A COMPARISON OF THE STRENGTH OF THE ABDUCTION OF THE LITTLE AND INDEX FINGERS AND PALMAR ABDUCTION AND OPPOSITION OF THE THUMB BETWEEN COLLEGE BASEBALL PLAYERS AND INEXPERIENCED SPORTS PLAYERS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths of four intrinsic muscles of the hand of college baseball players. The strengths of four intrinsic muscle groups were measured by the Rotterdam Intrinsic Hand Myometer (RIHM) which has been developed to assess the abduction of the little finger and index finger, and palmar abduction and opposition of the thumb. The strengths of these four intrinsic muscle groups were compared between baseball players and inexperienced sports players. The abduction of the little finger and index finger, and the opposition of the thumb in both the dominant and nondominant hands of the baseball players were notably stronger than those of the inexperienced sports players. There was no statistical difference in the strength of the palmar abduction of the thumb between the two groups. The results suggest that the specific intrinsic muscles in both the dominant and nondominant hands might be strengthened by repeated baseball practices, such as a batting performance, which requires strain in both the dominant and nondominant hands repeatedly.