Personal Guidance for Sendou

"Sendou! Can you send me a picture?"

Let him see the smile on his face when he pitches!

You must have it in your account, right?

"What?!!"

Sendou, what kind of things did you film?!

"Perfect, let's see what happens. I'll leave Miyuki Kazuya speechless!" Sawamura was shocked to hear Miyuki say that.

"Seriously! What are you thinking?"

How could such things possibly exist!

You know exactly what kind of person this Black-bellied Glasses is!

And my 'aibo' is Fumino!

"You don't really think she would film something so boring, do you?" Sendou shrugged, half-jokingly.

Miyuki did have the recording he mentioned. It's true that Furuhashi Fumino doesn't have that kind of perverse sense of humor, after all, she's a lady from a respectable family. But she couldn't resist Sendou making her record it!

"That's true! Furuhashi-san isn't that kind of person!"

"Miyuki Kazuya's heart has always been black!" So, Sawamura actually believed it.

It can only be blamed on Miyuki's usual style being too deeply ingrained in people's minds.

In Sawamura's view, although Sendou is the same, it's different when this guy brings out Furuhashi Fumino.

Sawamura is Furuhashi Fumino's "loyal little brother" and respects her immensely.

"That bastard!" Miyuki cursed under his breath, knowing that the situation was hopeless, so he stopped dwelling on it.

"However! Eijun!"

"You were really grinning like an idiot when you relaxed before you threw the ball!" Sendou said.

"What?!!"

Impossible! I don't believe it!

You and Miyuki Kazuya are cut from the same cloth; I don't trust either of you!

"Kariba! I'm surrendering!!!" Sawamura simply ignored these two "big liars".

"If you have the energy to chat, then come and practice!" Coach Kataoka's voice echoed through the Bullpen.

"No, no! I'm exhausted!" Sendou quickly explained, having only sat down a short while ago.

"Alright! Come with me now!"

"Just use hitting practice as a break, use the same imaginary hitting you've been using all along!" However, Coach Kataoka was determined to pull him out, so Sendou had no choice but to get up, eat a banana in a few bites, and leave with Coach Kataoka.

"Let's do it here!"

First, imagine Mukai's Inside Corner Fastball in your mind!

It was like a straight ball thrown from behind!

"Can you do it?"

"Hi!"

Sendou really wanted to say he couldn't do it, but he knew he couldn't trust Coach Kataoka; he'd only be the one who suffered. So he obediently gave in.

"Very good!"

"...!" (Imagining the scene)

"Puff!"

"Call out!"

"Um?"

"Boom!"

"What do you think?"

"I felt this was going to be very difficult during the previous War Council!"

But in reality, it's even more complicated!

The ball was blocked by my body the instant it was released, as if it had disappeared.

"I never imagined you could actually imagine it in such detail!" Coach Kataoka exclaimed in surprise.

"It wasn't so smooth at first!"

When I'm not concentrating, my brain often gives me a kind of 'X-ray vision' ability the moment I imagine the ball being blocked by my body.

"It wasn't easy to perfectly reproduce what you requested!" Sendou laughed.

"Then you can just enjoy watching the game!"

Mukai's ball control is so precise that it can be controlled within the Nine Palace Grid! (Three-dimensionality and depth cannot be determined simply by studying video recordings.)

The winning spin shot is extremely tricky for left-handed batters when it comes to Left Side Throw pitch!

"I'll give you five points to rest here. After that, go to the Pitching Machine!" Coach Kataoka said before going to check on the other players.

"What kind of rest is this?!" Sendou thought to himself before closing his eyes.

After the War Council, this was the first time he had practiced hitting. After actual Imagination Practice, he realized that Mukai's ball was much more difficult to handle than he had imagined.

If you don't take it seriously, you'll mess things up with him!

In order to avoid regretting such a thing, I don't have time to think about being lazy or taking a break now.

Five minutes flew by once I got serious.

Sendou is also looking forward to seeing what it would feel like to see a ball with that kind of trajectory in the Batter's Box in real life.

Upon seeing Sendou approach, Coach Kataoka called over the player in charge of operating the Pitching Machine and whispered a few words to him.

"The balls from the next Pitching Machine will not have a fixed Ball Trajectory!"

You have to play like you're in a real game, but there won't be any obviously bad shots that you can spot, so you have to shoot every single one.

