Coach Wyatt felt a headache coming on. Hearing that his best player had never swung a wooden bat almost an hour out from competing in the biggest National Tournament of the year was not ideal.
If the tournament didn't require players to hit with a wooden bat, it wouldn't be an issue. However, it was literally the WWBA, its whole purpose to showcase how these players could perform under the same rules as professionals.
He thought for a while, eventually grabbing a wooden bat out of one of the bags on the ground.
The coach handed Ken the bat and looked at him seriously, "You can swing the bat, just make sure you're far enough away that you don't interrupt the game."
Ken accepted the bat, instantly feeling the weight was heavier than he expected. Despite being a similar size to his metal bat, it felt far more solid.
"Yes Coach." He stated, walking back to the carpark.
Steve quickly followed after him, feeling as if he could help in some way. Either that or he felt guilty for judging him earlier.
Soon enough, Ken found a clearing and stopped in place, his attention on the bat in his grip. At first glance, it looked to be a similar size to the metal bat, but it felt more narrow.
Ken sized it up, holding it out in front of him horizontally.
"What do you think?" Steve asked after a few moments.
"I dunno yet, let me try swing it."
Ken reached into his pockets and pulled out his batting gloves, slowly placing them onto his hands. Once happy, he collected the bat and got into his position.
Already, he could feel the weight above his head. It was not too taxing, especially since he'd performed this stance so many times in the past.
Letting out a deep breath, Ken suddenly sprung into action.
WHOOOOOSH
The bat sailed through the air much quicker than he'd expected. With the additional weight, his body's center of gravity was thrown off, causing him to stumble.
While this would have been fine, the bat that was meant to be securely attached to his hands, was now flying through the air and into the shrubbery 40 yards away.
"Ah…"
Both Steve and Ken stared in silence at the bushes which now had a new resident. It took all of the former's self control to not burst out into laughter, in turn, preventing him from receiving further reparations later.
"Ahem. It's a good thing that you're practicing now." Steve commented, his voice sounding a little odd.
Ken felt his face heat up in embarrassment, but he quickly jogged towards the bushes and retrieved the bat. He checked the bat briefly, letting out a sigh of relief after seeing no obvious signs of damage.
Without a word, he returned to his previous spot and got back into position, acting like nothing had happened. Steve played along, allowing him to keep up the illusion.
'I'll need to make adjustments to my follow through.' He thought inwardly.
Since he swung the bat with such power, adding a few ounces was enough to mess with his center of gravity. While he didn't want to go into the exact science of it, there was a clear indication that something had to change.
WHOOOSH
The next swing came a few moments later, but it lacked the same speed as beforehand.
Before going all out, Ken wanted to make some minor adjustments to his follow through. Only by slowing down his swinging speed could he start in the right direction.
Despite this slower swing, Ken still felt himself get pulled off balance by the weight of the bat as he swung. This caused a frown to form on his face.
'Mika, what am I doing wrong?' Ken asked.
Usually, he would try and fix the problem himself, however there was only around an hour until he was set to play. Having a few hints from Mika would make things move along a lot quicker.
But before she could answer, Steve piped up.
"Man, it looks like you're center of gravity is out of whack."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ken asked curiously.
"Swing again for me."
Ken did as he was asked, performing another swing. Once again he felt his balance teeter as he swung through. Feeling a little frustrated, he turned to Steve with a questioning gaze.
"Mmm, looks like I was right." He stated matter-of-factly.
Just as Ken was getting impatient, Steve walked over and told him to get into his stance.
Ken obliged.
"Right, it looks like you're trying to make up for the weight of the bat. I can see you're intentionally leaning towards your back leg."
"Really?" Ken didn't feel like that was the case, after all, he had swung a baseball bat many times and it didn't feel that he was acting any different.
"Yep, just trust me."
"Move your head further towards your lead leg and make sure it's in between your feet." He followed up.
"In between my feet? What the hell do you mean by that?" Ken retorted.
Choosing not to snap back, Steve patiently explained what he meant. The idea was to make it so Ken's form was as natural as possible before swinging.
"If there was a line directly in the middle of your feet, your head should be on that line. You might feel that the weight in your shoulders feels a little different because of the bat, but that's fine."
Ken raised his eyebrow, but did as he was told. He could feel that holding the bat like this was a little uncomfortable, but ignored it for now.
"Now, try and swing as you usually do. Just make sure you hold tight on the bat…"
Ignoring the verbal jab at the end, Ken did as he was told. He planted his foot and brought his wrists forward, twisting his back leg and core as he sent the bat swinging with an almighty force.
WHOOOOSH
As he followed through, he could still feel the weight of the bat, but this time it didn't throw him off balance. With his front leg fully extended and his bat now over his shoulder, his eyes widened in surprise.