Batta, batta, SWING, batta!

Human throwing ability vs. the chimp

Can a chimp throw the same as a human? Researcher, Neil Roach, at George Washington University decided to find out. He found that humans are unique in throwing ability, even when compared to chimps.

Chimps are very athletic, but can only throw one-third the speed of a 12 yr. old little league pitcher. Human ability to throw evolved nearly 2 million years ago to aid in hunting. 

Their study recorded throwing motions of collegiate baseball players, finding the shoulder acts a lot like a slingshot during a throw, storing elastic energy and generating fast forward motion. 

Applications for the study may help athletes and injury. Those athletes throw more than our ancestors did, and consequently can end up with injury (Science Daily, 2013).

 There is a more in depth look at the biomechanics of pitching on the Human Kinetics website here.

You can read a short summary article in science daily (see link below) or read the entire article listed in the references. Students don’t forget you can research sports or injury biomechanics and many other topics from our online databases.

Journal Reference:

    Neil T. Roach, Madhusudhan Venkadesan, Michael J. Rainbow, Daniel E. Lieberman. Elastic energy storage in the shoulder and the evolution of high-speed throwing in Homo. Nature, 2013; 498 (7455): 483 DOI: 10.1038/nature12267

Science Daily, 2013, Online. Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130626142710.htm

Image attribution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Baseball_pitch_release.jpg