center of gravity movement, lower body rotation, and upper and lower balance by using bands and medicine balls.
I had a chance to watch from the sidelines when San Diego’s leading hitter, Juan Soto, was rehabilitating in the minor leagues due to a calf injury before going to the World Baseball Classic (WBC). He talked to the players before the game, asked the time, and immediately went to warm up. I could see him preparing in his own way while keeping the time he set for himself.
Usually, players train according to the schedule and the direction set by the coach. But here, the players’ complete ‘self-directed training’ was taking place. When he saw it, he thought a lot. Two weeks later he learned something new. It is not that the players had this routine from the beginning.
San Diego Sports Science Team Austin said, “Minor league players don’t know all about baseball yet. There is no exact routine, so I try it all at once,” he said. “I help players find training that suits them by experiencing it with their bodies. I don’t force it,” he explained.
If you go to the indoor batting ranges of major league players early in the morning before official training, they don’t practice the same way. Athletes go to the waiting coaches and first ask what kind of drill they are going to do. The order as well as the number is directly controlled by the player.
Currently, there are about 150 players in the minor leagues here. It is said that only 2% of them can step on the major league stage. Big league players constantly pursue their own routine. Without routine, you can’t become a major leaguer.
Routines are behaviors that you have to make into a habit and do continuously. It requires conscious effort. To become a great player, you have to go from ‘education’ to ‘learning’. You should be able to train yourself by synthesizing the teachings of the coaching staff. This is because he has to fight alone on the mound or at bat. This is why self-directed training is necessary.