| Analysis: Sasaki felt Fukudome needed to change his mechanics. It wasn't a major adjustment, but a little thing that the coach said was important. "Because of the elbow, he couldn't extend his arm fully," Sasaki said. "What he needed to do was sway a little bit so his upper body would come together. He was going open all the time. He didn't have the power translate from the legs into the back [and upper body]." Because Fukudome was using more of his upper body, he lost some power. Sasaki used the example of a boxer. If a fighter only uses his upper body to punch someone, and the lower body isn't involved, obviously, there isn't much power in the punch. In any event, Fukudome is off to a great start, and we don't expect anything like the drop-off he had last year. |