Publication Date

1970

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Wells, Harold P., -1996||Dean, Mark E.

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Physical Education

LCSH

Baseball

Abstract

The study was conducted in an attempt to determine the effect on initial velocity in baserunning for baseball when using four types of starting techniques. The techniques were: (l) the wide stance cross-over step where the feet are at least twenty-four inches apart and the initial move is with the left foot using a cross-over step toward second base, (2) the wide stance with a direct step of the right foot toward second base, (3) a narrow stance of twelve or less inches using the cross-over step, and (4) a narrow stance using a direct step. The problem in baseball is that too many coaches base all that is taught on tradition. Experimental evidence is not always the backbone of many of the techniques or skills taught by baseball coaches. This study is an attempt to add facts to fiction about one of the aspects of baseball, namely baserunning. The subjects were fourteen college varsity baseball players who ran nine trials for each of the four starts. The subjects' elapsed times were recorded by the use of a photo-electric activated sequential timer. As a subject passed through the light source of a cell the timers were activated. As the last light source was passed the timers stopped. The timers were accurate to 1/100th second. Only initial velocity was of interest so the distance used for measurement was thirty-eight feet out of the ninety feet between first and second base. The study was conducted on three different days with three trials per start per day being run. All the foot positions for the starts were marked on the ground at the starting mark ten feet from first base. The stop timer was located forty feet from second base to deter any coasting by the runners. Each sprint was activated by the left heel of a right-handed pitcher in the stretch position. As the pitcher lifted the left heel the subjects dashed toward second base and were recorded. In analysis of the data a t-test for paired observations was used to determine the significance of the data collected. The results of the study showed that the t-score necessary at the .01 level of significance of 3.012 was exceeded in five of the six comparisons. The only comparison which did not yield a significance was the wide cross-over and the wide direct-step. All the starting techniques are superior to the narrow cross-over step. The wide-direct and the wide cross-over are faster than the narrow-direct step but either the wide cross-over or the wide direct-step may be used with the same results.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

41 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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