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Hitting
a
Baseball:
A
Biomechanical Description
Christian M. Welch, BS
'
Scott A. Banks, PhDFrank
F.
Cook, MD3Pete Draovitch, MS, PT, ATC, CSCS4
or as long as the game ofbaseball has been played,hitting has intrigued play-ers, coaches, and research-ers alike. Advancing tech-nology has facilitated the ability tocapture the act of hitting and analyzethe mechanics involved. In 1961,Race (14), with the aid of a 16mmmovie camera and the swings of 17minor league players, presented oneof the first effective qualitative andquantitative breakdowns of the over-all swing. The concepts of kineticlinking, angular measurement, bal-ance, and judgment time were intro-duced and supported with data.In subsequent studies, the abilityto transform standard film and videointo a three-dimensional representa-tion of the captured hitting motionnot only increased the accuracy ofmeasurement, but introduced newanalysis parameters. Using this tech-nology, Shapiro (17), in a study ofbat dynamics, described the bat'smovement during the swing usingthe three-dimensional componentsof its motion, while DeRenne (4),through a series of studies, developedan elaborate method of assessing ahitter's mechanical efficiency.The combination of biomechani-cal research and traditional baseballknowledge has begun the process ofresearch and investigation (1,6,7,12,18.19). The missing component tothis point has been the ability tobuild a comprehensive understandingof the body's natural coordinationand movement during the swing.Once a baseline understanding has
A tremendous amount of time and energy has been dedicated to the development ofconditioning programs, mechanics drills, and rehabilitation protocols for the throwing athlete. Incomparison, a significantly smaller amount has been spent on the needs of the hitting athlete. Beforethese needs can
be
addressed, an understanding of mechanics and the demands placed on the bodyduring the swing must
be
developed. This study uses three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data todefine and quantify biomechanics during the baseball swing. The results show that a hitter starts theswing with a weight shih toward the rear foot and the generation of trunk coil. As the hitter stridesforward, force applied by the front foot equal to
123%
of body weight promotes segment acceler-ation around the axis of the t~nk.he hip segment rotates to a maximum speed of
714Ysec
followed by a maximum shoulder segment velocity of
937%~.
The product of this kinetic link is amaximum linear bat velocity of
31
dsec. By quantikng the hitting motion, a more educatedapproach can
be
made in developing rehabilitation, strength, and conditioning programs for thehitting athlete.
Key
Words:
biomechanics, baseball, batting
'
President, Human Performance Technologies, Inc.,
825
South U.S. Highway One, Suite
200,
jupiter, FL
33477
Technical Director, Orthopaedic Research Laboratory,
Good
Samaritan Medical Center, West Palm Beach, FL
'
o-Medical Director, Orthopaedic Research Laboratory,
Good
Samaritan Medical Center, West PalmBeach, FLConsultant, Orthopa& Research Laboratory,
Good
Samaritan Medical Center, West Palm Beach, FL
been developed, we can move on toinvestigate the intricacies of specificmechanical parameters and relatethis information to a hitter's ability atthe plate. The goal of this study wasto develop an understanding of base-line mechanics through quantitativebiomechanical data and provide apreliminary synthesis of results forthe application to training and reha-bilitation.
METHODS
Testing
Procedure
Thirty-nine (25 right-handed hit-ters and 14 left-handed hitters) maleprofessional baseball players weretested at an indoor biomechanics fa-cility. In order to maintain uniformityin the population used for this study,only the right-handed subjects wereconsidered. Of the 25 right-handedhitters, only those who had at least100 "at-bats" and a minimum battingaverage of .250 during the 1993 sea-son were included. Each minorleague player's batting statistics werecombined for all clubs and organiza-tions played with during the 1993season.Data included in this study, basedon the defined criteria, were gener-ated from seven subjects. The meanbatting average for the subjects
was
.293 (tOX) and the average num-ber of "at-bats"
was
273
(
t
168). The
JOSPT
Volume
22
Number
5
November
1995
 Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
Official Publication of the Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy Sections of the American Physical Therapy Association
 
