Ball Catching Research Articles

Look out for the ball: Visual processing for efficient ball catching.

Look out for the ball: Visual processing for efficient ball catching.

TINGKAT KETERAMPILAN PERMAINAN BOLA KASTI SEKOLAH DASAR NEGERI COT PREH KUTA BARO ACEH BESAR

The game of baseball is part of small ball which is included in the elementary school learning curriculum. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of skills of the baseball game at Cot Preh State Elementary School. This research uses descriptive quantitative with survey method. The population and research sample were Cot Preh State Elementary School students totaling 23 students with purposive sampling technique. Research collection instruments and techniques using tests and measurements of baseball skills, namely: 1) ball catching test, 2) ball hitting test, and 3) ball throwing test. Data is analyzed through percentages. The research results obtained were in the sufficient category (34.78%) with details: 1) very high category with a frequency of 2 students (8.70%), 2) high category with a frequency of 5 students (21.74%), 3) sufficient category with a frequency of 8 students (34.78%) 4) low category with a frequency of 8 students (34.78%) 5). The conclusion of the study is that the level of skill of the baseball game at Cot Preh State Elementary School is categorized as sufficient.

Longitudinal analysis of physical abilities and fundamental skills among the Real Madrid Foundation UNY football players

Background and Study Aim. Physical abilities and fundamental skills are essential characteristics of football players requiring in-depth analysis, but the results of previous short-term investigations lack a comprehensive overview. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a longitudinal analysis of physical abilities and fundamental skills development, as well as the simultaneous development of both among young football players. Material and Method. This quantitative longitudinal descriptive study recruited 31 male football players aged 13-15 as participants with weights of approximately 47-60 kg and heights ranging from 146-164 cm. In addition, the instruments used to assess physical abilities included sit and reach, 30-meter sprint, vertical jump, MFT, arrowhead, as well as ball catching and throwing, while dribbling, passing, and receiving were applied for fundamental skills. Collected data were subjected to the Wilcoxon test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Post Hoc analysis performed using SPSS 23. Result. Wilcoxon test results showed that significance levels of 0.000-0.024 < 0.05 were obtained for physical abilities including flexibility, coordination, speed, power, agility, and endurance, while 0.000 < 0.05 was obtained for fundamental skills comprising shooting, dribbling, receiving, and passing. Kruskal-Wallis test results showed a significance level of 0.000 < 0.05 for both characteristics. Conclusion. The first and second-semester tests conducted for physical abilities and fundamental skills yielded significantly different results. Additionally, a simultaneous difference was observed between the physical abilities and fundamental skills explored. The second-semester tests particularly showed better results for both sets of characteristics examined among the Real Madrid Foundation UNY football players.

Properties of Gaze Strategies Based on Eye-Head Coordination in a Ball-Catching Task.

Visual motion information plays an important role in the control of movements in sports. Skilled ball players are thought to acquire accurate visual information by using an effective visual search strategy with eye and head movements. However, differences in catching ability and gaze movements due to sports experience and expertise have not been clarified. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of gaze strategies based on eye and head movements during a ball-catching task in athlete and novice groups. Participants were softball and tennis players and college students who were not experienced in ball sports (novice). They performed a one-handed catching task using a tennis ball-shooting machine, which was placed at 9 m in front of the participants, and two conditions were set depending on the height of the ball trajectory (high and low conditions). Their head and eye velocities were detected using a gyroscope and electrooculography (EOG) during the task. Our results showed that the upward head velocity and the downward eye velocity were lower in the softball group than in the tennis and novice groups. When the head was pitched upward, the downward eye velocity was induced from the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) during ball catching. Therefore, it is suggested that skilled ball players have relatively stable head and eye movements, which may lead to an effective gaze strategy. An advantage of the stationary gaze in the softball group could be to acquire visual information about the surroundings other than the ball.

