On discretising continuous data for subgroup analysis in baseball pitching and alternative analytical methodologies

There is a plethora of research attempting to contrast high- and low-velocity pitchers to identify traits to target for increasing velocity. However, pitch velocity exists on a continuum. Therefore, our purpose is to display the analytical discrepancies between creating velocity subgroups and leaving velocity as a continuous variable by examining the influence of ball velocity on elbow valgus torque. Motion capture data for 1315 actively competing pitchers were retrospectively extracted from a private database. We compared three analytic methods: (1) linear regression of valgus torque on ball velocity, (2) t-test between low- and high-velocity groups formed by a median split, and (3) t-test between very low- and very high-velocity groups formed by upper and lower velocity quartiles. Linear regression indicates ball velocity influenced valgus torque (