Investigation of swing motion for improvement of batting performance in baseball using computer simulation

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17787
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Science
• Principal Investigator: Ae Kazumichi 茨城県立医療大学, 保健医療学部, 特任助手 (30781538)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 野球打撃 / シミュレーション / 最適化計算 / パフォーマンス改善

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objectives of this study were to 1) develop a simulation model of baseball batting utilising the standard motion and 2) explore optimal motions of the upper body to increase the bat-head speed. A ten-segment angle-driven simulation model consisting of a bat and upper body was driven using with the coordinate data of the standard motion from twenty-three male collegiate baseball players who performed tee batting. Two performance optimisations were conducted to increase the peak bat-head speed by changing values and timings (OPT1) or timing alone (OPT2) of the upper joint angular acceleration time history data.
In performance optimisations, the bat-head speeds increase from 35.6 m/s (measured data) to 40.0 m/s (OPT1) and 39.2 m/s (OPT2), respectively. The increases of the bat-head speed were achieved through changes of the barrel-side upper limb movements considerably.

Free Research Field

スポーツバイオメカニクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究における上半身の動作を変化させることによってバット・ヘッドスピードが増加したという結果は，具体的な理論値を評価できるシミュレーション分析の有用性を改めて示したと考えられる．
打撃パフォーマンスを向上させるための力学的・理論的な知見を具体的に掲示できたことは，本研究の大きな成果の一つである．加えて，野球の打撃という複雑なスポーツ動作に対して，コンピューターシミュレーションを実施できたことは，野球打撃以外のスポーツ動作におけるパフォーマンス向上に関する知見の獲得にも大いに有効となるだろう．