Baseball Federation of Japan and NPB Host Coaching Clinics

500 Coaches Attended Annual Clinics in Tokyo

Baseball Federation of Japan (BFJ) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) teamed together to bring the annual Baseball Coaching Clinic (BCC) in its 22nd year at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo. The Bone and Joint Decade Japan (BJDJ) which is a global alliance for musculoskeletal health and Japan Rubber Baseball Association played an important role to the success of BCC. This year’s event saw participation of 500 amateur coaches of all age categories from all over JapanrnHosted Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 20 – 22, 2017, the clinics featured instruction, tutorials, medical care, legal aspects, nutrition by current coaches and specialists in the respective areas. Manager Kimiyasu KUDO, a former MVP hurler and Japan’s Hall of Famer, cautioned overuse of arms during the growing-up ages and reflected on his absence of playing baseball for a year in his primary school days as the recess might have contributed during his 29-year competitive carrier. With the backdrop of downtrend in popularity of baseball owing to dwindling number of children and changes in social environment, he cautioned his audience to avoid straight-forward authoritative coaching manners and make young players feel sense of enjoyment to play baseballrnThe three day schedule of BCC included:rnFRIDAY, January 20rn10:00-10:30 Opening Address by NPB Commissioner, and guidance on BCCrn10:30-11:30 Coaching lecturern12:30-14:00 Coaching instructionsrn14:10-15:40 Bio-mechanicsrn15:50-16:50 Psychology and mental trainingrn17:10-18:10 Lawyer’s advice to be a good coachrn18:20-19:50 Training theory and practicernrnSATURDAY, January 21rn09:00-10:30 Medical knowledge required of athletic coachesrn10:40-11:40 Anti-Dopingrn12:40-13:40 Key-note speech “Human Resource Development13:50-14:50 Treatment of elbow injuriesrn(For General Course)rn15:00-16:00 Sports and nutritionrn16:20-17:20 Regulatory compliance required for athletic coachesrn17:30-19:00 Development of junior playersrn(For Medical Course)rn15:10-16:50 Symposium; Development of junior players on physical strength and skillsrn17:00-18:40 Prevention of injuries – need for elbow checkuprn18:40-19:00 Summary of discussion and future outlookrn(Friendly Get-together)rn19:30-21:30rnrnSUNDAY, January 22rn(In 4 groups in rotation)rn09:10-10:25 Life-saving, batting clinic, pitching clinic, fielding clinicrn10:35-11:50 Life-saving, batting clinic, pitching clinic, fielding clinicrn12:50-14:05 Life-saving, batting clinic, pitching clinic, fielding clinicrn14:15-15:30 Life-saving, batting clinic, pitching clinic, fielding clinicrn