A study of the ability of top players to respond in competitive sports.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K20064
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kidokoro Shuji 福岡工業大学, 付置研究所, 研究員 (20756118)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: プロ野球 / 打撃 / スイング速度 / タイミング / 正確性 / 選球眼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The following measurements and evaluations were used in this study to identify the hitting skills focused on responsiveness in skilled table tennis and baseball players. Table tennis players were asked to wear the PLATO visual occlusion spectacles to investigate whether the relationship between the amount of visual information and the impact accuracy during rallies differed between levels of competition. There was no evidence that the predictive ability of elite players was better than that intermediate players. In baseball study, a methodology was established to score hitting skills as four independent components (speed, contact quality, timing control, and swing decisions). Highly skilled athletes had no extremely inferior elements, and all four elements scored above a certain level. From the above, in ball sports which require complex techniques at the same time, the priority to be addressed by athletes at lower competitive levels is considered to be overcoming weaknesses.

Free Research Field

スポーツ科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでの卓球や野球の打撃動作を対象にした研究の多くが、スピードやパワーの最大化を目的としたり、実戦とは切り離された環境下で認知機能を評価してきた。優れた選手の能力の一端は理解できるものの、競技の複雑さに対して分解して評価したスキルが、試合のパフォーマンスにどのように繋がっていくのかは不明瞭な点が多い。その点、本研究は実戦に近いシチュエーションで卓球と野球の打撃動作を計測し、一流選手と中級選手との間で対応力に差があるのかを比較している。プレーの質を総合的に評価しているため、競技レベル間の差が分かるという学術的意義だけでなく、中級選手の高めるべきスキルが分かるという実践的な観点での意義もある。