The effect of grunting on overhead throwing velocity in collegiate baseball pitchers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of grunting on overhead throwing velocity in collegiate baseball pitchers. A repeated-measures experimental design was used. Twenty-four division III collegiate baseball pitchers with a mean age of 20.3 ± 1.6 years voluntarily participated in the study. Subjects were shown a video demonstration of a pitcher grunting during the acceleration phase of pitching and asked to replicate the technique during three practice throws. Corrective verbal feedback from researchers was given regarding the timing of the grunt during practice throws. Subjects then performed randomized sets (3 grunting and 3 non-grunting trials) of overhead throws from a standard pitching mount in the stretch position with maximum effort. Throwing velocities were measured with a calibrated radar gun. Paired-samples t-tests were used to compare average throwing velocities between the grunting and non-grunting trials at the 0.05 alpha level. Mean overhead throwing velocity was significantly higher during the grunting trials than the non-grunting trials. Age, height, weight, and handedness had no impact on the effect of grunting on overhead throwing velocity. Grunting offers a simple, immediate means of enhancing overhead throwing velocity in the collegiate baseball pitching population. Additional research is needed to determine the effects in populations of greater or lesser skill.

Origins of vocal-entangled gesture

“…Thus increased sub-glottal pressure through laryngeal control is a way to change the pre-stress of what we have earlier called a tensegrity structure, and thereby helps tune the optimal absorption of mechanical shocks of the forelimbs during ground contact. This notion of thoracic stabilization through laryngeal constriction can be related to to findings showing that grunts improve human throwing velocities in baseball and forearm velocities in tennis players O'Connell et al (2014); Tammany et al (2021), and even to grunts in infants exerting some physical effort, which then become coopted for communicative signaling (McCune, 2021;Raine et al, 2017).…”

Origins of vocal-entangled gesture

“…Thus, increased subglottal pressure through laryngeal control is a way to change the pre-stress characteristics of what we above called a tensegrity structure, optimizing absorption of mechanical shocks of the forelimbs during ground contact. This notion of thoracic stabilization through glottal constriction can be related to findings showing that grunts improve human throwing velocities in baseball and forearm velocities in tennis players (O'Connell et al, 2014;Tammany et al, 2021), and even to grunts in infants exerting some physical effort, which then are co-opted for communicative signaling (McCune, 2021;Raine et al, 2017). inexpensive way of amplifying their high frequency calls" (p. 344).…”

The honest sound of physical effort

“…However, the load is self-regulated, which can amplify the already considerable individual variability in vocal signatures of effort ( Johannes et al, 2007 ; Kirchhübel, Howard & Stedmon, 2011 ; Van Puyvelde et al, 2018 ). Furthermore, unless the angle is measured from video recordings, it is difficult to quantify the performance and estimate whether the generated force or power output were reduced when speakers attempted to conceal their effort, which would be an interesting question for follow-up studies in light of the evidence that natural vocal expressions of effort help to maximize athletic performance ( O’Connell et al, 2014 ; Tammany et al, 2021 ).…”

“…As a result, rodents produce ultrasonic vocalizations during their jumps, while weightlifters emit loud grunts ( Anikin & Persson, 2017 ). There is evidence that such grunting actually improves performance, as seen from the increase in throwing velocities in ball sports ( O’Connell et al, 2014 ; Tammany et al, 2021 ). A person wishing to conceal vocal cues to effort can either hold their breath, which cannot be sustained given the high metabolic demands during physical activity, or keep the airways wide open so as to avoid wheezing or vocalizing with a pressed voice quality.…”