One of the differences often pointed out between school and the real world is the nature of answers.

In school exams, there is almost always a correct solution waiting to be found. But in professional life—and especially in highly competitive fields like sports—the situation is very different.

Sometimes there are multiple possible answers.

Sometimes the answer has not been discovered yet.

And sometimes there may be no clear answer at all.

Shohei Ohtani understands this reality better than most players. By pursuing a career as a two-way player, he stepped into a path that had no modern precedent.

Traditional baseball development provides clear guidelines. Pitchers follow one set of training methods, hitters another.

But for someone attempting to perform both roles at an elite level, those guidelines become far less certain.

What works for one player might not work for another—especially for someone with Ohtani’s unique combination of size, power, and athletic ability.

Because of that, Ohtani does not spend his time searching for a universal formula.

Instead, he experiments.

If he notices something while watching another player, hears advice from a coach, or comes up with an idea himself, he simply tries it.

If it works, he keeps it.

If it doesn’t, he moves on.

For Ohtani, the absence of a guaranteed answer is not something to complain about.

It is simply the reality of exploring new territory.

“There is no single correct answer,” he says.

And perhaps that is precisely why he continues searching.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Opening a Path, Crossing the Ocean: The True Story of Shohei Ohtani, p.316