{"id":23075,"date":"2018-01-24T15:25:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T20:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=23075"},"modified":"2022-03-16T12:13:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T16:13:45","slug":"computer-vision-motor-baseball-batting-ability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/computer-vision-motor-baseball-batting-ability\/","title":{"rendered":"Computer Vision-Motor Tests Predict Baseball Batting Ability"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of researchers from Duke Health has <\/span>sharpened a digital method<\/span><\/a> to test vision, sensory, and motor skills in baseball batters. The computer testing could serve as a new tool for baseball scouts in assessing a player\u2019s skills, or for developing training programs to improve performance on the field. <\/span><\/p>\n

Duke Health is a research institute that includes the Duke NUS Medical School, Duke University School of Nursing, Duke University Health System, and the Private Diagnostics Practice. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the study, the researchers had 252 professional baseball players measure their sensorimotor skills through a series of eight vision and motor tests on touch screen computers named Nike Sensory Stations. <\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers found that the players who received higher scores on the digital tests had fewer strikeouts, more walks, and higher overall on-base percentages. Therefore, this study was proven effective in evaluating players\u2019 plate discipline skills. <\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>full study<\/span><\/a> is published in the journal Scientific Reports. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExamining the test battery measured by the Nike Sensory Station devices has given us access to a very large and unique sample, and in this case we were even able to compare test performance to actual game statics,\u201d said cognitive neuroscientist <\/span>Greg Appelbaum<\/span><\/a>, the study\u2019s senior author and associate professor <\/span>in<\/span> the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Duke University School of Medicine.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy doing this we were able to show that better visual-motor skills are linked to better batting performance for plate discipline statistics, but not power hitting or pitching statistics,\u201d he continued. <\/span><\/p>\n

The players used in this study all came from U.S. major and minor league teams. Many of the tests resembled video games in which players touch shapes or objects that shoot across the screen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Activities that required players to remember and recreate visual patterns, called perception-span tasks, were proven efficient in evaluating a batter\u2019s ability to get on base. Good scores on spatial recognition tasks, in which players were required to differentiate and recognize near and far targets, were related to fewer strikeouts. Hand-eye coordination tests were most effective in proving a player\u2019s ability to draw walks. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe implications are that you can use tests of visual-motor skills as meaningful scouting tools for baseball, and possibly other interceptive sports,\u201d said Appelbaum. \u201cWhen combined with other research showing that the skills measured by these tests can also be improved with practice, this also means that training programs can be developed around these abilities to improve on-field performance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n