Relationship between Variations in Step Position and Catch–Delivery Performance of Infielders in Fielding Grounders

Abstract

This study aimed to clarify the relationship between variations in step positions to ball pick-up and catch–delivery performance of infielders while fielding ground balls and to examine whether these variations in step positions could be objective indicators for the evaluation of ground ball fielding performance. The subjects were 24 university and non-professional corporate baseball players. We analyzed the relationships between variations in step positions, with the origin located at the ball-catching position, and catch–delivery performance. The results were as follows: 1） The rates of in-between hops and successful catches in the superior group were significantly lower and higher, respectively. 2） The superior group showed significantly smaller standard deviations of both the front-back and left-right direction of the catch position. A significant positive correlation was observed between variations in steps and the standard deviation of the catch position （left-right direction）. 3） There was a significant positive correlation between the standard deviations of the right foot ground contact position （front-back direction） and delivery time. 4） Step angles were significantly larger in the superior group. There was a significant negative correlation between variations in step positions and step angles. The above findings indicate that variations in step positions to pick-up ground balls affect catch–delivery performances. The present results suggest that the degree of variation in step positions can be an objective indicator for evaluating the catch–delivery performance of infielders.