Differences in acoustic characteristics of hitting sounds in baseball games
Ryohei Futamura · NOISE-CON proceedings · 2023
In sports, athletes use visual and auditory information to perform full-body exercises. Some studies reported that auditory information is an essential cue for athletes: They utilized auditory information to predict ball behavior and determine body movements. However, because athletes instinctively use situation-related sounds, there is no systematic methodology to improve auditory-based competitive ability. Few studies attempted to approach the utilization of sound in games from the perspective of acoustics, and the functional acoustical features have not been quantitatively revealed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to clarify the acoustical characteristics of auditory information to maximize its utilization in baseball games. In particular, to analyze the acoustical features of batted ball sounds that enhance defensive skills, we conducted acoustic measurements of batted ball sounds in realistic situations. The results showed that the peak gain values of fly and liner batted balls were greater than those of grounder, and the frequency components included in the hitting sound were also different among them.