Relationship Between Lateral Single Leg Jump Kinetics And Pitcher Success Determined By Earned Run Average And Strikeouts Per Inning: A Pilot Study.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Lower body force production is a fundamental component of the pitching motion and may be an important predictor of pitching success. An exercise that mimics lower body movement during pitching is the lateral single leg jump (LSLJ). Lateral force production and horizontal takeoff velocity calculated from the LSLJ may be associated with pitching success, however, the relationship between these parameters is currently unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to examine the correlation between horizontal takeoff velocity calculated from force production during the LSLJ with earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts per inning (SO/I). METHODS: Eight NCAA Division I baseball pitchers (age range = 18 to 22) who had pitched more than 8 innings during the 2019 - 2021 baseball seasons volunteered to participate. Subjects performed two LSLJ trials on a force platform as part of data collection for a larger study. The force plate signal was filtered, and acceleration was calculated according to Newton’s 2nd law. Acceleration was then integrated with respect to time to calculate horizontal takeoff velocity for each LSLJ. Pearson r correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the relationship between the average horizontal takeoff velocity from the two trials with ERA and SO/I. RESULTS: There were no significant (p < 0.05) correlations between the horizontal jump velocity and ERA (r = 0.235, p = 0.65) or SO/I (r = -0.353, p = 0.49). CONCLUSION: Horizontal takeoff velocity during the LSLJ does not appear to be related to pitching performance characterized by ERA and SO/I in this small sample size. Further research using larger samples of subjects are needed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between jump kinetics and pitching success.