Effect of Ball Inclusion in Drop Vertical Jump Test on Performance and Movement Variability in Basketball Players

The aim of this study was to assess and compare performance and movement variability (MV) in both bilateral and unilateral vertical drop jumps (DVJs) under conditions involving the incorporation or exclusion of ball catching. Twelve amateur basketball players were recruited for participation in the study (seven females and five males). Participants performed three jumps in each of the six conditions analyzed in randomized order: bilateral DVJ without (BNB) and with ball (BB); unilateral DVJ right leg without (RNB) and with ball (RB); and unilateral DVJ left leg without (LNB) and with ball (LB). MV and DVJ performance parameters were analyzed with an accelerometer and a force platform. MV was quantified using the sample entropy (sample entropy; SampEn) derived from the acceleration of the lower back. Differences between the different DVJ conditions were determined with the Wilcoxon test, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. The comparisons were also assessed via standardized mean differences (Cohen’s d). No significant differences were observed in jump height, contact time and reactive strength index between conditions. However, the RB condition reported higher MV compared to RNB (effect size = 0.79; p = 0.016). Similarly, LNB showed greater MV compared to RNB (effect size = −0.62; p = 0.042). The inclusion of the ball in the DVJ increased the MV in the bilateral condition and in the right leg, but not in the unilateral condition with the left leg. The asymmetry between legs (right vs. left) in MV values in NOBALL conditions was higher (≈15%) compared to the BALL condition (≈5%).

Development of Small Ball Game Learning Through Catch Ball Game to Enhance Motoric and Cognitive Skills In Elementary School Students

Objective: This study aims to develop a small ball game model (in this case, a catch ball game) to determine students' motor and cognitive skills. The development of this small ball game model also aims to know students' cognition, such as cooperation, problem-solving, discussion, and critical thinking. Method: This study has a qualitative approach, using a checklist observation method to observe motor skills in throwing and catching a ball. In cognitive, students use the results of questionnaires and student interviews. Results: The results obtained from this study on the motor skills of catching the ball were 80% of students with a total of 26 students in categories according to the age level of the development of ball catching skills. 20% fall into the category that needs to follow the age level of the development of ball-catching skills. For motor skills in throwing the ball, 80% of students enter the category according to the age level of the development of skills in throwing the ball. Furthermore, 20% of students in the category need to follow the age level of skills development in throwing the ball. For cognitive students, the catch ball game shows behavior during games such as cooperation, problem-solving, discussion, and critical thinking. Novelty: This research was conducted at PES Rampal Celaket 02 Malang City. The results of this study can also help physical education teachers, especially learning small ball material to improve students and cognitive skills of fourth-grade elementary school students.

Effect of Limb Power, Arm Power, Hand Eye Coordination on the Combination of Punches and Kicks of Martial Arts Athletes

Low achievement in the sport of martial arts is influenced by several factors in the direction of physical condition and the ability to combine punches and kicks. This type of research is quantitative research with an associative correlation approach with a method (path analysis). The purpose of this study is to determine the influence both directly and indirectly of the combination of punches and kicks. The sample in this study was 30 athletes, the sampling technique used purposive sampling technique. Punch and kick combination test to measure athlete's attack combination ability, Vertical Jump measures limb power, two hand medicine ball put measures arm power and hand-eye coordination with tennis ball catch throw In this limb power instrument has a validity value of 0.67, and test reliability of 0.79. Data analysis techniques use path analysis techniques. Results show 1). The direct effect of limb power on the combination of punches and kicks of Riau Holy Site athletes is 6.30%. 2). Direct influence of arm power on the combination of punches and kicks of Riau Holy Site athletes 8.47%, 3). The direct influence of eye-hand coordination on the combination of punches and kicks of Riau Holy Site athletes 23.04. This research only discusses a few factors that affect the combination of punches and kicks of athletes, there are many other factors such as agility, speed, accuracy, etc. That way, it is hoped that there will be further research that examines other variable factors so that all aspects that can affect the combination of punches and kicks can be analyzed and get answers so that they can improve the achievements of Indonesian martial arts athletes, especially Riau sacred site athletes. Keywords: Limb Power, Arm Power, Hand Eye Coordination, Combination of Punch, Kick

The role of anticipatory and reflexive compensatory muscle activation in catching errors under load uncertainty.

