KINETIC ANALYSIS OF EACH HAND IN BASEBALL BATTING MOTION AT DIFFERENT HITTING POINT HEIGHTS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the kinetic features of each hand under conditions of different hitting-point heights in the baseball tee-batting by using a bat with instrumented grip-handle. Twenty-three collegiate male baseball players’ motion were captured with a VICON MX system (12-cameras, 250Hz), and kinetic data at each hand were measured by using the instrumented bat equipped with 28 strain gauges (1000Hz). The vertical displacement of the hitting-point on the bat was mostly dominated by translational movement of the bat. The work of the force of vertical component showed that the positive work of knob-side hand was significantly larger at down swing and level swing phases. These results indicate that the knob-side hand is a great contributor to adjust the bat into the different hitting-point height in each phase.