The Relationship Between Physical and Physiological Performance Measures and Baseball Performance Measures

Abstract

Improvement in a baseball player's strength, power, speed, and specific baseball skills are believed to improve overall baseball performance. However, studies to determine a relationship between a player's physical attributes and baseball success throughout a competitive season are lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to determine if physical and physiological measures could predict baseball performance. METHODS: Fourteen position players on a Division I baseball team volunteered to participate. Baseball performance was obtained at the conclusion of a 59 game season using measures of On Base Percentage (OB%), Run Batted In (RBI), and Run Scored (RS). Physical/physiological measures were obtained during the last two weeks of the season and included Lean Body Mass (LBM), Body Fat Percent (BF%), Squat Press (SP), Vertical Jump (VJ), 30/60 Yard Sprint (30/60 S), Bat Velocity (BV), and Batted Ball Velocity (BBV). BV was obtained with a BatMaxx 5500 laser beam velocity indicator and BBV by a JUGS radar gun. Body composition was obtained by skinfold technique. RESULTS: Simple correlations revealed no significant relationship between the physical/ physiological variables and indices of baseball performance. However, moderate correlations with significance were found between the following physical/physiological measures: Squat Press and Bat Speed (r = .61, p< .01), Body Fat % and Bat Speed (r = .55, p< .01), Lean Body Mass and Batted Ball Velocity (r = .56, p< .01), Lean Body Mass and Bat Speed (r = .64, p < .05), and Body Fat % and Batted Ball Velocity (r = .65, p < .05). CONCLUSION: Baseball performance may be influenced by other factors (hand-eye coordination, psychological outlook, etc), which were not accounted for by the measures obtained in this study. A larger sample size may provide additional insight into baseball performance.