Knee Angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers

Bart van Trigt; Wouter Schallig; Erik van der Graaff; Marco J M Hoozemans; Dirkjan Veeger

doi:10.3390/sports6020051

Knee Angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers

Bart van Trigt, Wouter Schallig, Erik van der Graaff, Marco J M Hoozemans, Dirkjan Veeger

Biomechanics

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard deviation) 1.7 years) pitched ten fastballs. Data were collected with three high-speed video cameras at a frequency of 240 Hz. Stride length and knee angle of the leading leg were calculated at foot contact, maximal external rotation, and ball release. The associations between these kinematic variables and ball speed were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. Stride length as percentage of body height and knee angle at foot contact were not significantly associated with ball speed. However, knee angles at maximal external rotation and ball release were significantly associated with ball speed. Ball speed increased by 0.45 m/s (1 mph) with an increase in knee extension of 18 degrees at maximal external rotation and 19.5 degrees at ball release. In conclusion, more knee extension of the leading leg at maximal external rotation and ball release is associated with higher ball speeds in elite youth baseball pitchers.

Original language	English
Article number	51
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Sports (Basel, Switzerland)
Volume	6
Issue number	2
Early online date	29 May 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/sports6020051
Publication status	Published - Jun 2018

Funding

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the STW under Grant 12893. This STW-funded project, named project FASTBALL, is a cooperation between the Dutch baseball federation and the VU University Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, the fysiopractices Manual Fysion, Medicort, the Bergman clinic and Motekforce Link. This work was supported by the STW under Grant 12893. This STW-funded project, named project FASTBALL, is a cooperation between the Dutch baseball federation and the VU University Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, the fysiopractices Manual Fysion, Medicort, the Bergman clinic and Motekforce Link.

Funders	Funder number
Dutch baseball federation
Technische Universiteit Delft
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen	12893

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title = "Knee Angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers",

abstract = "The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard deviation) 1.7 years) pitched ten fastballs. Data were collected with three high-speed video cameras at a frequency of 240 Hz. Stride length and knee angle of the leading leg were calculated at foot contact, maximal external rotation, and ball release. The associations between these kinematic variables and ball speed were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. Stride length as percentage of body height and knee angle at foot contact were not significantly associated with ball speed. However, knee angles at maximal external rotation and ball release were significantly associated with ball speed. Ball speed increased by 0.45 m/s (1 mph) with an increase in knee extension of 18 degrees at maximal external rotation and 19.5 degrees at ball release. In conclusion, more knee extension of the leading leg at maximal external rotation and ball release is associated with higher ball speeds in elite youth baseball pitchers.",

author = "{van Trigt}, Bart and Wouter Schallig and {van der Graaff}, Erik and Hoozemans, {Marco J M} and Dirkjan Veeger",

year = "2018",

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doi = "10.3390/sports6020051",

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journal = "Sports (Basel, Switzerland)",

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AU - Schallig, Wouter

AU - van der Graaff, Erik

AU - Hoozemans, Marco J M

AU - Veeger, Dirkjan

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Y1 - 2018/6

N2 - The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard deviation) 1.7 years) pitched ten fastballs. Data were collected with three high-speed video cameras at a frequency of 240 Hz. Stride length and knee angle of the leading leg were calculated at foot contact, maximal external rotation, and ball release. The associations between these kinematic variables and ball speed were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. Stride length as percentage of body height and knee angle at foot contact were not significantly associated with ball speed. However, knee angles at maximal external rotation and ball release were significantly associated with ball speed. Ball speed increased by 0.45 m/s (1 mph) with an increase in knee extension of 18 degrees at maximal external rotation and 19.5 degrees at ball release. In conclusion, more knee extension of the leading leg at maximal external rotation and ball release is associated with higher ball speeds in elite youth baseball pitchers.

AB - The purpose of this study was to determine whether stride length and knee angle of the leading leg at foot contact, at the instant of maximal external rotation of the shoulder, and at ball release are associated with ball speed in elite youth baseball pitchers. In this study, fifty-two elite youth baseball pitchers (mean age 15.2 SD (standard deviation) 1.7 years) pitched ten fastballs. Data were collected with three high-speed video cameras at a frequency of 240 Hz. Stride length and knee angle of the leading leg were calculated at foot contact, maximal external rotation, and ball release. The associations between these kinematic variables and ball speed were separately determined using generalized estimating equations. Stride length as percentage of body height and knee angle at foot contact were not significantly associated with ball speed. However, knee angles at maximal external rotation and ball release were significantly associated with ball speed. Ball speed increased by 0.45 m/s (1 mph) with an increase in knee extension of 18 degrees at maximal external rotation and 19.5 degrees at ball release. In conclusion, more knee extension of the leading leg at maximal external rotation and ball release is associated with higher ball speeds in elite youth baseball pitchers.

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Knee Angle and Stride Length in Association with Ball Speed in Youth Baseball Pitchers

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