High school and college baseball pitchers response and glove movements to line drives

The timing of glove movements used by baseball pitchers to catch fast approaching balls (i.e., line drives) was examined in two tests to determine the responses and temporal characteristics of glove movements in high school and college baseball pitchers. Balls were projected toward the head of participants at 34.8 m.s-1 (78 mph) on average in an indoor test and at speeds approaching 58.1 m.s-1 (130 mph) in a field test. Pitchers caught over 80% and 15% of the projected balls in the indoor and field tests, respectively. Analyses of glove responses indicated that all pitchers could track the line drives and produce coordinated glove movements, which were initiated 160 ms (+/-47.8), on average, after the ball was launched. College pitchers made initial glove movements sooner than high school pitchers in the field test (p=0.012). In contrast, average glove velocity for pitchers increased from 1.33 (+/-0.61) to 3.45 (+/-0.86) m.s-1 across the tests, but did not differ between experience levels. Glove movement initiation and speed were unrelated, and pitchers utilized visual information throughout the ball's flight to catch balls that approached at speeds exceeding the estimated speeds in competitive situations.