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Yuki Kawabata, one of the best baseball players in the women's baseball world. Look back on your own adjustment method and the 6th consecutive W cup victory.

Take a rhythmic step with the right foot and take the timing, hit the left to the right wide-angle, and mass produce a hit. As a female professional baseball player, he has won one MVP and three top batters, and has been one of Japan's best players in the World Cup in a four-time World Cup. There are not many people who will superimpose 2015 Se-League leader Batter's brother Yakult Shingo Kawabata in that figure. Such she is also in a position to be called a veteran, and even as a member of the Saitama Astoler, he has become the team's oldest member of the Japanese team, who recently won the sixth consecutive World Cup. This time, I was asked to reflect on how to make adjustments in play, a tool that supports many years of activity, and the battle as a representative of Japan.

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The basis of baseball is from my father and my brother. Practice and "Meditation" conscious of practice.


Yuki Kawabata, who has the father of a baseball leader, started playing baseball in the third grade of elementary school, partly because of his brother Shingo. Although his body was small, his feet were fast, and he left-handed from the beginning when he started playing baseball with his father's advice.
The teaching of the father that Kawabata player still defends that the foundation in baseball was taught from the father and the brother is "do not return the left hand".

"I was told this because the left shoulder was prone to fall and the neck fell, so the strength of the left hand is too strong or the open is so easy to make batting a little funny If I think I'm getting used to it, I try to be aware of that. "

Of the last eight seasons he has been active as a female professional baseball player, the batting average has fallen below 30% only in 2014. The secret of Kawabata's batting practice, which has been keeping numbers constant, is always to assume practice.

"When doing the swing, I try to be conscious of the pitcher. Since just doing it consciously and waving only at the hitting point is useless in the production, I imagine the figure of the pitcher for each ball, from the throwing action I try to swing while watching the trajectory of the released ball.
When I want to check the form, I sometimes shake it in front of the mirror. Of course, we may move early to help the body learn, but basically we sway and shake. In order to create a more realistic situation, I imagine the appearance of the stand seen from the bat.
On days when you think your body opens quickly, take out the bat from the inside, and practice to aim for all the left hits before, and prepare a swing so that the bat does not leave the body. After that, I have a toss thrown from the side and hit it. In my case, if the condition goes wrong, the bat will come out from the outside or the opening of the body will be faster, so it is an exercise to fix it.
However, since the badness of the condition changes little by little, it may not be noticed. At such time, I take a video frequently and check it. "  

On the other hand, he is conscious of moving his feet quickly on the defensive side. When the foot does not move thinly, the first step against the hit ball is delayed, and the timing can not be adjusted to the bounce, which directly leads to an error such as an error.
In order to prevent it, I take small steps when receiving rudder training (training to run between placed ladders) and knocks.
By the way, when you can not concentrate mentally, you will find a dark room and meditate.

"It's actually quite difficult to find a dark place at a stadium etc. (Laughs) In such a case, I go to a bullpen where there are no people" and it seems that there are some hardships in unexpected places.
Another way to increase concentration is the kanji misplacement game on smartphone apps. By searching for only one different letter while the same kanji is lined up, we are activating the brain and doing as part of the training to get used to eyes.

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The role played by Yuki Kawabata in the Japanese national team that achieved six consecutive victories.


The 8th Women's Baseball W cup held in Florida, USA from August 22nd to 31st this year. The tournament is currently held every two years, and Japan has achieved six consecutive victories in this tournament and shows overwhelming strength on the world stage. Kawabata is the team's oldest member and has participated for the fourth time. Sit in No. 4 in all games and contributed greatly to the victory.
In this tournament, the team's profile changed significantly, and many players experienced the game abroad for the first time. Among them, Kawabata has assumed everything before the tournament and has told the teammates the importance of preparing as a World Cup experienced person.
In order to win a battle in a culture that is very different from Japan, it is necessary to quickly adapt to the differences in living conditions such as food and time difference, and to adjust the conditions. In past competitions, he had been exposed to "Baptism" unexpectedly as a powerful country.

"When the convention was held in Canada, our lodgings were on the 9th floor, but I couldn't use the elevator (laughs), so I took the heavy luggage on the stairs and went to the room. The team was staying at the lower floor, but of course it might have happened!
There has been a story among players that it may lead to the impossibility of playing as you would expect in production if you do not have that in mind that you may have that kind of thing. "

In addition, he said that he wanted to create an atmosphere that allowed him to communicate with young players smoothly in the current World Cup, and that actually doing it was one of the factors that helped him achieve six consecutive victories.

"There were a lot of young players this time, and there was a scene where everyone became stiff and tense at first, but we talked in a meeting how to get hold of their power at a meeting. Every time the young players stand out, I think it led to Japan's victory.
As for the part of putting together a team, it was easy to do because I was originally with Astra in the same way as Captain's exit player, so I felt like a support person for her. "

In a short period of time, they were able to form a team as a team, and achieved an impressive achievement of six consecutive wins, while this tournament also provided an opportunity to realize that the level of women's baseball in the world is steadily rising.
In particular, the opening round 3rd round vs. Canada is 2-1, and the super round 2nd round vs. Taiwan is close to 2-1, and in each game the number of hits is higher than the opponent.


"The world level is rising, I actually thought that it wasn't easy for me to throw the knuckles and there were players who attacked the inside corner strictly. Of course only the first match pitchers.
In particular, Taiwan's starter pitcher who played in the finals had good control, and it was hard to beat because it was straight to shoot a little. Of course I'm glad I could win this time, but I am honest that I feel relieved than that kind of feeling. "


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