Ken once again stayed back after practice to work on his form with Coach Hanada. He was told to repeat the same actions as yesterday, until the coach was satisfied with his movements.
It took around 20 minutes until Ken was consistently able to perform the action, after which Seiji nodded in satisfaction.
"We'll now focus on the next aspects of your pitching form. Now that you're properly performing your wind up and stride, you need to work on arm acceleration, deceleration and follow through." He explained.
Ken nodded, stepping down since he expected the coach to take the mound.
"Nope, I want you to pitch like you normally would using your new wind up and stride." Seiji said with a grin, throwing him a baseball.
"Oh… Okay." Ken replied, not expecting the green light to pitch so soon.
There was a surge of excitement that swept through him as he gripped the ball tightly. These past 6 weeks of not pitching had started to wear on him, though he was a little nervous.
Was all of this training going to translate to results? Or would they all be for naught.
'There's only one way to find out…' He thought
Ken got into position and swung his leg up before kicking off the pitchers plate and taking a large stride down the mound. His hips were open, yet his body was still facing towards 3rd base.
He felt his whole body filled with power as he cocked his arm and threw it out like a whip past his head.
As he threw, his body pivoted, placing all of his weight onto his front foot.
With the added swing of his arm, Ken didn't expect his body to rotate so much and was not expecting such a result. He quickly lost his balance and tumbled to the ground.
"Pfft."
Seiji quickly held back his laugh as he saw the teen fall into the dirt. He had to admit that just witnessing this scene was enough to make his overtime worth it at this point.
Yet his amusement didn't last long as he saw the number flash upon the speedometer.
'94mph!?'
The coach's mouth pried open as he stared at the number, almost not believing his eyes. Despite the obvious imbalance in Ken's form, he was still able to throw at such a speed.
Ken quickly got to his feet and brushed the dirt off of him, feeling slightly embarrassed.
He half expected to see his coach in a fit of laughter, yet as he glanced at the figure, he saw what resembled a pelican with its giant mouth wide open.
"What is it?" Ken asked, feeling a hint of trepidation.
He quickly looked over himself once more, making sure that he hadn't injured himself or anything. Only after checking thoroughly did he let out a sigh of relief.
"Ahem… Not bad, but you're obviously not used to the torque you can now generate. Do it again, but this time make sure you engage your core muscles and lift your back leg during your follow through."
Seiji listed off a bunch of feedback, his eyes dancing with interest.
"Just remember, from start to finish it needs to be one fluid motion."
Ken nodded in understanding before returning to his position. He believed that he could make the right modifications to pitch successfully this time.
After taking a deep breath, he moved into action.
WHOOOSH
Ken performed the steps well, planting his foot and lifting his back leg as he followed through. This time he didn't lose his balance, though everything still felt a little foreign to him.
The coach looked at the speed of the pitch and nodded in satisfaction.
He walked up to the mound and told Ken to pitch in slow motion.
"Hmm? Okay…"
Ken did as he was told, yet it was a lot harder than he expected.
After seeing the form, Seiji began to stroke the stubble on his chin in thought.
"Get into your stride for me." He stated.
As Ken did so, the coach moved forward and grabbed Ken's arm with his left hand and pointed to his shoulder.
"It's still closed off here." Seiji stated.
Without waiting for a response, he moved Ken's arm a little further away from his body.
"Try pitching here, just don't put too much arm strength into this next one."
With that he moved back and gestured for Ken to continue.
Ken took note of where the coach had placed his arm and did a few practice runs. Instantly he could tell that he was activating more of his shoulder with the throw, though it felt a little tighter than usual.
With his mind set, Ken began his pitch.
"Ah…"
He did as he was told, yet the ball was far from where he was aiming, causing him to redden a little from embarrassment.
However, Seiji didn't seem to mind.
"Again."
…
"Again."
…
"Again!"
***
A couple of hours later, Ken finally arrived home after a long training session with his coach. His entire arm was feeling fatigued, something that he wasn't used to after being the beneficiary of his skill "Fatigue Management" for so long.
However, he was wearing a smile on his face.
While his pitching still wasn't up to scratch, just the fact he was able to throw a 94mph fastball showed that the coach's methods were working.
Ken arrived at his house and opened the door. Just as he was about to call out to his mother, he saw an additional large pair of shoes at the threshold.
"Grandpa!?"
Instantly Ken's face lit up as he made the connection in his mind. He quickly took off his shoes and dropped his bag, running into the house and seeing everyone sitting at the dining table.
Everyone looked in Ken's direction and saw the sweat stains and dirt on his baseball uniform. While his mother turned her nose up at the sight, there was one pair of eyes that looked joyful.
"Welcome home Ken."
In one fluid motion not befitting his age, the old man stood up and wrapped his arms around Ken, not caring about how dirty he was.