Lab 9 10 - Throwing Mechanics

Lab 9/10: Biomechanics of Baseball Players Throw
Due February 19, 2018
Erin Minervini
Kally Morozin
Emily VanHavel
Taylor Vohland
In fulfillments of the requirements of the course

BE351-01 Biomedical Engineering Lab
Dr. Buckley and Dr. Dosmar
Abstract
The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the difference in throwing mechanics between
Rose-Hulman baseball infielders and outfielders in relation to known differences in elbow injury
rates between infield and outfield players [1]. Using a motion capture system, each subject
performed three trials throwing a wiffle ball to analyze the starting elbow angle and the
acceleration of the wrist before the ball was released. Statistical analysis was performed on the
results to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the infielders’ and
outfielders’ starting elbow angle. A two-sample t-test between the outfielders’ and infielders’
average starting elbow angles revealed a p-value of 0.246 indicating that there was no
statistically significant difference. Statistical analysis was also performed to determine if there
was a statistically significant difference between the infielders’ and outfielders’ wrist
accelerations at the time the ball was released. A two-sample t-test between the outfielders’ and
infielders’ average wrist accelerations revealed a p-value of 0.914 indicating that there was no
statistically significant difference. These statistical results support that the elbow start angle and
wrist acceleration at release do not play a role in the difference of elbow injury rate of infield and
outfield baseball players.
Introduction
The throwing mechanics of infielder and outfielder baseball players were analyzed because the
number of elbow injuries in baseball players has risen due to a high level of strain exerted at the
elbow during a throw [1]. To assess this muscle strain, the starting elbow angle and the
acceleration of the player’s wrist at the time the ball was released were observed. Furthermore,
according to a study performed on professional baseball pitchers, a smaller starting elbow angle
caused a greater strain on the elbow [1]. It was expected that there would be a statistically
significant difference between the acceleration of the wrist at the time of release for the
outfielders and infielders as well as a statistically significant difference between the starting
elbow angle for the outfielders and infielders. The starting elbow angle for the outfielders was
expected to be larger because their arms tend to extend farther back during the crow-hop motion
of their throw to accentuate their momentum forward, whereas infielders tend to have quick
“side-arm” throws to have a quicker release. Due to this hypothesis and the information from the
study, it was inferred that the reason for infielder’s higher rate of elbow injury was due to their
small start angle. However, the acceleration of the wrist just before the ball was released for the
infielders was expected to be larger because infielders tend to have a quicker snap to throw the
ball infield, versus outfielders who throw more for distance, not speed. Due to this hypothesis
and the information from the study, it was inferred that the reason for infielder’s higher rate of
elbow injury was due to their quicker acceleration at release.
Methods
Ten Rose-Hulman baseball players (5 infielders and 5 outfielders) were used for this experiment.
These players were selected on a volunteer basis, with the stipulation of no previous arm injuries
to avoid outlier throws. Players were classified by their primary position and pitchers and
catchers were classified into the infielders category. Each player was allotted 5 minutes to warm
up their arms and then motion capture markers were placed at their shoulder, elbow, wrist and on
the ball. These marker positions were chosen to help keep track of the joint angles throughout the
throw and the moment when the ball was released for analysis of the final acceleration. The
players were allowed to wear their own gloves and a baseball sized wiffle ball was used in place
1
of a standard baseball for safety reasons. Qualysis was used to capture the motion of three throws
from each player. The calibration error for the motion capture was 1.69 mm. Reference
Appendix B for the script that was read to each player prior to testing.
The elbow start angle was extracted in degrees using the Qualysis Track Manager at the moment
before their arm began accelerating forward. The acceleration was found just before the moment
that the ball was released by extracting the acceleration from the wrist at that point. Two-sample
t-tests were used for each parameters’ averages to compare the outfielder’s to the infielder’s data.
Results
Starting elbow angle and wrist acceleration were determined for each player using analysis
features of motion capture software. Averages for each of these two parameters for each subject
were calculated and reported in Table 1.
Table 1. Baseball player’s average elbow angle at the start of a throw and wrist acceleration at
the release of the ball reported with standard deviations. Reference Appendix A for the raw data
for each subject.
Subject Parameter Average Standard deviation
1 Start Angle (degrees) 65.3 1.2
Infielder 𝑚 957 213
Wrist Acceleration ( 2 )
𝑚
Wrist Acceleration (𝑚2 )
Infelder 𝑚 214 95
Outfielder 𝑚 272 32
Wrist Acceleration ( 2 )
𝑚
2
The overall averages of the infielders’ and outfielders’ elbow start angle and the wrist
accelerations of the infielders and outfielders can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2. The overall average elbow starting angle and wrist acceleration for both infielders and
outfielders reported with standard deviations. Reference Appendix A for the raw data for each
subject.
Average Start Angle ±Std Dev Average Wrist Acceleration ±Std Dev
(degrees) 𝑚
(𝑚2 )
Infielder 76.3±6.4 497±292
Outfielder 65.9±16.5 518±287
To visualize any potential differences between the infielders’ and outfielders’ starting elbow
angle, a boxplot of their averages was created.
Figure 1. A box plot to visually compare the infielder’s and outfielder’s average data from Table
2 for the starting elbow angle. The outfielder’s elbow angle data had a larger range than the
infielders as seen by the larger spread. The averages are indicated by the solid line through the
middle of the blue bars and through visual comparison; they are within each others quartiles,
indicating that they may be similar.
A two-sided two-sample t-test was conducted to compare the infielder’s and outfielder’s starting
elbow angle. Using a significance value of p < 0.05, the test yielded a p-value of 0.246 indicating
no statistically significant difference. Figure 2 below displays the averages and their standard
deviations for the test.
3
Figure 2. A bar graph of the starting elbow angle for infielders and outfielders fielding a ball.