This experiment investigated the role of anticipatory and reflexive compensatory neuromotor control in catching errors occurring under load uncertainty. Participants performed 64 trials of a one-handed ball catching task using visually identical balls of four different weights without knowing the weight of the ball on each trial. Anticipatory and reflexive compensatory muscle activation were recorded in five muscles (anterior deltoid, biceps brachii, wrist flexors group, triceps brachii, lumbar erector spinae) using the EMG integral. In each muscle, the anticipatory and reflexive compensatory muscle activation were compared between successful catches and catching errors for the lightest ball and the heaviest ball. Anticipatory muscle activation was not implicated in errors made with the lightest ball. However, reflexive compensatory muscle activation in the anterior deltoid, biceps brachii, and wrist flexors were implicated in errors made with the lightest ball. Specifically, catching errors with the lightest ball were characterized by elevated reflexive compensatory muscle activation. In the case of the heaviest ball, both anticipatory (anterior deltoid, wrist flexors) and reflexive compensatory muscle activation (anterior deltoid, biceps brachii, wrist flexors) were implicated in catching errors. That is, catching errors with the heaviest ball were characterized by lower anticipatory and reflexive compensatory muscle activation. Results are considered in the context of the likely influence of limb compliance in catching under load uncertainty.

Virtual reality modulates the control of upper limb motion in one-handed ball catching.

There remains a question about whether and to what extent perception–action coupled response in virtual reality are equal/unequal to those in the real world or physical reality. The purpose of this study was to identify the differences in the environmental effect of virtual presentation on the motor responses of a one-handed ball catching. Thirteen healthy participants were instructed to catch an approaching ball projected at three speeds in a real laboratory room and in a room-sized virtual reality system (CAVE) that simulated those real situations with two- or three-dimensional display settings. The results showed that the arm movement time, which denotes the duration of arm-raising motion (shoulder flexion), was significantly longer in the virtual reality than that in the physical reality at the fast ball speed condition. The shoulder flexion velocities, calculated as the average angular velocity of shoulder flexion over the arm movement time, were significantly lower in the virtual reality than in the physical reality at the medium and fast ball speed conditions. The electromyography onsets, derived from anterior deltoid, biceps brachii, and flexor carpi radialis muscles of the catching arm, appeared before and significantly closer to the initiation of arm raising in the two-dimensional virtual reality than both in the physical reality and in the three-dimensional virtual reality. The findings suggest that simulation of virtual reality may induce a modulation in the motor responses of the catching arm, which is different from natural motion that appeared in the real world. On the contrary, the effect of ball speed generally found in real setting was maintained in the current CAVE experiment.

The Effect of Learning Manipulative Skills Using Ball Thrower Learning Media on the Ability to Throw and Catch the Ball in Elementary School Students

This study aims to improve the ability to catch in children using the ball thrower learning media. The method used in this study was experimental using a one-group pretest-posttest design. The research was conducted using manipulative motion learning to catch the ball using the throwing media. To measure and find out the results of the data obtained by researchers using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software. The sample in this study was upper-grade elementary school students. Twenty students were chosen with a random sampling technique. This study's data collection technique using the instrument is a ball catch test. The data analysis technique used a t-test with a significance level of 0.05. This study concluded that there was a significant effect of learning outcomes using the ball throwing learning media on the ability to catch the ball of elementary school students.

