Summary: 

  • Core Energy Belt sponsored a research project in partnership with Dr. Ryan Crotin, Ph.D, CSCS, RSCC, President of RC13 Sports and Executive Vice President of ArmCare.com, to understand how increased intra-abdominal pressure can increase throwing and batting speed in baseball players.
  • The research included 13 college pitchers throwing 3 bullpens of 53 total pitches each. The study assessed 159 pitches for each pitcher. Each pitcher threw 2 fastballs followed by 1 change-up. An LED screen connected to a Radar Gun (Pocket Radar) was in-front of them to give them visual encouragement to throw at maximum capacity.
  • Each bullpen was randomly assigned different belt types: their regular team-issued belt, a Core Energy Belt measured to the diameter of their waist, and a Core Energy Belt with a 2-inch cinch to provide additional intra-abdominal pressure.
  • Dr. Crotin and his research assistants collected data to assess arm strength, velocity, command, and other physiologic variables.
  • Dr. Crotin found that 77% of the college pitchers had improved throwing arm strength entering the bullpen when wearing the Core Energy Belt compared to when they wore their regular team-issued belt.
  • Dr. Crotin's research found that the sample of college pitchers had improvements in velocity and pitching command when wearing Core Energy Belt compared to when they wore their regular team-issued belt.
  • Additional research including a larger sample size with more pitches thrown has true potential to better understand the effect the Core Energy Belt has on pitching performance.
  • Full findings will be published in the future in a peer-reviewed journal. 

                      Ph.D, CSCS, RSCC, President of RC13 Sports, Executive Vice President of ArmCare.com and Former Director of Performance Integration for Los Angeles Angels

                      Ryan Crotin is an experienced sports scientist and expert in arm strength and injury protection, with a wealth of experience in player development and sports science in the MLB, most recently with the Los Angeles Angels.
                       
                      He is a multidisciplinary PhD in Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has partnered with Core Energy to conduct scientific research and development with the Core Energy Baseball Belt.
                       
                      Crotin believes Core Energy could play an important role in preventing arm injuries by improving intra-abdominal pressure performance and stabilizing the wearer’s core.
                       
                      Ryan uses his wealth of baseball knowledge from his decade spent working in the MLB to explain how this connects to competitive baseball and beyond.
                       

                      Understanding Key Terms & Concepts

                      What is Proximal Stiffness?

                      Dr. Ryan Crotin: "The word proximal refers to the center of the body, or our center of mass, which is located around the belly button. When we can create proximal stiffness, it means that muscles connecting the pelvis and trunk, being the core, lower back muscles and diaphragm contract all at once. This co-contraction creates stiffness in the center part of the body which allows athletes to aggressively stop rotation and protect the spine for heightened rotational and compressive spinal loading. Also, as we mentioned in the whip analogy, the ability to create stiffness and stop the handle abruptly transfers energy to the whip which increases speed at the tip."

                      What is Intra-abdominal pressure?
                       
                      Dr. Ryan Crotin: "Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is creating force from the inside-out through increased air pressure in the abdominal cavity which is the underlying factor that provides stiffness. When muscles surrounding the proximal region of the body all contract, greater pressure is built in our intra-abdominal cavity which actually pushes out on our muscles that are contracted. This creates the stiffness we need to support our spine in many tasks such as squatting, lifting and rotation. As an analogy, imagine that you partially filled up a balloon and you squeezed the bottom of it. You would see all the air fill at the top and expand the balloon outwards. Imagine that the squeeze from your hands is the core muscles, diaphragm and muscles of the lower back all contracting at once to increase the air pressure that pushes out on the balloon, which you could think of as the abdominal wall. Athletes that cannot create IAP effectively will require doing more work with their throwing and lead arms to deliver the baseball at high velocity or hit it with more power."
                       
                      What is the difference between Proximal Stiffness and Intra-abdominal Pressure?
                       
                      Dr. Ryan Crotin: "Proximal stiffness and intra-abdominal pressure are interlinked.  Proximal stiffness refers to the ability to co-contract all the core muscles, diaphragm and low back muscles at the same time that increases IAP inside the intra- abdominal cavity.  The IAP that is increased in the intra-abdominal cavity pushes against the contracting muscles and provides an extremely stable base to apply greater force both from the ground and from the torso to the upper extremities."
                       
                      How does Intra-abdominal Pressure relate to throwing speed and bat speed?
                       
                      Ryan Crotin: "As mentioned previously in the whip example, stopping the handle requires abrupt co-contraction of the arm cracking the whip. That abrupt co-contraction of the arm to stop the handle represents proximal stiffness that is increased by IAP. The result is a faster whip (throwing arm or lead arm) that represents greater throwing arm speed or bat speed that can produce greater competitive results."
                       
                      Is there a way to improve throwing speed related to Proximal Stiffness and Intra-abdominal Pressure?
                       
                      Dr. Ryan Crotin: Strengthening core musculature that surrounds the abdominal cavity is critical in addition to trunk stabilization exercises to train the low back and breathing exercises to strengthen the diaphragm. Also, any time we train on one leg or an unstable surface also challenges Proximal Stiffness and IAP.
                       
                      How does the Core Energy Belt impact intra-abdominal pressure and what might that lead to from a performance perspective?
                       
                      Dr. Ryan Crotin: "Rotational coordination in sequencing movement hinges on coordinating IAP and co-contraction of proximal muscles. The belt is designed to give the core muscles added tension to press against that raises IAP from essentially squeezing the core musculature and intra-abdominal cavity  that leads to greater proximal stiffness for energy transfer and protection of the spine."
                       