The average starting angle for the group of infielders was 76.3±6.4degrees, and the outfielder’s
was 65.9±16.5 degrees. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data using a two-sided two-
sample t-test. The line above the bar graph indicates that no statistical significant difference
between the two groups (p = 0.246).
To visualize any potential differences between the infielders’ and outfielders’ wrist acceleration,
a boxplot of their averages was created.
Figure 3. A box plot to visually compare the infielder’s and outfielder’s average data from Table
2 for the wrist acceleration at the time of release. The averages are indicated by the solid line
through the middle of the blue bars and through visual comparison, they are within each others
quartiles, indicating that they may be similar.
4
A two-sided two-sample t-test was conducted to compare the infielder’s and outfielder’s wrist
acceleration at release. Using a significance value of p < 0.05, the test yielded a p-value of 0.914
indicating no statistically significant difference. Figure 4 below displays the averages and their
standard deviations for the test.
Figure 4. A bar graph of the infielders’ and the outfielders’ wrist acceleration when the ball was
released. The average wrist acceleration of the infielders was 497±292 m/s2 and 518±287 m/s2
for the outfielders. The line above the bar graph indicates that the wrist accelerations between the
two groups were statistically analyzed. A two-sided two-sample t-test revealed a p-value of
0.914, indicating that there was no statistically significant difference between the average wrist
accelerations of the infielders and the outfielders.
Discussion
The two-sided two-sample t-test for the elbow start angle between the infielders and the
outfielders yielded a p-value of 0.246, as seen in Figure 2, indicating no statistically significant
difference between the groups. This was contrary to the proposed hypothesis that there would be
a statistically significant difference between the two groups for this parameter. This supports that
the elbow start angle does not have an effect on the difference in elbow injury rates between
infielders and outfielders. Although there was no statistically significant difference between
elbow start angles, the infielders did have a larger start angle at 76.3 ± 6.4 degrees on average
than the outfielders at 65.9±16.5 degrees on average. This was also contrary to the proposed
hypothesis that outfielders would have a larger start angle.
The two-sided two-sample t-test for the wrist acceleration between the infielders and the
outfielders yielded a p-value of 0.914, as seen in Figure 4, indiciating no statically significant
difference between the groups. This result contradicted the proposed hypothesis that there would
be a statistically significant difference in the wrist accelerations at the time the ball was released
between the infielder and the outfielders.This supports that the wrist acceleration does not have
an effect on the difference in elbow injury rates between infielders and outfielders. The average
wrist acceleration at the time the ball is released for infielders and outfielders were 497±292
m/s2 and 518±287 m/s2, respectively; further supporting the results of the statistical analysis.
5
This result also contradicted the proposed hypothesis that the infielders would have a larger wrist
acceleration than the outfielders.
While conducting the throwing trials, the subjects had to use a wiffle ball instead of a real
baseball. Wiffle balls are considerably lighter in weight than baseballs, and have a different
surface area. A baseball has seams for the subject to grip and throw the ball with different
movement, while the wiffle ball has holes on most of the surface area that could alter a subject’s
grip. This could have caused the subjects to adjust their throwing mechanics, thus the results
could have been an inaccurate representation of their wrist acceleration and elbow start angle.
An additional factor that was not controlled for in this experiment was the handedness of the
subjects. Seven of the subjects tests threw the ball with their right hand, and the other three threw
with their left hand. The motion capture equipment was set up on one side of the room to record
right handed throws and give the ball a lot of room to travel before it hits a wall. The left handed
subjects had to be oriented in the opposite direction and throw the ball at a closer wall. Since the
wall the subjects were throwing at was much closer for left handed subjects’, the subjects might
not have thrown the ball as hard so as not to damage the ball or the wall. This would have caused
error in our analysis by skewing the data, especially the average wrist acceleration.
Furthermore, the pool of subjects had experience in more than one position on the field. Some
subjects were both infielders and outfielders while others were a pitcher or catcher in addition to
being an infielder or outfielder. Due to the subjects’ expertise in more than position, we
classified the subjects by their primary position played. We also classified primary pitchers and
catchers as infielders. These classifications could have skewed our results because not all of the
infielders were “true” infielders since pitchers and catchers are unique positions and some of the
subjects played both infield and outfield. However, in general, most baseball players have played
several positions, intermixing the infield and outfield positions, thus this may not have been able
to be avoided if the experiment was conducted again.
Since our results did not find any potential explanation for the higher rate of shoulder injury in
infielders, more research should be conducted on the biomechanics of the throw to find an
explanation. For example, the path of the arm throughout the throw could be investigated. Using
motion capture analysis, the initial positioning and path of the throw in a spatial context could be
evaluated.
Conclusion
The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the difference in throwing mechanics between
Rose-Hulman baseball infielders and outfielders to correlate this to the difference in elbow injury
rate. The statistical testing revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between
the elbow start angle of the infielders and outfielders as well as no statistically significant
difference between the wrist acceleration of the infielders and outfielders. Due to these results,
no correlation between the elbow start angle, wrist acceleration, and the difference in elbow
injury rates between infielders and outfielders were observed.
6
Appendix A. Start angle and wrist acceleration measurements obtained from motion capture
recordings.
Subject Parameter Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Std. dev.
1 Start Angle (degrees) 66.4 64.0 65.5 65.3 1.2