An Investigation of the Basic Gymnastics Program in Preschool Children in Terms of Motor Development

Background: Achieving an adequate level of basic motor skills by the end of the preschool period is an important prerequisite for children's participation in many later sporting activities. However, only a few studies have focused on the assessment of motor competence before starting primary school in the population of preschool children in Turkey. Aim: The aim of this study is to present An Investigation of the Basic Gymnastics Program in Preschool Children in Terms of Motor Development Method: Preschool children with a body weight of 18.26 ± 2.48 kg and a mean height of 1.10±.03 cm, who participated in the basic gymnastics program (n=28), participated in the study voluntarily. In our study; (n:15) experimental group students 3 days 35 minutes on 8 weekdays. gymnastics program was applied for a period of time. The control group (n=13) students were not given any activity. In order to investigate the effects of the basic gymnastics program in terms of motor development; One-leg bounce, agility, ball catching, tennis ball throwing, 9m sprint, flexibility, vertical jump, standing long jump and hitting the target performance tests were performed at the beginning and end of the study. The effects of the tests were compared between the groups in the pre- and post-test order by performing repeated measurements of variance analysis (P < 0.05). Results: As a result of the analysis of the data, when the first and last measurements of the groups were compared, it was determined that the performance results of hop on one leg, agility, flexibility, vertical jump and standing long jump performance were better in the experimental group than the control group (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the performance tests of catching the ball, throwing the tennis ball (9m), speed and hitting the target (P > 0.05). Conclusion: For 8 weeks, the basic gymnastics program led to positive differences in one-leg bounce, agility, flexibility, vertical jump and standing long jump performance. Keywords: Preschool Children, Motor Development, Basic Gymnastics Program, Exercise

Collapsible roof attachment – An all-weather protective shield for two-wheeler drivers

The effect of rain on two-wheeler users in India can be seen everywhere. An attempt is made to design and develop a roof attachment for Indian two-wheelers. The transparent Polyvinyl chloride roof designed here covers the side as well as front and has less drag force and lift compared to other existing attachments. The roof, front support and rear support structures are detachable using fasteners, which makes the assembly modular and easier for stoving. The front and rear supports are made of steel and their height can be adjusted with a ball catch mechanism. The rear support can be used as handrail. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software and static structural analysis software are used to evaluate the drag force, lift force and also the deformation and stresses of the support frames. Based on conceptual designs an optimal design has been arrived at for manufacturing the attachment. The parts required for assembly have been purchased and fabricated. The final attachment is assembled on an Indian scooter and tested in the real time environment.

Planning Catching Movements: Advantages of Expertise, Visibility and Self-Throwing

In a ball catching task, the catcher guides their hand to the ball’s future trajectory. The hand may start to move even before the exact position is known, and the interceptive movement may be corrected online. Using a recent method for detecting the phases of catching movements we investigate how juggling experience, self-throwing, and delayed visibility of the ball, influence the timing of the hand’s trajectory. Specifically, we analyze the time from which the goal position of the movement is known, i.e., the time from which the movement becomes smooth. Seventeen jugglers and twenty controls caught ten balls per each of eight conditions. The results indicate that experts’ catching movements acquire the smooth nature of goal-directed movements earlier than novices catching movements do.

Robot Anticipation Learning System for Ball Catching

Catching flying objects is a challenging task in human–robot interaction. Traditional techniques predict the intersection position and time using the information obtained during the free-flying ball motion. A common pain point in these systems is the short ball flight time and uncertainties in the ball’s trajectory estimation. In this paper, we present the Robot Anticipation Learning System (RALS) that accounts for the information obtained from observation of the thrower’s hand motion before the ball is released. RALS takes extra time for the robot to start moving in the direction of the target before the opponent finishes throwing. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first robot control system for ball-catching with anticipation skills. Our results show that the information fused from both throwing and flying motions improves the ball-catching rate by up to 20% compared to the baseline approach, with the predictions relying only on the information acquired during the flight phase.

