(10) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEAD LEG HORIZONTAL FORCE PRODUCTION DURING A THROW AND VERTICAL JUMP RATE OF FORCE DEVELOPMENT IN NCAA BASEBALL ATHLETES

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between the force characteristics of the lead leg in a throw and the rate of force development in a vertical jump in baseball athletes. Methods: 20 NCAA Division 2 male (age=20.1± 1.1 years, body mass=87.1±11.4 kg, relative one repetition maximum back squat [1RM]=1.92±0.3 kg/kg) baseball athletes participated in this study. Each subject participated in 3 total sessions over the course of 3 weeks. The first session was used to test 1RM back squat and the subjects were familiarized with the rotational medicine ball throw (RMT). During the subsequent sessions, the subjects were taken through a dynamic warm up including low level aerobic exercise, static stretching, and dynamic stretching followed by completing either the vertical jump (VJ) or the RMT. The completion of RMT or VJ was completed in random order. The RMT testing utilized a medicine ball weighing 8 pounds. Force-time data was collected using AMTI force plates sampling at 1000Hz. The raw force-time data was collected and exported for analysis in SPSS. The two variables collected were peak horizontal force of the lead leg in the RMT and rate of force development (RFD) of both legs in the VJ. Lead leg horizontal force and VJ RFD were compared using a Pearson correlation in SPSS. Results: The descriptive data for both variables and the results of the Pearson correlation test are displayed in table 1. There was a weak positive, nonsignificant correlation between lead leg horizontal force in the RMT and RFD in the VJ (p=0.341). Conclusions: Horizontal force of the lead leg in a throw is not significantly related to the vertical RFD produced during a vertical jump. Practical Applications: For baseball athletes, vertical force production capability may not be indicative of forces produced during throwing and swinging motions. Specificity of direction of force should be considered when designing training programs for these athletes. Acknowledgements: None