Roles of each leg in impulse generation in professional baseball pitchers: preliminary findings uncover the contribution of the back leg towards whole-body rotation

Jun Ming Liu; Christopher Knowlton; Matthew Gauthier; Zach Tropp; Nikhil Verma; Gregory Nicholson; Anthony Romeo; Antonia Zaferiou

doi:10.1080/14763141.2022.2108490

Roles of each leg in impulse generation in professional baseball pitchers: preliminary findings uncover the contribution of the back leg towards whole-body rotation

Jun Ming Liu, Christopher Knowlton, Matthew Gauthier, Zach Tropp, Nikhil Verma, Gregory Nicholson, Anthony Romeo, Antonia Zaferiou

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Stevens Institute of Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study examined the roles of each leg in generating linear and angular impulses during baseball pitching. Professional pitchers (n = 4) pitched from a force plate instrumented mound, and 6–11 successful fastball pitches were used for analyses. We compared linear and angular impulses across the back and front legs. Linear and angular impulses were calculated from ground reaction force (GRF) and moment about each global axis passing through the centre of mass (COM), respectively. Additionally, we analysed measures that control the moment: (1) GRF magnitude, (2) magnitude of the position vector from COM to the centre of pressure and (3) the angle between (1) and (2). We found that the back leg generated forward linear impulse and the front leg generated backward linear impulse for all pitchers. Surprisingly, we found that the back leg generated significantly greater positive angular impulse about a global leftward axis (from the mound towards first base) than did the front leg in all four pitchers. Furthermore, the back leg’s moment about the leftward axis became positive after the magnitude of forward GRF decreased from its maximum, suggesting that the back leg’s role transitioned from generating forward linear momentum to angular momentum.

Original language	English
Journal	Sports Biomechanics
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2022.2108490
State	Accepted/In press - 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

Keywords

Baseball pitching
ground reaction forces
impulse
rotation
whole-body

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10.1080/14763141.2022.2108490

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title = "Roles of each leg in impulse generation in professional baseball pitchers: preliminary findings uncover the contribution of the back leg towards whole-body rotation",

abstract = "This study examined the roles of each leg in generating linear and angular impulses during baseball pitching. Professional pitchers (n = 4) pitched from a force plate instrumented mound, and 6–11 successful fastball pitches were used for analyses. We compared linear and angular impulses across the back and front legs. Linear and angular impulses were calculated from ground reaction force (GRF) and moment about each global axis passing through the centre of mass (COM), respectively. Additionally, we analysed measures that control the moment: (1) GRF magnitude, (2) magnitude of the position vector from COM to the centre of pressure and (3) the angle between (1) and (2). We found that the back leg generated forward linear impulse and the front leg generated backward linear impulse for all pitchers. Surprisingly, we found that the back leg generated significantly greater positive angular impulse about a global leftward axis (from the mound towards first base) than did the front leg in all four pitchers. Furthermore, the back leg{\textquoteright}s moment about the leftward axis became positive after the magnitude of forward GRF decreased from its maximum, suggesting that the back leg{\textquoteright}s role transitioned from generating forward linear momentum to angular momentum.",

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author = "Liu, {Jun Ming} and Christopher Knowlton and Matthew Gauthier and Zach Tropp and Nikhil Verma and Gregory Nicholson and Anthony Romeo and Antonia Zaferiou",

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doi = "10.1080/14763141.2022.2108490",

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AU - Liu, Jun Ming

AU - Knowlton, Christopher

AU - Gauthier, Matthew

AU - Tropp, Zach

AU - Verma, Nikhil

AU - Nicholson, Gregory

AU - Romeo, Anthony

AU - Zaferiou, Antonia

PY - 2022

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N2 - This study examined the roles of each leg in generating linear and angular impulses during baseball pitching. Professional pitchers (n = 4) pitched from a force plate instrumented mound, and 6–11 successful fastball pitches were used for analyses. We compared linear and angular impulses across the back and front legs. Linear and angular impulses were calculated from ground reaction force (GRF) and moment about each global axis passing through the centre of mass (COM), respectively. Additionally, we analysed measures that control the moment: (1) GRF magnitude, (2) magnitude of the position vector from COM to the centre of pressure and (3) the angle between (1) and (2). We found that the back leg generated forward linear impulse and the front leg generated backward linear impulse for all pitchers. Surprisingly, we found that the back leg generated significantly greater positive angular impulse about a global leftward axis (from the mound towards first base) than did the front leg in all four pitchers. Furthermore, the back leg’s moment about the leftward axis became positive after the magnitude of forward GRF decreased from its maximum, suggesting that the back leg’s role transitioned from generating forward linear momentum to angular momentum.

AB - This study examined the roles of each leg in generating linear and angular impulses during baseball pitching. Professional pitchers (n = 4) pitched from a force plate instrumented mound, and 6–11 successful fastball pitches were used for analyses. We compared linear and angular impulses across the back and front legs. Linear and angular impulses were calculated from ground reaction force (GRF) and moment about each global axis passing through the centre of mass (COM), respectively. Additionally, we analysed measures that control the moment: (1) GRF magnitude, (2) magnitude of the position vector from COM to the centre of pressure and (3) the angle between (1) and (2). We found that the back leg generated forward linear impulse and the front leg generated backward linear impulse for all pitchers. Surprisingly, we found that the back leg generated significantly greater positive angular impulse about a global leftward axis (from the mound towards first base) than did the front leg in all four pitchers. Furthermore, the back leg’s moment about the leftward axis became positive after the magnitude of forward GRF decreased from its maximum, suggesting that the back leg’s role transitioned from generating forward linear momentum to angular momentum.

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KW - whole-body

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Roles of each leg in impulse generation in professional baseball pitchers: preliminary findings uncover the contribution of the back leg towards whole-body rotation

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

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