Optimisation of the upper body motion for production of the bat-head speed in baseball batting

The purposes of this study were to 1) develop a simulation model of baseball batting utilising the standard motion, and 2) explore optimal motions of the upper body to increase the bat-head speed. Twenty-three male collegiate baseball players performed tee batting set at waist height. A ten-segment angle-driven simulation model consisting of a bat and upper body was driven using with the coordinate data of the standard motion. Performance optimisation was conducted to find joint angle time histories of the upper body that increase the maximum bat-head speed. In the evaluation of the simulation model, the root mean square error between the measured and simulation model was 0.19 m/s and 0.98° for the time histories of the bat-head speed and bat orientation angle. Performance optimisation was able to achieve a targeted increase in bat-head speed (35.6 m/s to 40.0 m/s) through greater barrel-side shoulder abduction, knob-side elbow flexion, and torso right lateral flexion around ball impact resulted in the bat accelerating in the hitting direction. It is concluded that the proposed simulation approach can be applied as a tool for further simulation analysis in various complex sporting motions.