                      The Research

                      • Core Energy Belt sponsored a research project in partnership with Dr. Ryan Crotin, President of RC13 Sports and Executive Vice President of ArmCare.com  to understand how increased intra-abdominal pressure can increase throwing and batting speed in baseball players.
                      • The research included 13 college pitchers throwing 3 bullpens of 53 total pitches each. The study assessed 159 pitches for each pitcher. Each pitcher threw 2 fastballs followed by 1 change-up. An LED screen integrated with a portable radar unit was placed in-front of them to give them visual encouragement to throw at maximum capacity.
                      • Each bullpen was randomly assigned different belt types: their regular team-issued belt, a Core Energy Belt measured to the diameter of their waist, and a Core Energy Belt with a 2-inch cinch to provide additional intra-abdominal pressure. 

                      Key Findings: Dr. Crotin found Increased Throwing Arm Strength Before Simulated Games.

                      Why is this important?
                      Greater throwing arm strength for pitchers, especially going into the start of games, allows them to be competitive right away, as throwing at higher velocities minimizes time for batters to react.  Higher strength levels also reduce the amount of effort required by the throwing arm to throw at maximum speed. 
                       

                      Dr. Crotin found that 77% of the college pitchers in the sample had improved throwing arm strength relative to body weight entering the bullpen when wearing the Core Energy Belts compared to when they wore their regular team-issued belts. Parametric Statistics didn’t conclude statistically significant differences in relation to the overall group. Dr. Crotin believed this test should be conducted with a larger sample size and expects significant increases in mean throwing arm strength.
                       
                      Case Studies
                       
                      Dr. Crotin created multiple case study videos to examine the impact of Increased Intra-Abdominal Pressure on several participants. 
                       

                       

                      Key Findings:  Improved Fastball Velocity, Change-up Velocity, and Deception

                      Why is this important?

                      It takes 200ms to recognize a pitch and another 200ms to swing the bat.  Most pitchers throwing 90 mph throw pitches from their hand to the plate in under 400ms.  Velocity disrupts timing, rushing the decision-making process and swing that can reduce the chance of making hard contact with the baseball.   When change-ups look more like fastballs, as in the findings of this study, along with greater difference in speed between the fastball and changeup, pitchers’ deception increases and batting success declines.

                      FASTBALL VELOCITY TABLE 

                       

                      Dr. Crotin found that 54% of the college pitchers had higher fastball velocity while wearing the Core Energy Belt as compared to their regular belt.

                      CHANGE VELOCITY TABLE 

                      Dr. Crotin found that 54% of the college pitchers had higher Change-up velocity while wearing the Core Energy Belt as compared to their regular belt. 

                      VELOCITY DIFFERENTIAL TABLE 

                       

                      Dr. Crotin found that 69% of the college pitchers threw with greater speed differentials between their fastball velocity and change-up velocity while wearing the Core Energy Belt as compared to their regular belt.

                      Key Findings:   Improved Pitching Command with the Core Energy Belt

                      Why is this important?
                       
                      Locating pitches is essential for not only performance but also throwing arm health.  Pitchers who can throw strikes consistently and locate pitches in the zone increase the odds of weak bat-to-ball contact, end up walking less batters, lowering chances of scoring, and increasing their teams' odds of winning.  Another added benefit is reducing the risk of overuse by throwing less non-competitive pitches that add stress to a high-powered throwing arm.  As we found in the previous case study that pitchers threw at high velocities with the Core Energy Belt, it's even more impactful that they can throw higher velocity pitches for strikes. 
                       

                      FASTBALL COMMAND TABLE

                       

                      Dr. Crotin found that 58% of the college pitchers threw with improved fastball command while wearing the Core Energy Belt as compared to their regular belt.

                      CHANGE COMMAND TABLE 

                      Dr. Crotin found that 70% of the college pitchers threw with improved fastball command while wearing the Core Energy Belt as compared to their regular belt.

                      Conclusion 

                      There is much left to uncover with current research study, but in these subject-specific analyses, there are a clear indications of improved performance with the use of the Core Energy Belt.  Dr. Crotin plans to publish the full findings in the future in a peer-reviewed journal to indicate the impact of improved proximal stiffness and intra-abdominal pressure on pitching performance. 

                      Core Energy hopes to sponsor additional research including a larger sample size with more pitches thrown will allow the research team to better understand the effect the Core Energy Belt has on pitching performance with greater statistical power. 

                      In addition, we hope future research might include additional belt conditions beyond the 3 assessed in this study. Additional research may find that players react positively at different levels of compression. This should be studied further within a fully-randomized, incremental belt setting study to see how each belt setting impacts ball flight, throwing arm strength, internal physiology and other trends associated to enhanced pitching success.

                      Core Energy is dedicated to sponsoring research to understand how intra-abdominal pressure impacts sports performance. If you are interested in conducting research similar to Dr. Crotin’s research, please contact us.  

                      Disclosure

                      This research was conducted independently of Core Technology USA Inc.by RC13 Sports, a full scale, baseball performance consulting firm owned and operated by Dr. Ryan Crotin PhD, RSCC, CSCS, USAW, SFMA L1. RC13 Sports, Core Technology USA Inc. or its parent company makes no performance or injury claims outside of the results of the current study.  For more information on the research conducted by RC13 Sports, contact the company at info@rc13sports.com