"Do you understand?" Coach Kataoka asked Sendou after he stood in the Batter's Box.

This is what he instructed the previous contestants to do.

The Pitching Machine is a new model that can throw various angles and several Changeup, so it can still meet the requirements of actual combat to a large extent.

However, such repeated adjustments are a waste of time and manpower, and it is impossible for everyone to practice like this.

This is also why Sendou is allowed to throw every pitch; if he wastes time throwing a pitch and then doesn't hit it, it's a complete waste.

"Understood!

"Please!" Sendou nodded seriously after learning how troublesome Mukai's ball was.

"It's coming!!" The player in charge of operating the machine raised the ball high in his hand and shouted a reminder.

"Bring it on!"

"Bump!"

"Call out!"

"Inner corner!"

"Ping!"

Sendou frowned deeply as he watched the ball bouncing toward third base.

"Please, one more ball!"

"That's really powerful!"

Even Ground Ball after landing can bounce this high!

"Yes! That's amazing!"

"Even though it's a Ground Ball!"

Although it's Ground Ball, the power of the ball that's hit is still quite astonishing.

"Hmph! This guy!" Coach Kataoka chuckled to himself as he saw Sendou's competitive spirit being ignited.

"Bump!"

"Call out!"

"Ping!"

On the second pitch, facing a low fastball to the outside corner, Sendou hit a clearly out-of-bounds ball. (Judging by appearances, the Pitching Machine, used for batting practice, couldn't possibly take up that much space.)

(They all share one outfield with a row of Pitching Machine.)

"Bump!"

"Call out!"

"Um?"

"Inner corner!"

"Boom!"

"Plop!" (Sound of something hitting the net behind)

Sendou's eyes widened suddenly!

"Swing... swing and miss!"

Sendou actually missed the spiral ball thrown by the Pitching Machine?

"They didn't even touch the ball!" The observers who came to watch were clearly astonished.

Being defeated is nothing, but the range and angle of the ball thrown by the Pitching Machine are far beyond what a human can achieve. The fact that Sendou could miss such a ball is something they can hardly imagine.

Coach Kataoka chuckled and gestured for the Pitching Machine to stop.

"This result is acceptable!"

"How do you feel?" Coach Kataoka had been standing next to Sendou, asked.

The ball has disappeared!

"When it reappeared in my field of vision, it was already very close, leaving me no time to observe and forcing me to act hastily." Sendou, his head slightly lowered, recalling the events as he spoke.

"What about the previous two balls?"

"The timing is completely off!"

I swung too late twice in a row. It was as if the ball was thrown from behind, blocked by my body, and then suddenly appeared. It was more troublesome than I had imagined.

"It's a bit like Eijun's ball, appearing suddenly, but this ball 'disappears' for far too long." Sendou spoke again, deep in thought.

"You understand this, which is beyond my expectations!"

How do you plan to resolve this?

Upon hearing Coach Kataoka's words, Sendou closed his eyes.

Knowing he was thinking, Coach Kataoka didn't say anything; what he wanted to cultivate were players with independent thinking.

Upon hearing Coach Kataoka's words, Sendou readjusted his posture, closed his eyes, and frantically tiptoed on his right toe, as if searching for the right feeling.

Coach Kataoka knew that when Sendou saw a ball at that angle in the Batter's Box, he could already simulate the real effect in his mind; he was looking for the feeling of dealing with that kind of ball.

A few seconds later, that "restless" foot began to lightly tap back and forth in the direction directly in front of and behind the body. (This "in front" is relative to the front of the body; if the Batter's Box point, then "in front" and "back" correspond to the directions of first and third base, not the Pitcher's Mound.)

Finally, Sendou placed his toes diagonally behind him, lightly tapped the ground a few times, and then opened his eyes.

"I see!" Sendou said.

Coach Kataoka stared wide-eyed at Sendou's current stance.

The normal stance for hitting is with feet roughly parallel, but now Sendou throws the ball at an angle to accommodate the Left Side Throw.

It's like when you're hitting Inside Corner Ball, and you need to step back with your foot facing the Pitcher's Mound.

This way you can see the ball's complete trajectory clearly.

Furthermore, Coach Kataoka noticed that the foot that was touching the ground with its toes behind him was still not putting any force on it, and the center of gravity was still on the left foot.

