Where Am I? (ここは何処? Koko wa Doko?) is the 183rd chapter of manga, Baby Steps.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Yukichi Fukazawa
- Akiko Kosaka
- Natsu Takasaki
- Ryuhei Aoi
- Takuma Egawa (flashback)
- Pedro (flashback)
- Alex O'Brien (flashback)
- Christopher (flashback)
- Krishna Ramesh (flashback)
- Yoshiaki Ide (flashback)
Summary[]
Eiichiro starts to train more in order to improve his overall hitting power, to gain more change-of-pace patterns and to know more about the zone.
Synopsis[]
Three weeks before All-Japan Junior, Eiichiro does the following as preparation for the tournament:
- Enhancement of overall hitting power - additional minutes in morning jog, and stop and dash routines in order to train his lower body for stabilization of strokes.
- Increase of Change-of-Pace patterns - making simulations in the notebook and practicing them on courts
- Understanding the concept of zone and entering the "zone" at will since he was never figured out about "zone" during his match against Nabae.
Practice is even harder than before as all of the members of STC Court A are qualified for the All-Japan Junior Tournament. Eiichiro uses this time to test his new racket and notices the improvements to his techniques. Coach Aoi warns Eiichiro not to make his swing bigger - instead his form should be more compact. Aside from their training on the torso area, Coach Aoi also starts to train the hips as core muscles in that area are important when increasing the overall hitting power. Coach Aoi also added a program for strengthening the strokes as well. They have to be extra careful on doing this training menu in order not to get injured.
While Eiichiro is doing the training menu, he learns from Coach Aoi about the details of All-Japan Championship which features the professional tennis players in Japan. The winner and runner-up of All-Japan Junior will have the chance to participate for All-Japan Championship. The winner will also have the chance to play for World Super Junior which features the junior players in overseas. After the training, Coach Aoi invites Eiichiro for a "special training regarding zone".