(14) RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMP FORCE-TIME CHARACTERISTICS AND STRIKEOUTS IN NCAA DIVISION III BASEBALL PLAYERS

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMP FORCE-TIME CHARACTERISTICS AND STRIKEOUTS IN DIVISION III BASEBALL PLAYERS 


 

 

Purpose: To examine the relationships between countermovement jump (CMJ) force-time characteristics and the number of strikeouts pitchers had at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III level.

Methods: 15 male (20.9 ± 0.9 years, 91.2 ± 11.7 kg, 183.0 ± 5.8 cm) NCAA Division III baseball pitchers participated in this study as part of a long-term athlete monitoring program. During preseason testing, each pitcher completed two maximal effort CMJ trials on force plates and the force-time data were used to calculate jump height and time to takeoff as well as propulsion mean force (PMF), duration (PDur), and peak power (PP). Modified reactive strength index (RSImod) was then calculated as the ratio of jump height and time to takeoff. The average of the CMJ trials were used for correlational analyses. At the conclusion of the competitive season, strikeout totals were determined for each subject. The strikeout data were only collected from athletes who had pitched 10 or more innings during the season. Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and coefficients of determination (R2) were used to determine the relationships between CMJ variables and strikeouts.

Results: The relationships between PMF, PDur, PP, RSImod, and the strikeout totals of the subjects are displayed in Table 1. Although none of the relationships between CMJ force-time characteristics and strikeouts were statistically significant, there was a moderate relationship between CMJ peak power and strikeouts in which 17.2% of the variance was explained. In addition, the small relationship between RSImod and strikeouts explained approximately 8% of the variance. The remaining relationships were trivial in nature and explained less than 1% of the strikeout variance.

Conclusions: Moderate and small relationships were found between CMJ peak power and RSImod with strikeouts, respectively. However, only small portions of the strikeout variance were explained by these variables. In addition, CMJ PMF and PDur displayed trivial relationships with baseball strikeouts. Practical Applications: Strength and conditioning coaches may consider using the CMJ to monitor how an athlete is progressing throughout the course of a season or off-season; however, it is important to identify the variables that may provide insight into an athlete’s performance. Our findings suggest that enhanced power output may contribute to the ability to strikeout more opposing batters. However, it should be noted that pitching requires a given amount of skill and may thus not be predictable based on athlete testing and monitoring. Further research is needed to determine which force-time characteristics may provide better insight into performance in collegiate baseball pitchers. 


Acknowledgements: None