Ecological validity of the PERF-FIT: correlates of active play, motor performance and motor skill-related physical fitness

BackgroundActive games are important health enhancing physical activities in children with and without developmental disorders and will help children to develop fundamental motor skills, while inactivity exacerbates coordination difficulties and increases the risk of obesity. Regular engagement in active play promotes physical, social and cognitive development. It is therefore important to know if children have the capabilities for healthy behavior. Motor skills and muscular fitness are both important components to participate in play, sport and leisure. The Performance and Fitness (PERF-FIT) test battery integrates motor skills (running, jumping, hopping, catching, bouncing, throwing, balance) and muscular fitness (explosive power and muscular endurance) needed in many forms of active play. AimTo test the ecological validity of the PERF-FIT test battery; a field-based test integrating motor skill proficiency and muscular fitness. MethodsSeventy-five children were assessed on the PERF-FIT, Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC)-2 and performance in 6 active games was scored. Of these children, 52 children scored in the normal range and 23 (or 30.3%) below the 16th percentile of the MABC-2. Association between the outcomes of the two tests and the 6 games was calculated. ResultsHigh to moderate associations were found between game scores and PERF-FIT items; moderate to low associations between game scores and MABC-2 items. Principle axes factor analysis with oblique rotation revealed communalities between the explosive power and agility items of the PERF-FIT and the running and ball catching games but not between the games and the balance items. Conclusions and implicationsScores on the PERF-FIT are significantly related to performance in active play. The tool is able to measure aspects of motor skills, muscle endurance and explosive power needed in children's active games and could be used as an additional tool to measure requirements for participation in everyday physical activity in children with and without developmental disorders.

Moving Toward Understanding Autism: Visual-Motor Integration, Imitation, and Social Skill Development

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a behavioral phenotype characterized by impaired development of social-communicative skills and excessive repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Despite high phenotypic heterogeneity in ASD, a meaningful subpopulation of children with ASD (∼90%) show significant general motor impairment. More focused studies on the nature of motor impairment in ASD reveal that children with ASD are particularly impaired on tasks such as ball catching and motor imitation that require efficient visual-motor integration (VMI). Motor computational approaches also provide evidence for VMI impairment showing that children with ASD form internal sensorimotor representations that bias proprioceptive over visual feedback. Impaired integration of visual information to form internal representations of others’ and the external world may explain observed impairments on VMI tasks and motor imitation of others. Motor imitation is crucial for acquiring both social and motor skills, and impaired imitation skill may contribute to the observed core behavioral phenotype of ASD. The current review examines evidence supporting VMI impairment as a core feature of ASD that may contribute to both impaired motor imitation and social-communicative skill development. We propose that understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying VMI impairment in ASD may be key to discovery of therapeutics to address disability in children and adults with ASD.

Variable Practice May Enhance Ball Catching Skills in Some but Not All Children With DCD

Children with DCD exhibit many motor issues including ball catching, which have not been addressed clinically. The purpose of this study was to examine if variable practice can improve one-handed catching performance of five boys with DCD with severe (M = 11.1 years, SD = .7) and moderate movement problems (M = 11. 7 years, SD = .9). Both groups attended 12 sessions, with 8 blocks of 10 attempts, across four different ball velocities. Children with moderate issues caught more balls at post- and transfer test, as compared to pre-test. Kinematic profiles showed that both groups exhibited stable configuration of the catching arm; however, only children with moderate issues increased (peak) velocity, degree of spatial adaptations, and extended the pre-programmed ballistic phase of the action. Thus, variable practice appeared to be effective for children with moderate issues but not those with severe problems. In line with VPH hypothesis, these improvements were due to strengthening of the schema responsible for spatial and temporal adaptations of the end effector.

Delayed Anticipatory Muscle Activation in Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy.

