Author(s): TREMBLAY, M., PRUNAULT, C., DUPEBE, W., ABBOUD, J., DESCARREAUX, M., Institution: UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Country: CANADA, Abstract-ID: 774

INTRODUCTION:
In baseball, most sporting actions like batting and pitching are whole-body, high-velocity ballistic movement that require effective force production, rapid eccentric–concentric muscles contraction transitions, and efficient transfer of lower body forces through the kinetic chain. Accordingly, individual characteristics and neuromuscular capacities such as force production, explosive power, and stretch–shortening cycle efficiency have been consistently associated with key baseball performance outcomes such as batted ball exit speed and pitching speed. These determinants may therefore be used to profile athletes in this sport to better characterize their physical performance capacities. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize distinct physical performance profiles in highly trained adolescent male baseball players using a latent profile analysis (LPA) .
METHODS:
Anthropometric and neuromuscular performance data from 96 adolescent male baseball players (16.40 ± 0.89 years) from 2021–2024, enrolled in the Baseball Canada Academy, a provincial baseball elite development program, were analyzed. Data were collected from the players’ baseline force plates assessments , where five standardized anthropometric and neuromuscular performance variables were included in the LPA analysis: body weight, countermovement jump (CMJ) height, CMJ flight-time to contraction-time ratio, CMJ eccentric mean-force asymmetry, and isometric mid-thigh pull peak vertical force. Latent profile models with one to six classes were estimated under multiple variance–covariance structures. Model selection was based on Akaike and Bayesian Information Criteria, entropy, and the bootstrap likelihood ratio test. Between-profile differences were examined using one-way or Welch ANOVAs.
RESULTS:
Model comparison supported a two-class (two profiles) solution as the most parsimonious and interpretable. Profile 1 (n = 58; 60% of players) was characterized by players’ lower body weight, greater CMJ height, and a higher flight-time to contraction-time ratio, highlighting superior explosive performance and neuromuscular efficiency. In contrast, Profile 2 (n = 38; 40% of players) exhibited players’ greater bodyweight and lower CMJ jump performances despite comparable levels between profiles of eccentric mean-force asymmetry and peak vertical force. Significant between-class differences were observed for body weight, jump height, and flight-time to contraction-time ratio (all p < 0.001), whereas no differences were found for eccentric mean-force asymmetry (p = 0.53) or peak vertical force (p = 0.88).
CONCLUSION:
These findings suggest that anthropometric characteristics and explosive power–related neuromuscular capacities primarily discriminate physical performance profiles at baseline in male adolescent baseball players, whereas maximal force production alone does not. Such profiling may assist practitioners in athlete monitoring and individualized development strategies within elite youth baseball programs.