Use of Pitcher Game Footage to Measure Visual Anticipation and Its Relationship to Baseball Batting Statistics

Abstract

Professional baseball batters’ (N = 105) visual anticipation of pitch type and location were measured using a video-based temporal occlusion test and correlated with their baseball batting statistics. Participants watched in-game footage of skilled baseball pitchers that was temporally occluded at the point of ball release, and at 80 ms and 200 ms after ball release. Participants made written predictions of pitch type and location. Results indicated there was a significant positive correlation between anticipation of combined pitch type and location 80 ms after ball release with slugging percentage (r = .21). There was a significant negative correlation between anticipation of pitch type alone 200 ms after ball release and strikeouts (r = −.28), indicating higher prediction is associated with fewer incorrect swing choices. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between anticipation of pitch type alone 200 ms after ball release and on-base percentage (r = .23) as well as walk-to-strikeout ratio (r = .25). These small relationships are consistent to the batting statistics we predicted and can be due to the range of competitive levels in the leagues the participants had played. The findings further theoretical and applied knowledge of the role visual anticipation contributes to baseball batting game performance. The findings also suggest that game footage can be used to assess and potentially to train visual anticipation skill, which is highly valuable for athletes and high performance support staff in sporting organizations.

Transfer of Training from Virtual to Real Baseball Batting

“…Instead, this improvement seemed to be a positive side effect of the training manipulations. These findings are consistent with recent research that has shown significant correlations between batting performance, plate discipline, and pitch recognition in professional baseball batters ( Morris-Binelli et al, in press ).…”

Does the combination of different pitches and the absence of pitch type information influence timing control during batting in baseball?

“…A positive timing error indicated that the impact timing was earlier than the optimal value, while a negative timing error indicated that the impact timing was later than the optimal value. The acceptable range for the timing error differed by pitched ball speed and was ±7.9 ms for fastballs, ±10.7 ms for curveballs, and ±10.7 ms for slowballs ("Acceptable") [26]. We divided the timing of impact into three groups (including "Acceptable") on the basis of the impact locations; the "Early" group was classified as the ball-bat impact timed too early with the impact location positioned further on the pitcher's side than the acceptable range, and the "Late" group was classified as the ball-bat impact timed too late with the impact location positioned farther on the catcher's side than the acceptable range.…”

“…The horizontal impact location of "swing and a miss" was defined as the position at the time the ball passed through the bat's long axis. We defined the optimal impact location based on the trials that the batters self-evaluated as "well-timed," and calculated the timing error as the difference between the measured and estimated (optimum) y-coordinates of the impact location divided by the pitched ball speed for each trial [26]. However, since the pitch location (ball location at ball-bat impact) had been included in the variations between trials, normalization was necessary to correctly calculate the timing error for each trial.…”

“…As an overall trend, the spatial ball location at ball-bat collision was located on the catcher's side for an outside rather than an inside pitch. To take advantage of this characteristic, the information was incorporated that the optimal timing for outside pitches was later than that for inside pitches (for details, see [26]). A positive timing error indicated that the impact timing was earlier than the optimal value, while a negative timing error indicated that the impact timing was later than the optimal value.…”

“…The finding that the timing error differed between the random and open conditions may also be related to the manner in which the batter controls the timing for a pitched ball. Generally, hitting tasks that are more complex (e.g., visual occlusion tasks) have been found to reduce the accuracy of prediction and execution [2,5,14,20,26]. In the open condition, the batters were instructed to control their batting for the next pitch type to be thrown, while in the random condition, they were instructed to wait for a ball with the timing of a fastball.…”