Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the influences of vocalization, specifically “shout”, on the throwing distance with a softball in collegiate male athletes. Ten collegiate male subjects had played baseball and/or softball in the competition level for more than 5 years. To verify the effects of different shouting conditions on throwing distance, participants were instructed to throw a size 3 softball ball under various vocalization conditions, including shouting (using a familiar shout and different vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o) and no vocalization. All participants completed two throws under each condition in random order. Although no significant differences were observed between vowel sounds and no vocalization, the throwing distance was significantly increased when participants utilized their familiar shout in comparison to conditions with no vocalization and vowel sounds “u” and “e”. All participants experienced the shouting effect, while a few decrease the throwing distance with vowel sounds because they were distracted to shout. These results suggest that voluntary shouting during the throw improved the throwing distance compared to conditions without vocalization. However, when participants were required to shout with a specified vowel sound during the throw, the effects of the shout on throwing distance might not be observed because their attention would be directed toward the vocalization itself.
