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“But that's not the point. It's a minor irritant to Dr. D that American coaches -- as opposed to Japanese coaches -- think that less work equals more strength. :: shrug ::”
Thank you as always Doc for all the excellent commentary! It’s always enjoyable to hear someone challenge “common sense”.
As someone who has trained with a number of kendo teams in Japan however (corporate and collegiate, plus seen the training methods of the police teams), I do have to question the argument above to a degree. There are certainly strong college programs that follow a “less is more” viewpoint in Japan. One example is Keio University. Since it is an academically rigorous university, daily practices (when Keio was ranked in the Kanto best 4, and the women’s team was #2 in all Japan) were just 1.5 hours a day. I asked the coach at the time how did they compete with the Kokushikans and Tsukuba’s with such little practice time, and the answer was one of efficiency and intensity. If there was only a short window of time a day, you had to focus completely and dedicate yourself to every moment. Furthermore, there was a need to practice and fight strategically instead of mechanically/physically (although in Tsukuba’s defense, they do an amazing job blending both approaches). Since Keio left that approach in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s they have actually lost success.
One other counter example is actually powerlifting. If you read the work by Jim Wendler, Dave Tate, or Mark Rippentoe, all discuss “leaving a bit in the tank” after practice and not working until failure. In other words, taking “baby steps”. Wendler’s 5/3/1 is basically built entirely on this premise, and it helped him and others become champion lifters. They argue that otherwise the injuries build up over time. It’s a long-term health/gain vs. short-term gain viewpoint, where one might have greater short-term power gains, but lose out over the long haul due to injury or stalling. Elitefts is one great place to see this concept in action. I coach an informal group of college powerlifters in Yokohama (all just starting out from scratch), so this process of how to balance strength gains while preventing injury has been a question that has troubled me greatly.
Again, these are examples from kendo and powerlifting, and they may well NOT translate to baseball. However, I thought it might add to the conversation to diversify the image of Japanese sports training a bit.
Just my two cents. Hope they help!