Batting Eye, which supports batter performance in baseball players, is associated with executive function

The ability to determine whether a pitched ball has passed through the strike zone or the ball zone and to select a ball that can be hit is called “pitch selection,” and may have a positive impact on batting average and other performance indicators. Furthermore, this ability may be supported by brain functions such as cognitive functions, and the importance of Pitch Selection has long been considered. However, this ability has not yet been quantified, and there are no training methods for pitch selection. In this study, we created a pitch selection task in which participants watched pitching images captured by a 360-degree camera through virtual reality goggles to clarify whether pitch selection was related to batting performance and cognitive function. The results showed a significant positive relationship between the pitch selection task and hitting performance, such as the on-base and on-base percentages. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between spatial Stroop task performance and the percentage of correct strikes among the pitch selection ability tasks. These results suggest that pitch selection ability is related to the hitting performance of baseball players and that cognitive function may play an important role in pitch selection performance.