Biomechanical Analysis of an Overhead Baseball Throwing Movement Associated with a Cardiorespiratory Fatigue Effect

Overhand pitching is a movement that requires the coordination of lower extremity, trunk, and upper extremity segments to effectively transfer force throughout the kinetic chain to project a baseball.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cardiorespiratory fatigue on throwing ball velocity related to kinematics motion changes in baseball.

The study samples included 12 male baseball athletes (19.3 ± 2.8 years old, height of 1.71.4 ± 3.1 m, and weight of 64.3 ± 3.6 kg). A descriptive quantitative method approach was used. The instruments included two high-resolution handycams (Sony HXR-MC2500, Japan), a high-speed camera (Fastec Imaging TS5-H, USA), a radar speed gun (Bushnell 101922, Germany), a 3D force platform (The AMTI Optima Series 20210, USA), 14 point manual markers, a motion capture system software (Frame DIAZ IV, Japan), and a heart rate sensor (Polar H10, Finland).

The results of this study showed that there were significant differences in the ball velocity (p= 0.042), stride length percentage height (p= 0.041), elbow flexion (p= 0.046), maximum shoulder horizontal adduction (p= 0.041), maximum elbow extension angular velocity (p= 0.035), maximum shoulder internal rotation (p= 0.029), and lateral trunk tilt (p= 0.029) when the pitchers were fatigued.

Cardiorespiratory fatigue causes changes in the kinetic harmonization of upper and lower body motion, which results in a decrease in the ball velocity. These results are similar to those in previous studies conducted with the intervention of muscle fatigue during overhead baseball throwing, which causes a decrease in the performance and ball velocity.