"People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball"
About this Quote
Sandy Koufax draws a sharp line between spectators and practitioners, reminding us that the highest levels of performance are built on unglamorous, painstaking preparation. Spring training is not a ritual to appease tradition; it is the laboratory where the body relearns how to do something violent and precise without breaking. Throwing a baseball hard and accurately is an unnatural motion that places enormous stress on the shoulder and elbow. The arm needs time to adapt, connective tissues need gradual load, and the intricate chain from legs to hips to torso to fingertip must find its rhythm again. Mechanics drift in the off-season the way a musical instrument slips out of tune. Spring is where command returns, release points settle, and feel for the ball’s seams is rediscovered.
Koufax’s authority on the subject is hard-earned. A legendary left-hander with a perfect game and multiple no-hitters, he also lived on the edge of pain, managing arthritis and pushing through seasons that exacted a price on his arm. He knew the difference between being ready in theory and being ready in the kinetic reality of the mound. His point pushes back against a recurring fantasy in sports commentary: that elite performance is merely talent plus motivation. It is also timing, adaptation, and the slow accumulation of small adjustments that only repetition delivers.
The line also gestures toward a wider truth about expertise. From the stands, motions look simple and repeatable; up close, the margin for error shrinks to millimeters and milliseconds. Spring training gives pitchers a runway to build stamina, refine secondary pitches, sync with catchers, and avoid the injury that haste invites. It is the season’s quiet foundation, the place where grace is manufactured out of grind. Those who have never felt the ball leave their fingers under stadium lights are the ones most likely to underestimate how necessary that foundation is.
Koufax’s authority on the subject is hard-earned. A legendary left-hander with a perfect game and multiple no-hitters, he also lived on the edge of pain, managing arthritis and pushing through seasons that exacted a price on his arm. He knew the difference between being ready in theory and being ready in the kinetic reality of the mound. His point pushes back against a recurring fantasy in sports commentary: that elite performance is merely talent plus motivation. It is also timing, adaptation, and the slow accumulation of small adjustments that only repetition delivers.
The line also gestures toward a wider truth about expertise. From the stands, motions look simple and repeatable; up close, the margin for error shrinks to millimeters and milliseconds. Spring training gives pitchers a runway to build stamina, refine secondary pitches, sync with catchers, and avoid the injury that haste invites. It is the season’s quiet foundation, the place where grace is manufactured out of grind. Those who have never felt the ball leave their fingers under stadium lights are the ones most likely to underestimate how necessary that foundation is.
Quote Details
| Topic | Training & Practice |
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