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Surveys of Perceptions in Baseball Batters

Terry, Jacob Andrew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1640615545514348

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Vision Science.
The purpose of this study was to survey baseball batters for the following reasons. First, the survey was performed to understand the cues to pitch trajectory that players use or believe that they use. The second purpose of the survey was to compare gaze, eye, and head tracking and gaze fixation behaviors of players as reflected in the survey responses to these behaviors measured in laboratory studies. The third purpose was to assess players’ recollections of coaching advice. Finally, the fourth purpose of the survey was to determine whether players had received an eye examination while playing, and to determine whether players had ever discussed vision therapy/eye training with anyone. Fifty-nine current or former baseball players who played at the college level (55) or above (4) answered questions on an online survey after providing informed consent. The highest level at which most of these individuals had played was the Division 3 (or equivalent) college level. Fifty-eight of the 59 respondents answered all of the questions. One individual answered all but 4 of the questions. In terms of cues to pitch trajectory, positive answers to survey questions regarding whether batters predicted the pitch type and pitch trajectory prior to pitch release suggested that contextual cues were used by batters. In addition, survey answers to questions regarding gaze tracking and seam identification suggested that batters also use post-pitch release cues. Answers to questions regarding gaze, eye, and head tracking behaviors were similar to those predicted by measurements of these variables in laboratory-based studies. However, the answers to a number of questions regarding these behaviors revealed that batters did not employ these behaviors on every pitch or at least throughout the entire trajectory of a given pitch, and this variability was greater than that expected from laboratory studies. This difference in the survey answers and laboratory studies may be the result of the more unpredictable pitch trajectories in actual games compared to laboratory conditions, or because batters shift between conditions where automaticity is applied and conditions where skill focused attention is applied. A final result concerning gaze, eye, and head tracking was that survey answers were similar when survey respondents were divided into groups based on batting average. In terms of coaching advice, survey answers on batters’ behaviors mostly matched answers related to coaching advice. The survey questions on coaching suggested that baseball coaches apply internal focus training. Finally, survey answers revealed that about 75% of the respondents had received an eye examination while they were playing. However, about 70% of respondents had not discussed vision therapy/eye training with anyone. This suggests that eye care practitioners have an opportunity to describe the evidence accumulated so far that suggests that vision therapy may be beneficial for batting.
Nicklaus Fogt (Advisor)
Aaron Zimmerman (Committee Member)
Andrew Toole (Committee Member)
66 p.
Optics; Sports Medicine
Baseball batting model; automaticity; baseball batting cues

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Terry, J. A. (2022). Surveys of Perceptions in Baseball Batters [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1640615545514348

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Terry, Jacob. Surveys of Perceptions in Baseball Batters. 2022. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1640615545514348.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Terry, Jacob. "Surveys of Perceptions in Baseball Batters." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1640615545514348

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1640615545514348
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© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Surveys of Perceptions in Baseball Batters by Jacob Andrew Terry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.