Kazuki Kondo (left), who coached Rissho High School attached to Rissho University.
Photo By Sponichi
Kazuki Kondo (40), a former player for Orix and Yakult, taught baseball at Rissho High School attached to Rissho University in Tokyo on February 29th. He has just attended a training session for this year’s student baseball eligibility restoration system and is now able to coach at high schools and universities in Japan. He took his first step as a coach after receiving an offer from the same school’s coach, Kazuya Uchida, who was also his classmate at Nihon University. What do you think about teaching high school students? We got close to Mr. Kondo’s thoughts.
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“It’s bad when you’re busy.” Mr. Kondo’s expression softened as Director Uchida greeted him at the school gate. The two are the ace and main hitter who contributed to Nippon University’s national championship in the summer of 2001. That year, a total of four players from Nippon University were nominated at the draft meeting, which became a hot topic, and he seemed happy to receive the immediate offer from his classmate.
However, when he came face to face with the 17 players gathered, his expression suddenly changed. Before starting practice, Kondo told the 17 players, mainly pitchers, “I’m not going to mess with everyone’s form today.” First, the students were given detailed instructions on stretching to widen the range of motion of their hip joints and the basics of playing catch.
One of the reasons for increasing the range of motion of the hip joint is the stride length. When he pitched during his playing days, there was a gap of seven strides between his left foot and the pitch he took. It is said that a normal pitcher takes five and a half to six and a half steps, but he took advantage of the flexibility of his hip joints when pitching. He said, “I want to hold (the ball) as long as possible and throw it,” and he valued the idea of throwing closer to the batter. Even just a few centimeters can make a big difference in how you interact with batters.
He also emphasized the importance of playing catch. If you’re a pitcher, you won’t improve unless you practice pitching in the bullpen every day. Deny such misconceptions. “Please be careful when playing catch,” he said, and explained to “be conscious of the diagonal line.” The right-handed pitcher was instructed to throw to the left side of the opponent, that is, to the outside corner, with the image of throwing to the outside corner of the right-handed batter. The basic idea is to “prevent the ball from falling out.”
He then said, “There’s no need to change the way you throw. Just being conscious will change it. You’ll get a lot better.” Once you know the basics, you will feel more stable. In order to be able to perform at a certain level in any situation, he explained the basics of pitching by focusing on pitching from the lower body, rather than using the small hands to control the ball. At times, he tickles the hearts of high school students, asking, “Don’t you want to throw a good pitch?” “Let’s try a little harder,” he said, giving me a pat on the back. But on the other hand, he made sure to check on everyone and repeated over and over again, “Please tell me if it hurts. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Kondo has been plagued by injuries since he was young, undergoing surgery four years in a row during his time at Orix, and at one point became a developmental player. Still, in 2008 he won 10 games as a starter. Furthermore, in 2018 after transferring to Yakult, he also won the title of best intermediate pitcher. He has overcome injuries and overcome obstacles many times, which is why he is so convincing and grounded.
I asked him again about his intentions for practicing.
– What are your impressions after teaching?
“I focused on basic movements and the range of motion of the hip joint, but my first impression was that people don’t have the habit of moving the hip joint.The fact that the range of motion is narrow is a negative now, but don’t take it as a negative. I told them that I wanted them to see this as a place for them to grow from now on.”
-What was the player’s expression like?
“He looks tired because he moved parts that don’t normally move, but when you think about the effort it takes to throw each pitch, you realize that you won’t be able to throw the ball the way you want unless you move those parts. I think I was able to do it.”
-I will continue to watch it regularly.
“If I can watch it regularly, I can see that the players are getting better, and it’s not easy to get good at one time, so I think it will become a habit to continue, so I’ll watch it regularly. want to go”
-What do you think about teaching?
“I wasn’t a good baseball player. I was injured, but in a sense, in a baseball career where I was repeatedly injured and hit the wall, I used my injuries as an advantage. At that time, I was able to learn one lesson at a time.If I could give back to what I learned, I think that today’s young players might be able to lead a baseball career without getting injured.That’s the kind of coaching I want to do.I want them to have fun playing baseball. I would like to have the opportunity to teach you.”
– Range of motion is important to avoid injury.
“One of the causes of injuries for baseball players is the strain of throwing and the recoil that causes injuries. Even though their range of motion is narrow, when they increase their output more than usual, they exceed their range of motion, which can lead to injury. Expand your range of motion. If you keep it in place, you will be able to prepare and release the load in a sense by expanding your range of motion, making it less likely that you will get injured.It doesn’t mean that it’s hard and it’s bad, and that it’s soft and good, but it allows you to release it so that you can throw with all your might. I have to make a place for it, otherwise it won’t work.”
-It was a day that connected me to the future.
“I myself experienced some problems during this period when I was young and growing.As I am growing up, my timing and my senses are also off, but I think it makes a big difference whether you know it or not. At a time like this, I can teach them that this is what it means to be unstable.I think that by teaching high school and university students (after they have regained their qualifications), I can bring out the best in them and prepare them emotionally. In that sense, it was a day that expanded for me as well.”
– Coach Uchida was also happy to coach you.
“It’s the same with my high school days, but I think my baseball life might have been different if I had been properly taught by former players.I had the encounters I had today early on, so in that sense, I was young, I’m also happy that we met at this time, and that my baseball life may be different.”
At the root of this is the desire to somehow give back to the baseball world with the experience I have gained. After leaving Yakult, he played in the independent league Kagawa in 2021 and 2022 with the title of part-time coach. Since he became interested in coaching, he took training to recover his coaching qualifications. There is a path to becoming a full-fledged leader ahead of you.
At the same time, I am also working hard on social studies. She is currently working as a freelancer, making meetings with event companies on her own, and learning about things she didn’t know about working as a working adult, such as schedule management and the workings of society. She said, “I became a professional player from high school, so there are a lot of things I’m still immature in. I think I’m learning in all aspects now.” The first step toward the future. Teaching high school students is filled with various thoughts. Mr. Kondo’s eyes sparkled like those of a high school baseball player.
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2024-03-07 12:01:42
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