Watch: Naomi Osaka tries her hand at softball/baseball
Naomi Osaka recently posted a video on Twitter showcasing some of her hand-eye coordination skills while playing baseball. Osaka, who brought an end to her season after the US Open, can be seen striking the ball with a two-handed lefty grip, resembling her tennis backhand.
😭😂 something’s not right. https://t.co/rh4PUoo78g
In the caption, Osaka mocks herself for striking the baseball like a tennis ball.
"Something's not right," Naomi Osaka wrote.
But even though Naomi Osaka is using the wrong technique, her timing is almost always immaculate, courtesy of her world-class hand-eye coordination.
In the video, we can see the four-time Grand Slam champion sporting a baseball helmet. Osaka is most likely wielding a traditional metal baseball bat, going by the sound it makes upon hitting the ball.
The ball itself is most likely being aimed at Osaka by a ball-throwing machine, and given the slight underhand trajectory the ball follows, it seems that the machine is set for softball pitching rather than baseball.
For the uninitiated, softball uses underhand pitching from a flat landing, while baseball requires overarm or sidearm pitching from an elevated mound.
Both sports are immensely popular in Osaka's home country Japan, where the men's and women's teams are both ranked No. 1 in the world.
Naomi Osaka's video draws some hilarious comments from fans on Twitter
Naomi Osaka's post has been gaining a lot of traction so far; it has been retweeted 329 times, quote-tweeted 143 times, and liked by 6,179 users (all figures at the time of writing).
Given Osaka's immense popularity, these numbers are expected to rise, with several fans leaving replies by the minute, most of which are quite hilarious.
One user named Alejandro accurately pointed out that the Japanese was swinging the baseball bat as if she were hitting a double-handed backhand.
@naomiosaka Swinging the bat like its a tennis racket lol 😂😂
Another user remarked that the 24-year-old had managed to get some topspin on the ball.
@naomiosaka Hitting the baseball with topspin 😂
One user posted a clip from the recent film King Richard which shows Will Smith as Richard Williams giving instructions to his daughters -- Venus and Serena -- played by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton respectively.
The instruction -- "Gotta open up your hips for more power" -- is here jokingly aimed at Osaka by the fan.
@naomiosaka Gotta open up your hips for more power. https://t.co/7y0A0V2Ehe
On a totally unrelated note, a fan requested Naomi Osaka to ask Cordae, her partner, to release his next album.
@naomiosaka please tell cordae to drop the album
Naomi Osaka has been taking time off from tennis. But one can expect the World No. 13 to shift her focus to the game very soon, given that the Australian Open, where she is a two-time and defending champion, is less than two months away.
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