This allows you to take a step forward based on the Ball Trajectory; even for Outside Corner Ball, you only need to take a larger step.

Originally, Coach Kataoka intended to lecture Sendou on his over-reliance on Dynamic Vision, but due to this guy's wildly imaginative ideas, he didn't know how to begin.

All I can say is that the thinking of a genius is truly unimaginable; he came up with such an unconventional method in just a short time with his eyes closed.

However, only Sendou can use this method, because he has incredibly long legs. For him, this stance for hitting Outside Corner Ball is just a small forward step, while for others...

"Sigh!" Coach Kataoka sighed inwardly, thinking that he could only try again another time.

"Why don't you give it a try!" Coach Kataoka said after making the decision.

"Sunglasses Uncle!" Sendou unexpectedly spoke up at that moment.

"Um?"

"Although we managed to find a workaround!"

but..."

Upon hearing this, Coach Kataoka became serious; he knew that Sendou had made some discovery.

"I discovered it!..."

The Black-bellied Glasses wasn't in such a sorry state before!

That guy was clearly criticizing "very bad" (in Chinese)!

Although Coach Kataoka didn't understand the words "very bad," he knew it wasn't a compliment, and he could understand the general meaning of the whole sentence.

"The Sendou!"

"Do you know your current weaknesses, or what your current bottleneck is in striking?" Coach Kataoka immediately perked up.

The words that had previously prevented him from speaking due to the Sendou and unrestrained ideas could now be uttered again.

"Distinguishing between good and bad pitches! Hitting technique! (Sendou himself always swings the big bat, so he can't hit some pitches into the fair zone like Captain Tetsu does)"

"None of these are bottlenecks! Or rather, none of these can be considered bottlenecks!"

Because as long as you work hard, things will gradually improve!

"The real bottleneck is that you don't notice it, and it will always be there without any change!" Coach Kataoka said gently.

I can only say that she truly deserves to be called a Chinese language teacher...

"I'm sorry! I really don't know!" Sendou thought for a while and then shook his head.

"The Sendou!"

"Hmm?" Sendou heard Coach Kataoka's voice and focused his attention on the lesson.

"You are a genius!"

I can assure you of your talent!

Your bottleneck lies in the fact that your talent is too outstanding!

We unconsciously become reliant on these talents, allowing them to replace certain technologies. However, while some technologies can be compensated for by talents, this is only temporary.

However, you might not notice it because of your consistent past practices.

Now that you've discovered it, I can tell you!

The Miyuki and the others can play better than you is because you rely too much on Dynamic Vision and reflexes!

Make sure you see the ball clearly before shooting; with your Dynamic Vision and reflexes, you can easily do that in normal times.

However, when faced with Ball Trajectory that reduces your reaction time, the impact will be much greater than for others when you can't see the ball clearly before shooting.

The reason is that you see too clearly. When you can't see that clearly, your body's reaction will be hesitant, which is why your swing timing is slow.

Others, however, rely more on instincts honed through long-term practice; while this has an impact, it remains within a manageable range.

"I see!" Sendou nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Actually, I also wanted to tell you about this, and it's not just about Mukai!"

If you're facing a pitcher whose fastball is consistently over 150 km/h, the faster the pitch, the more you'll be affected.

It's just a difference in the magnitude of the impact.

If Hongo Masamune had a few more Changeup in the summer, you would be in for a tough fight.

Similarly, Narumiya Mei, it will be the same.

If you don't realize this, next year won't be the same as this summer.

If you were facing yourself in the Koshien finals, you would have no chance of winning and would be completely dominated!

Although for a hitter, getting three regular hits in ten at-bats is considered quite good!

But if what you wanted was 'enjoy the game, enjoy the thrill of hitting!', then you should accept this level of result!

You will never be satisfied with this level of result!

"Isn't that right?" Coach Kataoka began, giving Sendou his first personal coaching session since he had been left to his own devices for so long.

Part of this statement was Coach Kataoka thought of last night, so it doesn't quite sound like what he actually said.

"I see!

"What should I do!" Sendou asked seriously after hearing Coach Kataoka's words.

"Really!

"Never give up... even if that person is yourself... well!" Coach Kataoka thought to himself upon hearing Sendou's reply.

"First of all, just put that shortcut aside!" Coach Kataoka was naturally Fighting Spirit when faced with such a student.

Requesting votes...