Chapter 546

They were afraid.

Afraid that this boy, who was like a god in the batting field, was just an "ordinary person" in pitching.

Afraid that his heaven-defying "talent" was limited to that square inch of the batting area.

If that were really the case...

The two of them would probably really be treated as waste by the Mido family and directly "cooled down."

The two coaches suppressed the anxiety in their hearts and started from the most basic equipment.

Kuroda Keisuke turned around from the equipment bag on the side, took out a brand-new but specially treated dark brown baseball glove, and handed it to Natsume Chikage solemnly with both hands.

"A-kun, this is a brand-new baseball glove prepared for you. We have pre-conducted a period of 'pressing' and 'softening' treatment according to the needs of professional pitchers."

Sano Sho explained in detail from the side, his fingers gesturing to the key parts of the glove:

"Professional baseball gloves, especially those used by pitchers, can't be bought and played directly."

"New gloves are very hard, the leather lacks flexibility, and they can't catch or control the ball smoothly, and even hinder the subtle movements of the fingers."

He took the glove and skillfully demonstrated the action of pressing the palm and ball pocket of the glove.

"It needs to be like this, using special protective oil combined with repeated pressing and bending, sometimes even using the ball to repeatedly smash specific parts, letting the leather gradually form a 'memory' suitable for the user’s hand shape, becoming soft and fitting, but without losing support."

"This process is professionally called 'Break-in,' and often takes several weeks or longer."

"A good, 'tamed' glove is like an extension of the pitcher’s arm, which is crucial."

Natsume Chikage suddenly realized, took the glove that smelled of faint leather and maintenance oil, and felt it was indeed much softer than it looked, with some traces of use on key parts.

"I see, thank you two coaches for preparing so thoughtfully for me."

He thanked them sincerely, then put the glove on his left hand, adjusting the position of his fingers and the straps.

Seeing Natsume Chikage’s attitude, the two coaches felt a little relieved.

Immediately, the teaching officially began.

Since only pitching needed to be specialized this time, the two didn't explain other complex rules of baseball again, but entered the core directly.

The main guidance was Sano Sho, a former professional pitcher.

"Then, A-kun, let’s start from the very basic place."

Sano Sho stood on the pitcher’s mound, his expression becoming extremely focused and serious.

"Pitching is an art of precisely transmitting whole-body strength to a small ball."

"If any link goes wrong, the strength will dissipate, ball speed, control, and ball quality will be greatly reduced, and more importantly—it is extremely easy to get injured."

"Therefore, please abandon the idea of 'throwing hard' and instead feel 'how to exert force correctly'."

He began an extremely detailed, and even somewhat cumbersome, decomposition teaching.

Stance: The position of both feet on the pitcher’s mound, how the center of gravity is distributed, and how the body is slightly sideways facing the home plate.

Grip: How to press the index and middle fingers on the seams of the ball, the thumb gently supporting underneath, and how the ring and little fingers assist in stability. Different grips will directly determine the rotation and trajectory of the ball.

Start: The timing and coordination of leg lifting, hip turning, and center of gravity shifting.

Arm swinging: The trajectory of the arm is not a simple "big arm rotation," but like a whip, accumulating force from behind, transmitted through the shoulder, elbow, and wrist, and finally "flicking" the ball out at the best release point in front of the body.

Release: The moment the fingertips leave the ball, the wrist’s snapping, and the feeling of the fingers flicking the ball.

Follow-through: The natural follow-up action of the arm and body after the ball is released, how to buffer the force and protect the joints.

For every link, Sano Sho demonstrated it personally several times, then let Natsume Chikage imitate it, while he and Kuroda Keisuke observed from all angles, constantly correcting subtle points.

"Here, the body must be more stable when lifting the leg, like a tree, the axis foot must be firmly nailed to the ground."

"When turning the body, imagine using the belt to drive the upper body, don't open the shoulders too early."

"Relax the arm, like a whip, yes, feel the transmission of force..."

And Natsume Chikage was pleasantly surprised to find that if he treated his hand as a sword, he could indeed trigger the kendo talent of the 'Decaying Wooden Sword.'

And because of this.

His ability to control his body could, like when he learned kendo, be adjusted at a super fast speed according to the pitching situation.

Subsequently.

The teaching lasted about five minutes.

And in these five minutes, the surprise in the hearts of the two coaches began to expand like ripples.

