COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS ON THE PHYSIQUE AND BATTING RECORDS OF THE PLAYERS IN THE NATIONAL SUMMER HIGH-SCHOOL BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE ADOPTION OF METAL BATS
H. Uchida et al., COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS ON THE PHYSIQUE AND BATTING RECORDS OF THE PLAYERS IN THE NATIONAL SUMMER HIGH-SCHOOL BASEBALL TOURNAMENTS BEFORE AND AFTER THE ADOPTION OF METAL BATS, Acta medica Okayama, 48(4), 1994, pp. 217-223
To clarify the influence of the introduction of metal bats on the phys
ique and batting records of the players in the National Summer High Sc
hool Baseball Tournaments, a comparative analysis was conducted betwee
n height, body weight, body-weight ratio (body weight/height), batting
average and home run average of the best four teams' players (n = 493
) and those of the other teams' players (n = 4,590) in three periods:
the period of the use of wooden bats, that of the use of both wooden a
nd metal bats and that of the use of metal bats. In the period of meta
l bat use, the mean values of physique of the best four teams' players
were significantly larger (P < 0.05) and their average number of home
runs was significantly higher than those of the other teams' players
(P < 0.01). The only significant differences between the two groups in
those indices for each time period were for height in the wood and me
tal/wood periods. This study demonstrated that the differences between
the home run average and physique, including height, body weight and
body-weight ratio of the best four teams and the rest of the teams wer
e the greatest after the use of metal bats. These findings suggest tha
t the importance of the home run average increased and was associated
with large-size of physique after the use of metal bats in the Nationa
l Summer High Scoot Baseball Tournaments.