Lower limbs and trunk muscularity and its relation to hitting motion mechanics

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17845
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Yokohama College of Commerce (2020-2021); National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health (2018-2019)
• Principal Investigator: YANAKA TAKUYA 横浜商科大学, 商学部, 講師 (00781262)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 野球 / スイングスピード / 関節トルク / 筋横断面積 / 地面反力

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Swing speed is important in baseball hitting, and in order to improve this, the force exerted at each joint and the size of the muscles during hitting have each been examined. In this study, we focused on the lower limbs and trunk and examined the relationship between force and muscle size during hitting. The results showed that hitters with larger trunk and lower limb muscles had greater swing velocity. In addition, the greater the muscle size around the hip joint, the greater the force exerted at the hip joint. On the other hand, there was no relationship between muscle size and the force exerted by the joints in the trunk. These results suggest that, in hitting, large muscle size is important for improving swing speed, but in the trunk, muscle size has no effect on the amount of force exerted.

Free Research Field

スポーツ科学(バイオメカニクス)

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでの研究では、打撃中に発揮される力や打者の筋の大きさについてそれぞれ検討がなされてきた。各関節で発揮される力は筋の大きさの影響を受けるため、両者を同時に検討する必要があると考えられる。本研究は打撃動作を対象とした筋の大きさと発揮される力の関連を調べた初めてのものであり、今後の打撃分析において別の部位についても発展性があるものである。また、今回得られた知見は、野球の指導現場やトレーニング現場で活用することができるとともに他の打撃を行うスポーツにとっても有用な情報となるため、社会的意義の高いものである。