Natsume Chikage’s talent in body control once again made them feel that familiar, near-horrifying shock.

At first, Natsume Chikage’s actions were obviously unfamiliar and even somewhat stiff, completely a layman.

But after only five or six detailed decomposition demonstrations and corrections by Sano Sho, the actions he made again already had a considerable look.

Not "a bit like," but the frame, angle, and rhythm all reached an astonishing degree of similarity.

Afterward, when Sano Sho and Kuroda Keisuke widened their eyes, trying to find obvious deformation or errors in Natsume Chikage’s actions, they found that they actually couldn't... pick out faults.

From the static preparatory posture to the dynamic power-generating process, Natsume Chikage’s imitation was as precise as a mirror, and even more standard than many novices who had trained for several months.

"This... this body imitation and learning ability..." Kuroda Keisuke whispered to Sano Sho.

Sano Sho swallowed his saliva and nodded, his eyes solemn and excited.

But they knew deeply that standard actions were just an admission ticket.

The soul of pitching lies in the "exertion of force" where the whole body’s strength converges on the fingertips within a fraction of a second, and the "ball feel" that comes with it.

Without correct exertion of force, no matter how beautiful the posture is, it is just an empty frame, and you can't throw speed.

Without ball feel, no matter how much strength you have, you can't precisely control the ball path.

Therefore, after confirming that Natsume Chikage’s basic actions were basically correct, they decided to enter the next stage—throwing the first ball, with the goal of a fastball, first establishing the most basic ball speed and accuracy.

"A-kun, now try to throw a ball, don't use too much force, the point is to keep the actions I just taught you without deformation, and feel the process of force being transmitted from the feet to the fingers."

Sano Sho stood at the catcher’s position, put on his mask and protective gear, and patted his glove.

"Throw it to me first, relax, just like the air swinging you practiced just now."

Kuroda Keisuke watched nervously from the side, holding a recording board and pen, ready to write down all the problems.

Natsume Chikage nodded, took a deep breath, and stood on the pitcher’s mound.

He recalled all the points just now, lifted his leg, turned his body, swung his arm, and released—

The first ball was released.

The small white ball drew an arc, but obviously deviated from the direction, let alone the strike zone, it didn't even touch the catcher’s glove behind the home plate, and fell far away on the ground next to it.

Natsume Chikage wasn't discouraged and adjusted slowly.

At this moment.

He hadn't used the effects of 'Hot-Blooded Baseball' and 'Effort Baseball Glove' yet.

Because this was just a basic training of 'light throwing' anyway.

If he used those two pieces of equipment now, because of the hit rate, the ball that wouldn't have hit would suddenly hit.

This kind of must-hit effect would only affect his progress in solidifying the foundation.

Better to wait until after learning the basics, until the formal pitching time, to use them.

So now he planned to use the ultimate body control power attached to the 'Decaying Wooden Sword' to start consolidating his body’s 'pitching' foundation.

The second ball was a bit closer, although it was still crooked, but compared to the first ball, it had already shown significant improvement.

The third ball finally headed toward the catcher, but the landing point was still some distance from the glove.

Kuroda and Sano exchanged a glance, although they had expected it, their hearts still sank.

Sure enough, from "looking like" to "feeling like," from "knowing how to do it" to "being able to do it," there was a huge chasm in between.

Standard actions don't mean you can throw accurately; this requires a lot of practice to cultivate muscle memory and spatial sense.

It seems that even Natsume Chikage, a batting genius, has... currently somewhat ordinary talent in pitching.

"It doesn't matter, A-kun, it's like this at the beginning." Sano Sho’s voice came through the mask, trying to maintain encouragement, "Pay attention to the feeling of your wrist when releasing the ball, the direction of the fingers flicking the ball determines the direction of the ball."

"Yes, don't rush to exert force, first find the feeling of 'letting the ball fly straight to the target'." Kuroda Keisuke also added.

Natsume Chikage felt that the so-called 'ball feel' was actually essentially the same as the slashing of 'kendo.'

Both are controlling distance and attacking.

Even Natsume Chikage was pleasantly surprised to find that his 'Darwin’s Notebook,' regarding the special sensitivity to spatial lines, also had special effects at this moment.

So after two or three balls.

In his eyes, he could already vaguely see the rough ball path he could throw after manipulating his body.

And in his heart, he also vaguely formed a basic 'ball feel.'

But to combine the two, he needed to throw more balls.