Relationship of pelvis and torso angular jerk to hand velocity in female softball hitting

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of pelvis and torso angular jerk on a performance indicator of hitting, specifically hand velocity. Eighteen softball athletes were analysed (20.3 ± 1.6 years; 164.9 ± 24.9 cm; 74.4 ± 14.0 kg). Participants were instructed to execute 3 maximum effort swings off a stationary tee at the middle "strike-zone" location. Angular jerk data were analysed during the acceleration phase of the swing, the time between foot contact and ball contact. Quadratic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of minimal pelvis angular jerk and minimal torso angular jerk to angular hand velocity at ball contact. No significant relationship was found between pelvis angular jerk and angular hand velocity at ball contact (r = 0.192, p = 0.754). The curvilinear regression model for pelvis angular jerk produced: R² = 0.037; F (2, 17) = 0.288; p = 0.754. Lack of significant findings suggests a relationship between jerk and angular hand velocity does not exist within female softball hitting. Future research should investigate the timing of minimal jerk through the acceleration phase as a predictor of angular hand velocity, rather than the value of jerk itself.