THE CHARTERISTICS OF LOWER LIMB MOMENTS IN BASEBALL PITCHING

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of lower limb moments in baseball pitching. Ten senior high school pitchers participated in this study (age: 16.7±0.7 yr; height: 179.1±5.8 cm; body mass: 73.7±8.9 kg). Ten VICON cameras (200Hz) and two Kistler force plates (1000Hz) fixed on a pitching mound were used to collect 3-D kinematic and GRF data. Three successful trials for each subject were used to compute lower limbs joint moments. The results indicated, for the pivot leg, ankle plantarflexor moment, knee and hip adductor moment are the key moments to transform energy to trunk and upper extremities by driving and rotating the knee. For the lead leg, ankle plantarflexor moment and hip flexor moment are the main joint moments to brake upper extremities by a knee extention during baseball pitching.