State of the Society
September 2024
Dear ABBS members,
I hope this message finds you in good health and high spirits. This past August, I honorably accepted the baton from Dr. Gretchen Oliver, who faithfully served the society as our second president the last two years. I believe I speak on behalf of all of us at ABBS that we are grateful for her steadfast leadership and dedication to our society. As we enter a new term, one of the first tasks I have as president is to provide you with an update regarding the current state of our society. Here are a few notable highlights:
- Sponsors
- Thank you to our 2024 Silver sponsors: AMTI, Bertec, Dari Motion, Motion Analysis, The Motion Monitor, Noraxon, Qualisys, S3D, Simi Motion, Theia, and Vicon
- Website & Membership
- New website launched in January 2024
- Roughly 30% increase in unique memberships since the launch of the website
- ABBS Presentations and Sessions
- ASMI Injuries in Baseball Course (January 2024)
- International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS) Mid-Year Symposium (February 2024)
- Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Analytics meeting (Phoenix, AZ, March 2024)
- ISBS Annual Conference (Salzburg, Austria, July 2024)
- American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) Annual Meeting (Madison, WI, August 2024)
- Annual Business Meeting
- Wednesday, August 7, 2024 (ASB, Madison, WI)
- Newly elected executive and board members:
- President: Arnel Aguinaldo, PhD
- VP of Conferences and Meetings: Glenn Fleisig, PhD
- VP of Social Media: Adam Barack
- Directors: Janelle Cross, PhD (2-year term); Kyle Wasserberger, PhD (3-year term); Kristen Nicholson, PhD (3-year term)
- Upcoming ABBS Meetings:
- 2024 MLB Winter Meetings: Dallas, TX (December 11, 2024)
- Abstract submission is due October 31, 2024
- 2025 ASMI Injuries in Baseball Course: Birmingham, AL
- 2025 SABR Analytics Conference: Phoenix, AZ
- 2025 ISBS: Mid-Year Symposium
- 2025 ASB Annual Meeting: Pittsburgh, PA
- 2024 MLB Winter Meetings: Dallas, TX (December 11, 2024)
- Journal Club
- Monthly online meetings (except during the summer)
- 50-75 ABBS members in attendance
- Format includes an ABBS Sponsor presentation, two paper presentations by students, and respective discussions
- Recorded journal club meetings can be viewed here
- Travel Grant
- Aims to offset travel expenses for ABBS members interested in attending the ABBS thematic poster session at the MLB Winter Meeting on December 11th, 2024 in Dallas, TX
- $500 grant is open to any current ABBS members in good standing
- Apply for the travel grant here
- Standards
- Committee Chair: Will Vandenburg, PhD
- Aims to establish the first ever set of recommendations, guidelines, and standards for research and analysis of baseball biomechanics data
- Research Interest Groups (RIGs)
- Committee Chair: Gretchen Oliver, PhD
- Now migrated to LinkedIn as private groups:
As you can see, we’ve had a busy year so far! I am excited about the current trajectory of the society and hope you plan to connect with other ABBS members through journal clubs, RIGs, meetings, and other activities we organize. I extend my best wishes for continued success and prosperity to all for the rest of 2024 and beyond.
With sincere gratitude-
Arnel Aguinaldo, PhD
President, American Baseball Biomechanics Society