This event brings together student scholars and their families, faculty and staff mentors, other members of the KSC community, area legislators, university trustees, and members of the Keene community in celebration of academic research and other forms of scholarship.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a single caffeine dose on pitch velocity and hand fatigue in college-aged baseball and softball pitchers.Caffeine is known to increase power output when ingested before exercise. A study of semi-professional soccer players gave 3 mg/kg of caffeine before a simulated game. Running speed and distance ran significantly increased. This study is extending prior research to anaerobic activity. College-aged baseball and softball pitchers will receive 1.5mg/kg of caffeine before pitching a simulated game. This dose is more typical of college-athletes. Hand fatigue and pitch velocity will be measured throughout the game using a pocket radar gun, a hand held-dynamometer will measure pre and post grip strength. It is expected that pitch velocity will increase initially but decline over the course of the game and that no change will be seen in grip strength.
