Japan has a long history of sending top quality players to Major League Baseball in the US. Among their number is Shohei Ohtani who is one of the country’s best exports.
Like all top athletes, Ohtani has a strict training schedule but, if we take a closer look, his is one of the more thorough and complex regimes in the entire MLB setup.
Shohei Ohtani in Focus
Ohtani is a pitcher and designated hitter who ended the 2023 baseball season with the Los Angeles Angels. He began his career in his native Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and made his debut in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2013.
The man known as ‘Shotime’ has made it into three MLB All Star teams, and he was the Most Valuable Player in the American League in 2021. He has a host of personal honors, but has yet to win the World Series during his time in America.
There is speculation that he may move on from LA in the MLB off-season, with the Boston Red Sox a possible destination. Wherever Ohtani plays, his team will be a competitive unit, they’re usually the favorites in the betting markets heading into a game. Part of his appeal to any MLB franchise is a strict training regime.
Early Days
Shohei Otani has previously spoken about a rigorous training program in a Japanese High School. He, and his classmates, would wake at 6 am, before attending baseball practice.
Study came next, before evening practice until around 9 pm. That equates to around five hours practice a day, which was spent on improving his technique as a hitter and a pitcher. While his routine is more intense as a professional, there’s no doubt that this early schedule provided invaluable training as he worked towards his targets.
The Basics
Ohtani will undertake all of the regular training techniques that top baseball athletes will incorporate as part of their own schedules. There will be sprints, jumps and weights to improve strength.
Any aspiring player can follow this type of routine at the gym, as they look to develop their core strength and fitness.
In terms of working on the two key areas of his game, hitting and pitching, Shotime will employ specific methods. Range hitting is a popular technique used in other sports such as cricket, and will involve the batter receiving slow pitches and hitting them as high and as hard as they can.
This isn’t so easy to emulate outside of a baseball stadium, but work in a batting cage can certainly help.
Analysis For Accuracy
Shohei Ohtani’s quest to be the best saw him take a recent visit to Drivetime Baseball. This organization is renowned for providing a host of analytical data which enables players to identify the areas in which they need to improve.
As a result, Ohtani’s program is completely data driven. An abundance of stats has helped him to identify what needed to change. For example, a perceived weakness in his hitting meant that the player opted to take more practice against live pitching.
Ohtani’s data-driven approach isn’t one that can easily be replicated, but there is a program known as Biocircuit which is said to come close.
Taking Diet Seriously
Top athletes will usually take on a diet than involves carbohydrates which they subsequently work off during training. Fresh fruit and vegetables are regular staples while alcoholic drinks and fried foods are considered to be off limits.
As you might expect, Shohei Ohtani takes a far more intense approach to his diet, and regularly requests analysis of blood samples to identify any deficiencies. The player has lost weight in the last 12 months, and that will certainly help him with speed and overall fitness.
The exact details of Ohtani’s food intake are not common knowledge, but it’s reported that he largely adheres to a Keto diet. A Ketogenic diet can be followed by anybody, although it is a strict regime. It goes against the use of carbohydrates and, instead, replaces them with fat which is stored for burning off energy.
The keto diet won’t suit everyone, but it’s worth considering. The important part to remember is to stay active and not let that fat store up.
When he begins any daily training regime, Shohei Ohtani wants to push himself to the absolute limit. He talks about breaking records, and he’s not exaggerating when he looks at setting new milestones.
Young professionals may feel that it’s extreme, but it clearly works. Ohtani was the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to be selected for All Star teams as a pitcher and a hitter. He may be waiting for that first World Series win, but he’ll be an asset to any team he plays for and it’s all thanks to talent, backed by this impressive training schedule.