I wanted that swing! 395 Home Run Legend's Special Lesson...Should KIA Wuta's big gun replace Tess

Feb 05, 2025

A game between the LG Twins and the KIA Tigers at Jamsil Stadium on the 17th. KIA Lee Woo-sung is doing batting training. Jamsil = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.08.17/

"Because I wanted to do that swing, too. It won't be easy in the long run, but there will probably be some changes in form compared to last year."

KIA Tigers veteran Choi Hyung-woo (42) spared no support for junior Lee Woo-sung (31) to take the next level this winter. It was also with him when he conducted off-season training in Korea, and last month, Choi Hyung-woo fully supported the cost and even took him to Guam training. Choi Hyung-woo is a slugger who boasts 395 home runs in the KBO. In other words, Lee Woo-sung enjoyed the benefit of receiving special lessons from Living Legends throughout the winter.

Even before leaving for Guam, Lee Woo-sung decided to ask Choi Hyung-woo for advice on hitting. Lee Woo-sung began to get a chance to become the main player in KIA last year. He hit .301 (107 hits in 355 at-bats) for the season in 2023, and last year he hit .288 (115 hits in 399 at-bats), nine homers, 54 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.762 in 112 games. Even if there had been no gap for more than a month due to a hamstring injury last year, it could have expected a little better performance.

However, he has never exceeded 10 home runs in a season in his 13th year as a professional. Considering that he drew attention as a rising star of right-handed hitting when he was nominated by the Doosan Bears in 2013, it is clear that he did not meet expectations.

Even before leaving for Guam, Lee Woo-sung said, "(Choi Hyung-woo) always tells me during the season because I don't have much long balls compared to my physique (1m82, weight 95kg). For example, 'I wish I could let go of one hand after hitting the bat. The ball needs to float a little more. A lot of people say, 'You have to give a good spin (rotation) to the bottom of the ball. If you look at my performance, I haven't hit a double-digit home run yet. My senior felt sorry for me in that regard, so he said he would help me hit the base of the ball a lot. My senior told me that I should practice floating the ball because I have a very low launch angle.

Lee Woo-sung continued "When I hit, the left wall tends to collapse quickly. My senior told me while working out together at Champions Field in the winter that he stressed that 'the left wall doesn't collapse until you retire from baseball.'"

As promised, Choi Hyung-woo actively transferred his know-how so that Lee Woo-sung could hit a little bigger in Guam. It is now up to Lee Woo-sung to absorb what Choi Hyung-woo told us and make it a grade.

A match between the KIA Tigers and the Samsung Lions in Game 1 of the Korean Series at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 21st. KIA Choi Hyung-woo and Lee Woo-sung are warming up. Gwangju = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.10.21/

LG-KIA match held at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 3rd. Lee Woo-sung is watching interestingly as Choi Hyung-woo helps Park Chan-ho train for bunting before the game. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.9.3/

When asked if there was any change in Lee Woo-sung's batting, who trained in Guam, Choi Hyung-woo said, `I changed it, but I think we can ask (Lee) Woo-sung. It's a little too much for me to say with my own mouth, but there's been a change though. Because I wanted that kind of swing (to Lee Woosung). It won't be easy in the long run, but the form will probably change slightly compared to last year, he predicted.

When asked what has changed in Guam, Lee Woo-sung said "Last season, I had a high percentage of ground balls when I was practicing and in games. Even if I hit well, the ball was more like a line drive than I thought, so I asked my senior 'How can I hit the fly ball a little more and hit it hard?' I asked a lot about it and practiced a lot"I expected my practice results to come out on the ground this season.

Lee Woo-sung made one more change to his position to make a full leap to the starting lineup this year. He turned to first baseman last year to secure more time to play, and there were some results, but KIA decided to take over the main first baseman this year as it recruited new foreign hitter Patrick Wisdom. Since competing in the same position as a foreign player is very disadvantageous, Lee decided to return to his original position as an outfielder.

KIA ended its three-year companionship with outfielder Socrates Brito by recruiting Wisdom. Socrates played a batting average of 0.302 (487 hits in 1,613 at-bats), 63 home runs, and 270 RBIs in 409 games in three seasons, but KIA boldly chose to replace it with the weight of reinforcing foreigners with right-handed batters.

Lee Woo-sung is currently holding a fierce left field audition with Lee Chang-jin, Park Jung-woo and Kim Seok-hwan at the first spring camp in Irvine, the United States. Lee Woo-sung must survive in the main competition to prove the effectiveness of Choi Hyung-woo's lesson this winter.

Regarding the current training situation, Lee Woo-sung said, `I was not very helpful to the team in the second half of last year, so I am working hard to do better until the end of the season`, he said, making us look forward to a more mature season.