Magister Legum - LLM / An understanding of the structure, function and performance relationships in different sports, including softball, allows for improved coaching approaches, development of sport specific fitness and skills training programmes, team selections and talent identification in young players. Despite the fact that fast pitch softball is an established sport with a long history, it has received little scientific attention. It does for example, not have a specific battery of softball specific fitness tests and relies on the tests and norms of baseball. The specific morphological and fitness demands of the sport are therefore not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to establish whether morphological and fitness characteristics are related to skill and performance measures in men's fast pitch softball players and to determine what the strengths of any such relationships are. The sample was purposively selected and consisted of 15 Provincial and 15 club male fast pitch softball players. All participants were members of the provincial Softball Federation. Anthropometric, fitness and skills test and measurements were conducted at the training sites over a number of weeks because it coincided with team training. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, skinfolds, and were done in accordance with ISAK specifications. Derived anthropometric variables included BMI and body fat percentage. The following physical fitness tests were conducted: vertical jump test, standing broad jump and the Illinois agility run while the skills tests conducted were the softball throw for distance, the two base sprint test, the batting tests and the fielding test. Match statistics were easier to obtain since records were available in printed form from the Provincial softball federation for the Provincial players and from the club for its members. The data obtained were analysed and interpreted both collectively as a group of thirty and then separately as provincial and club teams for the purpose of comparison. Since the data were not normally distributed, the Spearman's rank Correlation was used to test for associations between variables. Comparisons of the squads were done using the nonparametric Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. The results of the study identified a number of strong significant relationships between the different variables tested. Height and percent body fat, amongst others were found to be the two anthropometric variables which significantly interacted with two key performance areas of fast pitch softball i.e. batting and fielding. Percent body fat also negatively correlated with the vertical jump test which highlights the general negative impact of excess fat on performance. The relationships established in this research strongly suggest that coaches include fitness, morphological and skills tests in their coaching and fitness programmes and they should further be used in team selections processes as they are strong indicators for success and will make the selection process more objective.

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Batting is known to be one of the most complex motions in sports. Successful hitting may be influenced by many factors, one of which is response time (RT). Response time is known to be altered by various training techniques such as isokinetic and isometric weight training. Eighteen, right-handed female college softball players were measured for RT with three methods, experimental in design, using an Automatic Performance Analyzer.In addition, hitting performance was determined through film analysis of bat velocity while swinging at a ball delivered from a pitching machine. A Locam camera was used for the cinematography techniques.From this initial testing, three equivalent groups were formed. One group served as a control, while the other two groups performed two contrasting seven week isotonic training programs: 1) a rapid dynamic (RD) group performed many, quick light weight activities; while, 2) the slow exercises. The rapid dynamic group had their exercises triggered by an auditory stimulus. Following the seven week training program, RT and batting performance were again determined. Pre- and post-training response times were analyzed using an analysis of variance and covariance with p=0.05.The results of the RT post-test analysis indicated that response times were not significantly decreased for any of the tests. Film analysis was inadequate to make any conclusive judgments on bat velocity.The following conclusion is warranted from the results: isotonic weight training did not significantly decrease response time for either the slow dynamic or rapid dynamic group.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Theses (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains viii, 37 pages. Includes curriculum vitae. Bibliography: p. 16-18.

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There is little research specifically examining fast-pitch softball pitchers. However of the few studies completed, pitchers have been reported to exhibit a high incidence of injury. How and why these pitchers are suffering from injuries has not been elucidated.The purpose of this study was to investigate the injuries occurring to collegiate softball pitchers and factors that may influence these injuries such as demographic, pitching, training, and injury information.A cross-sectional survey of collegiate softball pitchers from Divisions I, II, and III was conducted using InQsit, a web-based survey system. Instructions on how to complete a web-based survey was sent and completed over a two-week period, by 181 Division I, II, and III collegiate softball pitchers. The survey was composed of questions addressing: 1) demographic information, 2) pitching and game data, 3) training program information, and 4) injury reporting.The results showed that demographic information, pitching and game data, and training were not statistically significant (p<0.05) in relation to injury. Among the 131 reported injuries, 36 were acute, 92 chronic, and 3 unspecified. Of the 92 chronic/overuse injuries, 10 were Grade I, 30 Grade II, 39 Grade III, and 13 Grade IV. Of the total injuries, 80 were a direct result from pitching, with 36 relating to the shoulder and 17 to the lower back. Among the injured pitchers, 109 took Non-Steroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs, 140 used modalities, 11 received surgeries, and 95 saw additional specialists. This study revealed that a high percentage (72.8%) of collegiate pitchers are suffering injuries across the nation and more research focused on this area is needed. In addition, coaches need to continue to be informed of ways they can improve the health and training programs of their pitchers. / School of Physical Education

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The intent of this thesis was to study the anxiety levels of college softball coaches. Previous research suggests that high levels of anxiety interfere with optimal performance and consequently decrease chances of success. This study compared college softball coaches' sex and career winning percentage to their anxiety level. The hypotheses which were tested are:a)Coaches with career records in the upper quarter of all returned questionnaires will score lower in competitive trait anxiety than coaches with less successful records.b)Female coaches will score higher in competitive trait anxiety than male coaches.The instrument used to measure competitive trait anxiety was Martens (1977) Sports Competition Anxiety Test, which was disguised as the Illinois Competition Questionnaire. Through self-report, the sex and career records were obtained.Of the 224 questionnaires mailed, 146 (65%) were returned. Using plannedcomparisons and analysis of variance, no significant differences were found and both hypotheses rejected. Although not a main hypothesis, further investigation indicated that female coaches score significantly lower than the norm of females in the general population (a = 8.81, p < .0001). It was suggested that through the process of self selection, females with low sport competition anxiety choose the occupation of coaching rather than some alternate career.Recommendations for further study are to replicate this study using a different criterion to measure coaches' success rate; to use Division I coaches only; to sample various sports; to track anxiety using a longitudinal method.