Background:Previous research investigating rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathy has usually focused on pathoanatomy. The pathologic response to anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) has not yet been investigated.Purpose/Hypothesis:To explore changes in APAs as detected by pre-emptive activation of shoulder muscles during ball catching. It was hypothesized that anticipatory muscle activation (AMA) would be present in the unaffected shoulder but delayed or absent in the affected shoulder in patients with RC tendinopathy.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Methods:This study included 21 RC tendinopathy patients with a mean age of 49.5 years. Patients were required to grab a ball embedded with an electromyography sensor when it dropped on their hand, and surface electromyography signals were recorded from the infraspinatus, upper trapezius, anterior deltoid, and biceps. The trials utilized 2 balls, weighing 200 g and 500 g. Each ball was used in 2 trials, 1 involving a number count preceding the ball drop (predictable) and the other involving a sudden drop (unpredictable). The onsets of AMA between the affected and unaffected limbs were compared.Results:Regardless of the experimental condition, significantly delayed AMA onsets were identified in all investigated muscles of the affected side compared with those of the unaffected side, except for the biceps muscle in the 500-g predictable trial. For the infraspinatus, the mean onset time in the 200-g predictable trial was –141.0 ± 60.2 ms on the affected side and –211.9 ± 67.1 ms on the unaffected side (P < .001); in the 200-g unpredictable trial this value was –139.5 ± 54.9 ms on the affected side and –199.5 ± 56.2 ms on the unaffected side (P < .001).Conclusion:Delayed AMA was observed in the affected shoulder compared with the unaffected shoulder in patients with RC tendinopathy, not only in the RC muscle but also in the periscapular and upper arm muscles. This may indicate that central hypoexcitability is partly responsible.Clinical Relevance:The basis for RC tendinopathy treatment should not be limited to the tendon pathoanatomy. Delayed AMA around the shoulder joint could provide insight into potential mechanisms related to the central nervous system.

Организация физического воспитания дошкольников в педагогической системе М. Монтессори

To date, in the programs implemented according to the Montessori method, the section “Physical Education” has not been adapted. The section is aimed at developing the child's general culture, physical qualities and basic motor skills. In the process of physical education, the values of Maria Montessori are not realized. The Montessori pedagogical system is among the most relevant ones today as modern education is focused on the individualization of learning. The development of health in preschool children depends on their well-organized physical education, which should be directed towards the children's harmonious development and considered in an integrative relationship with the various sections of the preschool education program (artisti c, aesthetic, educational, verbal and socio-communicative development). The aim of the research is to develop the structure and content of the model of physical education of preschool children in the Montessori pedagogical system and check its effectiveness in a pedagogical experiment. To reach this aim, the following research methods were used: pedagogical observations, modeling, pedagogical testing, pedagogical experiment, mathematical and statistical data processing. In the course of the pedagogical experiment, a control (15 girls and 15 boys) and an experimental (15 girls and 15 boys) group were formed; a total of 60 five- and six-year-old pupils of the Montessori preschool educational institution in Tomsk took part in the study. To assess the effectiveness of the developed model, the following tests were selected: shuttle run 3x5 m, standing long jump, medicine ball throw, seated forward bends, ball catching at a distance of 5 meters. The model of preschoolers' physical education based on the integration of personality-oriented, activity-based, synergetic and technological approaches in the Montessori pedagogical system has shown its effectiveness. The research shows a positive dynamics of indicators reflecting the level of preschoo lers' motor readiness after the pedagogical experiment. At the end of the exp eriment, when comparing the indices of motor readiness demonstrated by the experimental group before and after the experiment, statistically significant differences were revealed in motor tests (ball catching at a distance of 5 m, shuttle run (3x5 m), medicine ball throwing), which indicates the effectiveness of the proposed model of five- and six-year-old preschoolers' physical education.

Control of a Ball Catch Robot Using Machine Learning

Robots, such as industrial robots, have been used in the world of industry since the 1970s. There has been particularly rapid development in the field of robots in recent years, and there has been progress in robot research in industries such as communications and automobiles. For this reason, in the near future, robots with a diverse range of applications will be required around us. In this paper, as part of foundational research on robots and artificial intelligence, we propose a method for learning ball trajectories, using machine learning, to estimate target values for the distance in which robots move. In the proposed method, we use a linear regression model for supervised learning, and validate its effectiveness through experimentation.