Background/Purpose This study examined the relationship between overarm throwing patterns and distance ranges in the natural sport context of boy's baseball games.
Method Seven different teams with 98 total participants, ages ranging from 9 – 11 years old were videotaped. All throws (n = 5,663) of 12, six inning scheduled games were recorded with a Sony DCR-TRV camcorder. Coding was completed for the following items: position, throwing distance range, general throwing form, component levels of overarm throws and active (runners can advance) or inactive (runners can't advance) throws. Forearm, backswing and foot/knee position levels for overarm throwing were coded using a previously used chart (Barrett & Burton, 2002). Distances were estimated in various distance ranges.
Analysis/Results Coding reliability between raters was determined by calculating percent of perfect agreement. Agreement for distance across all non-pitched throws was 82.4% and all other coded categories were greater than 94.8%. Three most common active throwing patterns and associated distance ranges were F2-B3-F/K3 at 46-60 feet, F2-B2-F/K3 at 31-60 feet and F2-B2-F/K2 at 16-45 feet. Three most common inactive throwing patterns and distance ranges were F2-B2-F/K3 at 46-60 feet, F2-B3-F/K3 at 46-60 feet and F1-B2-F/K3 at 6-15 feet.
Conclusions In a natural sport context, boys use a variety of throwing patterns based on the urgency of the situation and distance of the throw. Some practitioners encourage participants to use the most “mature” throwing pattern. Practitioners can use these distance ranges as a guided discovery to attract different throwing patterns during game play and practice.
See more of: Research Consortium