Hisashi Hashimoto

In the past 25 years, Hisashi Hashimoto had been actively involved in Japan and American professional baseball teams. For the past three years (1997-1999), Hashimoto had the opportunity to work as an athletic trainer for San Francisco Giants organization. 　Also, from 2001 to 2003, Hashimoto was able to work as an athletic trainer for the Hiroshima Carp, a professional baseball team in Japan. As an athletic trainer, Hashimoto observed two different styles of athletic training between the two countries. Hashimoto was exposed to various methods of athletic training domains in both America and Japan. According to Hashimoto, in America athletic trainers strongly emphasize strength and conditioning. The focus is on “preventative medicine” rather than the “After the fact” perspective. The biggest contrast between the two countries is the use of “annual in-off season strength & conditioning program” by the American. That is, it is safe to say that athletic trainers and strength & conditioning trainers are one of the most important health care providers for professional athletes. In Japan, athletic trainer and strength & conditioning trainers are increasingly popular as an instructor of overall athletic condition and performance in sports. Although it is growing in popularity, not many researchers have studied the effect of strength & conditioning. In addition, controversy and debate on the benefits of strength & conditioning exercises continues to exist among those in the baseball profession. Some baseball coaches say that auxiliary exercises generally have no direct effect on baseball skill development. On the other hand, some researchers conclude that strength-training program for baseball players works effectively because they found some scientific explanations.