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A research paper produced in Auburn University’s School of Kinesiology received the Best Paper Award 2024 from the International Journal of Sports Medicine (IJSM).

The paper, “Kinematics of Hitting in Youth Baseball: Implications for Skill Development,” was produced in Professor Gretchen Oliver’s Sports Medicine and Movement Lab. Published in late 2024, the paper received the recognition last month based on the number of downloads and reads through April 2024. The paper was authored by Nicole Bordelon, Anthony Fava, Kenzie B. Friesen, Ryan L. Crotin and Oliver.

“Achieving publication of a scholarly article represents a significant milestone; however, it is equally, if not more, gratifying to observe that the work has been extensively read and downloaded by the academic community,” Oliver said. “Notably, our paper was not published until the end of 2024, yet it subsequently received the highest number of downloads.”

The criteria for the award includes: IJSM papers that had the highest online access rate in 2024; only papers that had the eFirst date in 2024; only original research articles; and a user access period of Jan. 1, 2024-April 30, 2025.

This study compared lower extremity, trunk and upper extremity kinematics between tee and front toss hitting in youth baseball athletes. Twenty youth baseball athletes performed three maximal effort swings off front toss and tee, and there was a significant difference in trunk kinematics between tee and front toss during the preparatory phase: the trunk rotated more toward the back side when hitting off a tee compared to front toss.

There was also a significant difference in trunk kinematics between tee and front toss for 67% of the acceleration phase: the trunk rotated more towards the back side from 0 to 67% when hitting off the tee. Significant differences were found in trunk kinematics between tee and front toss hitting in youth baseball players, where the trunk is less rotated toward the pitcher in the tee than in the front toss.

The paper concluded, “Coaches utilize various training modalities to enhance hitting performance; however, differences in trunk kinematics should be considered between modalities when developing fundamental hitting techniques in youth baseball athletes.”