Abstract
The purpose of this longitudinal, descriptive study was to observe changes in maximal strength measured via isometric clean grip mid-thigh pull and home runs (total and home runs per game) across three years of training and three competitive seasons for four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 baseball players. A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, revealing significant univariate effects of time for peak force (PF) (p = 0.003) and peak force allometrically scaled (PFa) (p = 0.002). Increases in PF were noted from season 1 to season 2 (p = 0.031) and season 3 (p = 0.004), but season 2 was not significantly different than season 3 (p = 0.232). Additionally, increases in PFa were noted from season 1 to season 2 (p = 0.010) and season 3 (p < 0.001), but season 2 was not significantly different than season 3 (p = 0.052). Home runs per game rose from the 2009 (0.32) to 2010 season (1.35) and dropped during the 2011 season (1.07). A unique aspect of the study involves 2010 being the season in which ball-bat coefficient of restitution (BBCOR) bats were introduced to the NCAA competition.
Highlights
Resistance training (RT) enhances muscle strength and size through various applications, with important implications across a wide spectrum of athletic populations, including baseball players [1]
A 2005 [2] survey study of head major league baseball strength coaches demonstrated that most respondents (21 of 30) employ a periodized strength program (18 of 21)
Home run data were acquired from publicly available National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) statistics
Summary
Resistance training (RT) enhances muscle strength and size through various applications, with important implications across a wide spectrum of athletic populations, including baseball players [1]. An investigation on professional baseball players throughout an entire organization (rookie ball through Major League) displayed that speed, agility, and lower body power were the strongest predictors of baseball-specific performance [10] These force-related qualities of speed, agility and lower body power have been shown to be improved through increases in maximal and relative strength [1]. For a collegiate roster of 30 to 35 student athletes, roughly 15–18 may be pitchers that do not hit, leaving only 12–15 for a potential sample Of those hitters, there may only be 7–8 that are everyday players and it is highly unlikely that those 7–8 are the same players for multiple seasons in a row. A unique aspect of this study is that four players remained in the starting lineup for three straight collegiate baseball seasons
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