Chunichi's professional baseball spring camp in Chatan Town, Okinawa Prefecture is on its third day. Yuki Okabayashi, who will wear the number 1 on his back this season, is working on learning a new form with the aim of winning the batting title for the first time in two years.
Last season, Okabayashi won the Best Nine and the Golden Glove Award for the second year in a row, but he missed out on the title for most hits, which he won a year ago, by just one hit.
As the team expects him to play an active role as a central player, his uniform number has been changed from "60", which he had worn since joining the team four years ago, to "1".
At this camp, Okabayashi has been working on learning a new form since the off-season in order to win the batting title for the first time in two years.
Up until now, players have been holding the bat upright, but by laying it down, there is less waste in the motion of swinging the bat, which also allows for stronger hits.
During his free batting on the 3rd, he hit his characteristic sharp balls into wide angles, and Okabayashi said, ``I'm swinging the bat well and I think it's going well.I want to continue practicing this at camp so that I can unconsciously develop new forms.'' We were talking.