A study to determine the applicability of an electronic apparatus to teaching in physical education /

Abstract

This study was to establish the reliability coefficients of the Eamcovop, to determine the applicability of the Eamcovop to teaching, and to employ the Eamcovop to determine any significant difference in velocity of pitched baseballs from the stretch or wind-up positions.

The Eamcovop, developed by the author, used a laser beam to measure velocity. The Dekan Performance Analyzer, using electro-mechanical devices to measure velocity, was used as a control device. Reliability coefficients for each machine were established. Means, standard deviations, and Pearson product moment correlations were obtained.

The subjects were ten male baseball pitchers, from 17 to 23 years old, from the Middle Tennessee State University 1979-80 varsity team. Each subject has 15 throws from the wind-up position and 15 throws from the stretch position for each of the two machines, a total of 60 throws per subject. Each pitch was recorded for speed and accuracy.

The mean velocity and total strikes for each subject on each machine were analyzed by t-tests to determine whether significant differences existed between two pitching variables for velocity or gross accuracy and by Pearson product moment correlations to determine the relationship between the two pitching positions for velocity or gross accuracy. Spearman's coefficients of rank correlation determine the relationship between velocity and gross accuracy from the wind-up position and the stretch position.

The analysis by t-tests showed no significant differences in velocity between the two pitching positions or between the gross accuracy. The Pearson product moment correlations showed no significant correlations for velocity between the two pitching positions on either machine, no significant correlations for gross accuracy between the two pitching positions on the Eamcovop, and significant positive correlations for gross accuracy between the two pitching positions on the Dekan Performance Analyzer. The Spearman coefficients of rank correlation showed no significant correlation between speed and gross accuracy from either position on either machine.

The conclusions were that the Eamcovop is as reliable as the Dekan Performance Analyzer in measuring velocity of pitched baseballs and is technically superior in other areas, that the Eamcovop is more suitable for teaching purposes than Dekan Performance Analyzer, and that there is no significant difference in the velocity of pitched baseballs from the stretch position or the wind-up position.

The advantages of the Eamcovop in comparison to the Dekan Performance Analyzer, in teaching physical education were greater timing accuracy, the relatively inexpensive construction, the mobility and flexibility of application. The Eamcovop can measure velocity throughout the whole or any portion of a distance and can measure velocity in any of four directions.