The Biomechanics of Baseball Pitching — Part I
This work is part of my dissertation submitted at the University of Aberdeen in partial fulfilment of the BSc in Physics in May 2021.
During this research I was supported by physicists and experts to whom I am grateful. In particular I would like to thank Prof. Jan Skakle, Alessandro Rosa Colombo, Gary McCoy, Brent Strom and Ron Wolforth.
I want this work to be publicly available to athletes, coaches and researches as a source of information to support athletes development.
Chapter 1- Introduction
The baseball industry has been moving towards a science-based approach to evaluate and develop athletes’ performance. The two main roles of the game of baseball are the pitcher and batter, that are substantially different as the first can choose how to “act” when pitching the ball, when the latter can only “react” to that choice. This is one of the many reasons why the aspect of pitching has been broadly studied, and more data are still regularly collected.
Due to the great availability of biomechanics studies, combined with the open source data collected during baseball games and my passion for applying physics to sports, I have decided to learn and present the biomechanics of baseball pitching from a different point of view.
This dissertation has the objective to assess the biomechanics of baseball pitching from different perspectives such as: anatomical structure of joints; muscles recruitment during the throwing motion; the transfer of energy from the body to the baseball; the kinetic chain; the performance of pitchers during games and preventing injuries. The beginning of the dissertation (Chapter 2 & 3), describes the relevant background knowledge required to understand the biomechanics of baseball pitching. The anatomy of the upper body limb, with particular attention to the bones and muscles structure at the shoulder and elbow joint, is presented first. Then, a brief examination of the activation of the joints during different types of throwing motion will help introduce the baseball pitch.
In Chapter 4, the baseball pitching motion is presented through its 5 biomechanics phases, starting with the beginning of the motion and finishing at ball release. Physical systems will be used to understand the transfer of energy from the body to the baseball, using the theoretical model of a catapult and a compound pendulum.
In Chapter 5, reference to historical facts, technology and physical laws affecting the performance of baseball pitchers is introduced. Biomechanics of the pitching motion will not be directly discussed, however, fundamental information justifying strategies of the game that can impact the health of the pitcher will be described.
Finally, in Chapter 6, the delicate topic of avoiding injuries among pitchers is presented. Emphasis is placed on Tommy John surgery as it is one of the most severe injuries for the baseball pitcher.
