Developmental Stages' Impact On Sense Of Effort In Baseball Pitching: From Sub-maximal To Supra-maximal Instructions.

PURPOSE: Controlling pitch speed is an important skill in baseball, yet it remains unclear how this skill improves with development and maturity. The present study aims to elucidate whether this ability differs between premature youth players and matured collegiate players by examining the relationship between subjective effort (SE) and ball speed. METHODS: Six collegiate baseball players (20-22 yr) and seven youth baseball players (13-15 yr) participated in the experiment. The participants pitched to a net approximately 5 m away, throwing two pitches each at 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% SE, and eight pitches each at 100%, 110%, and 120% SE, in that order. Each condition was not randomized because this study was designed to elicit a self-assessed maximal effort pitch from each participant, followed by an additional pitch at an even higher level of effort to investigate the possibility of surpassing their perceived maximal effort. Ball speed was calculated from camera images. For sub-maximal efforts, comparisons were made between youth and collegiate players. For super-maximal efforts, comparisons were made between conditions for youth and college, respectively. RESULTS: The ratio of sub-maximal effort ball speed to 100% SE did not differ between youth and collegiate players. On the other hand, ball speed at supra-maximal effort compared to 100%SE increased for youth players (110%SE: 1.04 times 100%SE, p < 0.05; 120%SE: 1.06 times 100%SE condition, p < 0.05, paired t-test), but not for collegiate players (110%SE: 1.01 times 100% SE, 120%SE: 1.01 times 100% SE, paired t-test). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that youth players may not realize the full potential of their abilities, and that the skill of controlling pitching speed may improve with growth and maturity.