Abstract
Purpose : This paper investigates the effect of adding to the off-season training program an eastern medicine weightlifting program, Gravitational Wellness® (GW) on the subsequent season batting performance of a Division I baseball team. Methods : This study used retrospective data collected on in-season batting performance statistics for 40 Division I baseball players during seasons 2001 through 2007. The GW® intervention group consisted of 9 positional players who participated in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons and engaged in GW® training during the off season after 2007. At each GW® exercise session, the participant engaged in four separate exercises, all involving free weights using a barbell system. Change in batting performance from the 2007 and 2008 seasons was computed and compared to the year to year change in batting performance of the historic controls. The amount of weight lifted by the intervention group with each of the exercises was compared at weeks 1 and 10. Results : Batting performance in home runs, batting average, and runs batted-in all improved in the intervention group, with all improvements greater than those found in the historic controls. This difference was significant in favor of GW® weight training in batting average (F1,47 = 11.2, p = 0.002), but did not reach statistical significance for home runs (F 1,47 = 0.011, p = 0.916), or runs batted-in (F1,47 = 1.392, p = 0.244).
Highlights
Performance enhancement has long been a topic of interest for baseball athletes and coaches
This study reviewed the data gathered by a Division I baseball team that employed Gravitational Wellness® (GW)® as an adjunct to their off season training regimen
A comparison of means using one-way ANOVA and independent t-tests were conducted on the batting performance variables
Summary
Performance enhancement has long been a topic of interest for baseball athletes and coaches. When viewing competitive baseball from a scientific perspective, it is explosive and ballistic in nature. In batting, is thought to be largely dependent on power.[1] Hoffman, in a review of professional baseball players found significant positive relations between lower-body power performance and home runs, total bases, and slugging percentage.[2] Strength, power, and agility have been found to correlate with subjective evaluation of batting and fielding performance.[3,4] Given the strong relationship between strength/power and baseball-specific performance,[4,5] it is not surprising that the vast majority of conditioning programs in high-level baseball emphasize strength and power development. This manuscript investigates the relationship between pre-season training with the Gravitational Wellness® (GW) weightlifting system and the batting performance of a Division I baseball team
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