RESEARCH STUDY
seven subjects' level of play rangedfrom minor league to major league.At the time of testing, six subjectswere playing in the minor leaguesand one subject
was
playing in themajor leagues. The average weightwas 844
N
(224 N) and the averageheight
was
1.83 m (2.06 m).Preceding data collection, a
sys-
tem of 23 reflective markers wasplaced on the hitter, bat, and ball.Markers applied directly to the skinwere held securely in place with softfoam adhesive biofeedback pads(Davicon, Billerica,
MA).
"Stick"markers, pelvis markers, and wristmarkers were held in place usingNeoprene wraps and VelcroTM.Marker placement (Figure
1)
includ-ed:
I)
right and left shoulder placedat the acromioclavicular joint,
2)
neck placed at C7 of the spine,
3)
right and left elbow placed at thelateral epicondyle, 4) right and leftwrist placed dorsally between the ul-nar and radial styloid process,
5)
sa-crum marker placed at
L5
of thespine,
6)
right and left anterior supe-rior illiac spine,
7)
right and leftthigh using a "stick" marker to definethe frontal plane,
8)
right and leftknee placed at the joint line,
9)
right
Once a baselineunderstanding hasbeen developed, wecan move on toinvestigate theintricacies of specificmechanical parameters.
and left shank using a "stick" markerto define the frontal plane,
10)
rightand left ankle placed at the lateralmalleoli,
11)
right and left forefootplaced on top of the shoe,
12)
reflec-tive tape on the ball, and
13)
reflec-tive tape around the bat handle just
FIGURE 1.
Marker placement
for
subject, bat, and ball.
above the hands and at the top ofthe barrel end of the bat.After the subject had warmed upand the reflective markers had beensecurely applied, he
was
instructed tohit a number of baseballs off of astandard batting tee. The tee
was
placed in the hitting area so that thedesignated batter's box
was
com-prised of two force plates. The forceplates were arranged side by side sothat the subject could comfortablyplace each foot on an individualforce plate. The tee
was
adjusted tothe subject's preferred position andheight to hit a line drive "up themiddle," based on both verbal com-munication with the subject andwarm-up performance. The subject
was
then asked to hit a ball markedwith reflective tape for data collec-tion. The three best line drive hitswere used for data in this study. Cri-teria for determining the three bestline drive hits included verbal com-munication with the subject, contact,flight of the ball, and accuracy ofdata collection.During data collection, the move-ment of the reflective markers wassimultaneously captured by six cam-eras at a rate of 200 frames per sec-ond (Motion Analysis Corporation,Santa Rosa, CA). The informationcollected by each of the six cameras
was
then mathematically processedand the three-dimensional movementof each marker
was
calculated usingExpert Vision digitizing software
(Mo-
tion Analysis Corporation, SantaRosa, CA). In addition, the three-dimensional ground reaction forceswere measured for each foot at a rateof 1000 samples per second using twosixchannel force plates (AdvancedMechanical Technology, Inc., New-ton, MA). Both the motion and theground reaction force collection
sys-
tems were electronically synchronizedto begin collection simultaneously.The parameters chosen to por-tray the motion of the baseball swingwere consequently based on the bio-mechanical data. Kinematics and ki-netics were calculated using thethreedimensional information gener-ated during a test. The relative move-ment of the reflective markers withinthe global reference frame andbody/joint reference frames defined
Volume
22
Number
5
November
1995
JOSPT
 
RESEARCH STUDY
8:
STRIDE DlRECTlON
8:
FRONT FOOT POSITION
f
:
STRIDE
LENGTH
(B)
A:
SHOULDERS
B:
HIPSC:
ARMS
(C)
FIGURE
2.
Batter orientation and movement.
A)
Global reference frame. B) Stride parameters.
C)
Segmental rotation around axis of the trunk
(AOT).
general kinematics, including dis-placement and velocity for both lin-ear and angular measurements. Theapplication of force by each foot tothe ground relative to the coordi-nates of the global reference framedefined kinetics.
PARAMETER DESCRIPTION/CALCULATIONGlobal Reference Frame
The global reference frame
was
defined
as
the three-dimensional co-ordinate system in which the relativemovement of the body
was
measured(Figure
2A).
Each of the three axeswere perpendicular to each otherand defined three planes of move-ment. For this study, the positive Xaxis
was
the most crucial because itwas used as a reference for the seg-ment rotation and stride parameters.It
was
defined as the direction fromhome plate to the pitching rubberand parallel to the surface of the bat-ter's box. When looking in the posi-tive X direction, positive
Z
was
de-fined
as
pointing superiorly andpositive
Y
was
defined as pointing tothe left.
Ground Reaction Forces
Ground reaction forces repre-sented the interaction of the bodywith the ground (10). The three-dimensional force applied to theground by both feet
was
measuredduring each swing. Each individualcomponent of applied force (X,
Y,
Z)
in the global reference frame (Figure
2A)
was
expressed as a value in
N
forthe left and right foot. The resultantmagnitude of force for each foot
was
expressed as a value in
N
as
well as apercentage of body weight.
Center of Pressure/Center of Mass
The relative movement of thecenter of pressure between the twofeet and the body's calculated centerof mass in the global X direction
was
measured as an indication of dy-namic balance and forward momen-tum (3,4,15). The position of thecenter of pressure between the twofeet
was
calculated by first weighting
The three-dimensionalposition of the centerof mass for eachindividual segment wassummed to producethe position of thewhole bodycenter of massin global coordinates.
the position of the center of pressureby the magnitude of the downwardforce for each individual force plate(each foot). The two weighted posi-tions were then averaged to producethe center of pressure between thetwo feet in global coordinates. Thecenter of mass
was
calculated usingsegment center of mass and segmentbody weight percentage measure-ments presented by Contini
(3).
The
JOSPT
Volume
22
Number
5
November
1995
of 00

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