Search

Baseball players must be able to see and react in an instant, yet it is hotly debated whether superior performance is associated with superior sensorimotor abilities. In this study, we compare sensorimotor abilities, measured through 8 psychomotor tasks comprising the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery, and game statistics in a sample of 252 professional baseball players to evaluate the links between sensorimotor skills and on-field performance. For this purpose, we develop a series of Bayesian hierarchical latent variable models enabling us to compare statistics across professional baseball leagues. Within this framework, we find that sensorimotor abilities are significant predictors of on-base percentage, walk rate and strikeout rate, accounting for age, position, and league. We find no such relationship for either slugging percentage or fielder-independent pitching. The pattern of results suggests performance contributions from both visual-sensory and visual-motor abilities and indicates that sensorimotor screenings may be useful for player scouting.

Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.