(Infielder)
𝑚
Wrist Acceleration (𝑚2) 725 1143 1003 957 213

(Infielder)
𝑚

(Infielder)
𝑚

(Infielder)
𝑚

(Infielder)
𝑚

(Outfielder)
𝑚

(Outfielder)
𝑚

(Outfielder)
𝑚
Wrist Acceleration ( 2) 982 976 1047 1000 40
𝑚

(Outfielder)
𝑚

(Outfielder)
𝑚
7
8
Appendix B
The script read to the subjects before performing the testing.
“We are attaching markers to your shoulder, elbow, and wrist. These markers will track the angle
of your elbow when you pull back as well as the acceleration of your wrist when the ball is
released. We also attached a marker to the ball to track when it is released, so make sure the
marker is facing the cameras. Once you are oriented within the camera views, act like you are
fielding the ball and throwing to the base. Once you hear the beep, throw as you would with
normal power. You will complete this two more times.”
9
Appendix C
The Minitab output from the two-sample t-tests used to analyze any potential statistically
significant differences between the elbow start angle and the acceleration of the wrist at the time
of release.
Two-Sample T-Test and CI: InfielderJA, OutfielderJA

Method
μ₁: mean of InfielderJA
µ₂: mean of OutfielderJA
Difference: μ₁ - µ₂
Equal variances are not assumed for this analysis.
Descriptive Statistics
Sample N Mean StDev SE Mean
InfielderJA 5 76.28 6.43 2.9
OutfielderJA 5 65.9 16.5 7.4
Estimation for Difference
Difference 95% CI for
Difference
10.38 (-9.93, 30.69)
Test
Null hypothesis H₀: μ₁ - µ₂ = 0
Alternative hypothesis H₁: μ₁ - µ₂ ≠ 0
T-Value DF P-Value
1.31 5 0.246
Two-Sample T-Test and CI: InfielderAcc, OutfielderAcc

Method
μ₁: mean of InfielderAcc
µ₂: mean of OutfielderAcc
Difference: μ₁ - µ₂
Equal variances are not assumed for this analysis.
Descriptive Statistics
Sample N Mean StDev SE Mean
InfielderAcc 5 497 292 131
OutfielderAcc5 518 287 128
Estimation for Difference
Difference 95% CI for
Difference
-20 (-454, 413)
Test
10
Null hypothesis H₀: μ₁ - µ₂ = 0
Alternative hypothesis H₁: μ₁ - µ₂ ≠ 0
T-Value DF P-Value
-0.11 7 0.914
11
References
[1] Camp et al. (November 2017). The Relationship of Throwing Arm Mechanics and Elbow
Varus Torque: Within-Subject Variation for Professional Baseball Pitchers Across 82,000
Throws. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 3030-3035.
12

Lab 9 10 - Throwing Mechanics

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Lab 9/10: Biomechanics of Baseball Players Throw

Due February 19, 2018

In fulfillments of the requirements of the course

1 Start Angle (degrees) 66.4 64.0 65.5 65.3 1.2

2 Start Angle (degrees) 75.1 83.49 85.82 81.47 5.64

3 Start Angle (degrees) 74.5 81.7 84.2 80.1 5.0

4 Start Angle (degrees) 77.5 76.8 75.3 76.5 1.11

5 Start Angle (degrees) 78.9 79.9 75.3 78.0 2.4

6 Start Angle (degrees) 85.0 81.2 85.0 83.7 2.2

7 Start Angle (degrees) 63.3 68.7 55.9 62.6 6.4

8 Start Angle (degrees) 72.4 74.3 68.3 71.7 3.1

9 Start Angle (degrees) 36.4 39.2 43.4 39.7 3.5

10 Start Angle (degrees) 84.9 70.6 60.0 71.8 12.5

Two-Sample T-Test and CI: InfielderJA, OutfielderJA

Two-Sample T-Test and CI: InfielderAcc, OutfielderAcc

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