KINEMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF OPPOSITE-FIELD HITTING

Abstract

Baseball is one of many popular sports in which the cen tral event involves a collision between an implement and a ball. It is generally agreed that hitting a baseball is one of the more difficult skills to learn in sport (Breen, 1975; Williams & Underwood, 1971). In addition to the habitual goal of maximal transfer of momentum to the ball, the batter frequently faces problems of directional guidance, due to certain strategic and mechanical requirements. The nature of the contact surfaces, the high velocity of pitched baseballs and the variety of ball trajectories combine to increase the difficulty of the task.