Comparisons of 1996 Olympic Baseball Pitchers from Eight Countries

Escamilla RF, Fleisig GS, Zheng N, Barrentine SW, Andrews JR. Kinematic Comparisons of 1996 Olympic Baseball Pitchers. Journal of Sports Sciences, 19:665-676, 2001.

Methods

48 pitchers from Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Cuba, Italy, Korea, Nicaragua, and the United States were filmed using two high-speed (120 Hz) cameras during competition. The pitchers’ motions were digitized and their data was compared to reveal kinematic (angle and velocity) differences.

Results

Of the 21 parameters investigated, only three yielded significant differences. At lead foot contact, shoulder horizontal adduction and external rotation varied significantly among the countries. Ball speed was also significantly different among the countries. When the countries were grouped into four geographical regions, only two of the parameters were significantly different. No significant temporal (timing) differences were found. This data appears to indicate that pitching kinematics are similar among the pitchers from the countries and geographical regions that were studied.

The Cuban and American pitchers generated significantly higher ball speeds than pitchers from the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Australia, and Italy. This may be due to the greater height and weight of Cuban and American pitchers. Cuban pitchers also had significantly greater horizontal shoulder abduction than pitchers from Japan, the USA, Italy, and Korea. This may create a pre-stretch in the anterior shoulder musculature, which could further aid in generating greater ball speed. Japanese pitchers, meanwhile, displayed unusually low external rotation values at foot contact, which could increase elbow or shoulder joint forces.

This study captured data on the throwing motions of pitchers from a variety of countries and found the motions to be very similar. The few differences found, however, may be critical in performance and injury risks.