Martinez and McLean studied five NCAA Division III softball pitchers to see how much force was put on their push-off foot (the foot that drives off the rubber) and their landing foot (the foot that plants when delivering the pitch). Each pitcher threw three types of pitches: fastball, changeup, and curveball. They measured the peak forces (the maximum force at one time) using a special in-shoe sensor system called Loadsol. They also measured ball velocity (how fast the ball was thrown). To compare the data, they used statistical tests called a one-way repeated measures ANOVA and a Holm post hoc test to see if differences between pitches were meaningful. They found:
- Landing Foot Peak Force:
- Curveball and fastball created more peak force than the changeup.
- Loading Rate of the Landing Foot:
- No significant differences between the pitch types.
- Push-off Foot Peak Force & Loading Rate:
- No significant differences between pitches.
- Ball Velocity:
- Curveball and fastball were thrown faster than the changeup.
Implications: The study showed that pitchers put more force on their landing foot when throwing fastballs and curveballs compared to changeups. This happens because those pitches stop the pitcher’s forward motion more suddenly, causing higher forces when the foot lands. Even though they found differences in landing forces, the push-off foot did not change much between pitch types. That means the biggest difference between pitches comes from how pitchers land, not how they push off. Five pitchers is a small group, but it makes sense that pitches that generate more velocity (more force applied to the ball) will also have greater force elsewhere as well.
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I always like this stuff. Check out Tread Athletics and how athletic these moves are. I always wonder if we can translate this to softball.
