Because of his bright and approachable personality, Shohei Ohtani often appears to speak casually with everyone around him, regardless of age or status.

Naturally, many players — especially younger ones — want to learn from him and ask about his extraordinary techniques and training methods.

Yet Ohtani himself says:

“At this stage, I don’t want to teach technique to others.”

At first glance, that statement may sound cold or arrogant, as if he is unwilling to share skills that he worked hard to develop.

But his true reasoning is the exact opposite.

According to Ohtani, he still cannot say with complete certainty that everything he is currently doing is absolutely correct.

Because of that, he feels uncomfortable teaching methods that might limit another player’s potential.

He explained that if he were to pass along ideas he is not fully convinced about, he might unintentionally steer someone in the wrong direction.

That is why he hesitates.

For many people, it may seem strange that a player with Ohtani’s accomplishments could still question whether his methods are truly correct.

But Ohtani is constantly experimenting, searching for new techniques, and refining his approach.

Sometimes he later looks back at something he once believed was effective and wonders, “Why was I even doing that?”

At other times, ideas he initially considered failures turn out to have simply been attempted too early.

Because baseball at the highest level is so complex and constantly evolving, Ohtani believes true certainty is rare.

That is why he only shares things he genuinely believes are unquestionably valuable.

Anything less than that, he prefers to keep exploring on his own.

His attitude reveals both humility and responsibility.

Even as one of the greatest players in the world, Ohtani still sees himself as someone learning, testing, and searching for deeper answers.

For him, mastery is not a destination.

It is an endless process of discovery.

Source

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

Number 1094–1095