(01) In-Season Force-Velocity Sprint Profiling in Division 1 NCAA Baseball Athletes: Effects on Sprint and Jump Performance

Saturday, July 13, 2024

8:30 AM – 8:45 AM East Coast USA Time

Location: Room 337-338

Podium Presenter(s)

Samuel Montalvo, PhD, CPSS., CSCS, *D

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States

Author(s)

GC

Gunnar Cederberg

Assistant Olympic Sports Performance Coach and Applied Sports Scientist
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States
AG

Alexander Gonzalez

SCIENTIFIC PROJECT MANAGER
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States
RG

Reed Gurchiek

Assistant Professor
Clemson University
Clemson, South Carolina, United States
JH

Jennifer Hicks

Executive Director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States
SD

Scott Delp

Professor
Stanford University
Stanford, California, United States

Abstract Details: Force-Velocity Sprint (F-Vs) profiling is a training methodology used to personalize the resistance (weight) applied during sprint sled and resistance training. However, the efficacy of F-Vs profiling to personalize training in baseball athletes has not been reported in the literature.

Purpose: This study examines in-season sprint and jump performance for NCAA Division 1 baseball athletes with training based on their F-Vs profile.

Methods: A retrospective data analysis was conducted with data from 39 baseball athletes during in-season training over a 16-week strength-focused period. Athletes were tested once a week on sprint and jump performance. Every 4 weeks starting from the beginning of in-season training, athletes were evaluated and categorized based on their 20-yard sprint times: The Force-deficit group was defined as those athletes having a 0-10 yard sprint duration 1.3 times greater than their 10-20 yard segment, with individuals not meeting this criteria forming the Velocity-deficit group. Programs were adjusted with heavier (Force-deficit) or lighter (Velocity-deficit) resistance in the sprint sled and resistance training for the groups. Linear mixed-effects models were utilized to evaluate the training effects on sprint and jump performances with training cycle, training type, height, and weight as fixed factors, and athletes as a random effect. RESULTS: Across the training period, approximately 65% of athletes were categorized into the Force-deficit group (Figure 1A). There was notable variability in training type assignments, with around 46.4% of athletes transitioning between training types across training cycles. On average each athlete had ~3 Force-deficit and 1-2 Velocity-deficit training cycles (min-max = 1-4) (Figure 1A). From training cycle 1 to training cycle 4, the 20-yard sprint times improved by 4.43% (2.71 to 2.59 sec) (p< 0.01) (Figure 1B). Notably, acceleration (0-10 yards) improved by 10.54% (0.105 sec, p < 0.01), while the 'flying 10' (10-20 yards) improvements were 1.74% (0.015 sec, p< 0.01) (Figure 1C). No significant differences were noted between training types (p >0.05). Additionally, there were increases in jump height by 5.8% (43.2 cm to 45.7 cm) (p< 0.01), reactive strength index by 10.1% (from 0.63 to 0.70) (p< 0.01), and peak propulsive force by 6.44% (26.4 to 28.1 N/kg) (p< 0.01). Lastly, the 20-yard sprint times were strongly associated with higher jump height across the training cycle, with every 0.1 sec decrease in 20-yard sprinting time predicting a 0.78 cm increase in jump height (p< 0.01).

Conclusions: Personalized training based on the athletes' 20-yard sprint performance is deployable during in-season training. All baseball players improved their 20-yard sprint completion times, particularly in the early accelerative portion (0-10 yards), along with their jump performance. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The observed performance improvements over 16 weeks provide a trackable baseline for coaches and researchers to test the efficacy of different training protocols during in-season training.

Acknowledgements: None