“Kids these days don’t have basic skills.”
Among the coaching staff working in professional baseball, every year, surely, someone says, ‘The rookies do not learn properly in amateur baseball, so they have to start over from the basics in the pro’. Over the past 10 years, while the Korean baseball team has repeatedly performed sluggishly in international competitions, many baseball players have pointed out the ‘lack of basic skills’.
But what the hell is the basic skill, 메이저놀이터so that Korea, which has more than 40 years of professional baseball history, has not been able to solve that problem? There are not a few amateur baseball leaders from professional baseball, and now, in an era where academies built by retired players are competing with each other, why and how can players who lack basic skills continue to go to the pros?
Even in the past, when long-time training was commonplace, there was a saying that ‘kids these days don’t have basic skills’. If this is the case, isn’t it a wrong idea to think that there is no basic skill?
Now, some point out that the word “basic skills” is abstractly used, and sometimes it is overused, so the creativity of the players is diminished. It means that as the expression of basic skills has changed to mean the way the manager prefers to play, baseball is played not to be good at baseball, but to avoid being pointed out.
Coach A, who runs the Seoul Academy, is a ‘learning leader’ who is pursuing a doctoral course. He said, “Isn’t there a lot of cases in Korea that want a fixed form rather than respecting the individuality of players? These days, I think a lot about ‘what the basics are.’ I think it’s enough if it’s a ‘movement that doesn’t get in the way’.”
Coach Yoo Jung-min of Seoul High School, who produced several top-class prospects such as kt Kang Baek-ho, Doosan Ahn Jae-seok, LG Jung Woo-young and Lee Jae-won, and Hanwha Kim Seo-hyun, said, “All players have strengths and weaknesses. It is very important where you look.”
“If you look at your weaknesses, you might think that your basic skills are weak. But isn’t it that a player who was nominated by a professional club had a special advantage over others anyway? It could be restraint, physique conditions, or growth potential. But (in Korea) There is a climate that emphasizes the disadvantages first, and then there are cases where the advantages die. I think that attitude needs to be changed.”
When I first started as a coach, coach Jung-Min Yoo thoroughly emphasized basic skills to the extent that he looked back and said, “The players worked like machines.” But why did it change?
“When I supervised elementary school, I put a lot of emphasis on basic skills and trained a lot. But after realizing that it was my fault, I became a 180 degree different person. Not because he did it, but because he did what he was told to do. But if the coach changes, the way he leads changes, he loses his sense of self again and can’t find it.”
▶ Emphasis on basic skills is a cross-section of stagnant Korean baseball.
Using the word basic skills in a narrow sense shrinks the players on the field. And in Korean baseball, there are still not a few leaders who control players in that way. It won’t be malicious. However, it should not be overlooked that there is an adverse effect of shouting and accelerating.
Coach Yoo Jung-min said, “Isn’t abusive language actually violence? Those things also have a bad effect on the players. The WBC also thinks that the players were nervous and couldn’t show their skills. After showing it, it ended in vain.”
Coach A said, “During the lecture, I ask myself if this is for real players. If not, I try to change it. I am thinking about whether this is for me or for the players. As a result, I studied more.” I think it is true that Korean baseball has developed based on the hungry spirit, but we must also consider that times are changing.”
Coach Yoo Jung-min opposed the argument that the training time should be increased, saying, “To say that we have to go back to the old days means that the only ‘standard of working hard’ is that (long and intense training).” However, this perception is not exclusive to leaders. So do parents and baseball fans.
The prejudices of baseball players are strengthened through the media (they themselves become media) and lead to fan stereotypes. When prejudice with the support of public opinion becomes mainstream, an environment is created in which disagreements cannot be presented.
Academy K coach, a former professional baseball player, says that in order for the baseball world and coaching culture to change, ‘differences’ must be tolerated. Just as Darvish Yu (San Diego) presents new opinions despite the criticism of baseball seniors, it means that in Korean baseball, a player with a name should be able to reveal his convictions.
He added, “Baseball is a really difficult sport. The more you know, the more humble you become. It’s good for baseball seniors to point out and criticize, but it’s also necessary to tell why baseball is difficult and encourage the players.”
Sometimes parents condone the ‘harsh behavior’ themselves. I believe that the request to ‘make me a baseball player even if you hit me’ is not sincere. However, from this one word, you can see how society views student athletes.
The result is an irrational phenomenon in which training is done not to be good at baseball, but to appear to be working hard. This is how the baseball culture, which is known as the national team and cannot attend team dinners for unity because it is not noticed, was created. In some ways, Korea is more tightly blocked than Japan, which is said to be closed.
▶ We question the stereotypes of Korean baseball.
Even if you don’t curse, the players follow… To protect children who play baseball ①
“Does it have to be played for a long time to work hard?” A question to ask about ‘I mean in my time’ ②
“Kids these days don’t have basic skills” But what are the basic skills that have remained the same for over 10 years ③