Throw Hand-Hitting Eye

Interesting read. Is there a simple way of determining this dominance?

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Originally posted by floridafan:
Interesting read. Is there a simple way of determining this dominance?

Hold one finger up away from your face and sight down it against an object in the distance with both eyes open. Close one then the other. The eye where your finger does not shift is your dominant eye.

At camp a few years ago a coach from Stanford brought up this subject. He stated that about 60% of major league players had the dominant eye opposite of their batting hand. Another words, a right handed batter with a left eye dominant.

The test he gave that day was: pick out an object and make a circle with your hands around the object with both eyes open. Then close one eye at a time. The eye that still has the item in the middle of the circle is your dominant eye.

Hope I remembered that correctly.

I'll start with myself. I was born lefthanded. I was born in the 50's when to be lefthanded opened up the possibility of a kid being viewed as less intelligent due to reverse skewed handwriting and desks not built for lefties. My mother was so adament I was going to be righthanded she taped together the fingers on my left hand, forcing me to use my right. In day to day activities I'm all righthanded. On a board in a presentation I can write equally well with either hand. It keeps me from ever standing in front of the board while writing. Athletically, I'm completely lefthanded. I hit lefthanded. I'm left eye dominant which is not the lead eye. When hitting got challenging in college (started 0-16 with 7 K's) I found opening my stance improved my view of the ball. Did the improvement in my hitting (career .300) happen with the opening of my stance improving my vision of the ball. I don't know.

I have two kids. One plays softball. One plays baseball. I taught both to hit lefthanded based on what I feel is the benefit of hitting from the left side. The softball player is a righty. The only major benefit of hitting left in softball is speed out of the box. The baseball player is a lefty who didn't show a preference of hand until two years after I taught him to throw righthanded. Who needs a 6'1" fifteen year old lefty pitcher anyway? . I'll check his eye dominance tonight and call for hers (plays at college). It will be interesting to see if messing with the course of nature affected my son's dominant eye. In my case, being left eyed is more likely by being a natural lefty no matter how my mother tried to change the course of nature.

I have a friend who's a scratch golfer. He lost his dominant eye in an accident. His golf game went to hell. He spent hours every day tossing a rubber ball at a target on the wall to change his dominant eye.

So, I have a dominant right eye.
T: R
B: L
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So I'm cross hitting, but same side throwing. Maybe that's why I have trouble keeping my head still when I throw? It might have something to do with it.

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I'll start with myself. I was born lefthanded. I was born in the 50's when to be lefthanded opened up the possibility of a kid being viewed as less intelligent

WOW, I thought I was the only one. My dad would hit my left hand (really hard) every time I tried to use it to eat or write. I now eat and write right handed but do everything else left. Don't know where the "lefthanded kids are slow" thing came from, it is so not true.

My son first picked up a bat and swung left handed, my husband went to correct him and told him "don't touch him". So, my son swings left and throws right. Don't know which his dominant eye is.

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Originally posted by RJM:
a kid being viewed as less intelligent due to reverse skewed handwriting and desks

Finally the root cause....now I understand why you are a Celtics fan...

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Don't know where the "lefthanded kids are slow" thing came from, it is so not true.

1) funny looking handwriting
2) slower to do work at desks designed for righthanded writers
3) other devices not geared to be lefthanded making lefties appear clumsy ***
4) percentage-wise more lefties are mentally retarded

*** why I use a lefthanded screwdriver

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Originally posted by BOF:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
a kid being viewed as less intelligent due to reverse skewed handwriting and desks

Finally the root cause....now I understand why you are a Celtics fan...

Naw, the root cause is growing up in Boston. However, with diligent intellectual training by my mother I overcame growing up in a Democratic dominated area. She really wanted a righty.

This article comes up every now and then. Before everybody tries to figure out which eye is dominant, consider that the quoted study used a total of 25 players. That's just not enough data to conclude much of anything.

Another study, published in the same year (1998), showed no significant effect of eye dominance on batting average or ERA. It studied 410 MLB and MiLB players from the Dodger organization.

Abstract of 25 player study

Abstract of 410 player study

Aside for those amused by academic p!ssing contests: These two papers generated three comments. Based on the number of subsequent citations, it appears that the Dodgers beat the University of Florida!

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when to be lefthanded opened up the possibility of a kid being viewed as less intelligent

That's true. I believe 5 of our last 6 US Presidents were left handed.

Lefties:
Obama
McCain
Bush #1
Clinton
Ford
Perot
Gore

Righties:
Bush #2

Sorry, but I think the righty shows the least amount of mental capacity.

And I am a lefty with a dominant right eye. This requires me to shoot pool and rifles right handed.

Oldslugger8,

How is central ocular dominance determined?

Update on son: He's a lefty (except taught to throw right) that's right eye dominant. I'm an athletic lefty taught to be righthanded in every day events, that's left eye dominant.

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Originally posted by brute66:
Oldslugger8,

How is central ocular dominance determined?

I asked Einstein's great granddaughter, and she said the thumb don't move!

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Naw, the root cause is growing up in Boston. However, with diligent intellectual training by my mother I overcame growing up in a Democratic dominated area. She really wanted a righty.

Now that's funny!!!

My son is a lefty in everything but hitting. He naturally picked up a bat and swung righty, to this day he swings horrendous left-handed. I myself am a mess..lol. I eat and write lefty, dribble and shoot a basketball left-handed yet throw and bat righty, play hockey righty, kick righty too. You should have seen me as a kid when lining up for a running race...kept switching my feet...couldn't tell which one to start on..lol. On the rare occasion that I play tennis I'll serve righty and then keep switching the racket from hand to hand to hit forehands with either hand.

I was born with the imbilical cord around my neck so I came out blue..mother claims the doctor told her I might do things lefty growing up...maybe along the lines of the mental thing lack of oxygen and all..lmao!!

redsox,

You really should go see a doctor and have him remove that imbilical cord around your neck. It might help you breath better!

It is rather unsightly as well!!

For what its worth (not much, I suspect!) my son does everything left-handed, except baseball, where he hits and pitches righty. I mean he shoots a basketball lefty and everything. He started young and it just worked out that way, mostly with me to blame, I guess.

Son was a natural lefty from day one. He started hitting as a righty (copying dad), but he was always lifting his back foot. Aha! Dad turned the kid around and (voila!), a lefty batter ever since.

I'm a lefty born in the 60's, so while my parents didn't push the use of my right hand, my teachers gave me the "ink stain". All the teachers wanted to see the paper turned the same direction on the desks, so I have the infamous "Overhand" writing that leaves my hand covered in ink, and the writing smeared. It wasn't until HS when a left-handed teacher noticed my writing that I even learned that I was "backwards". Maybe there is something to the "less intelligent" notion about lefties...

27"s dad - as a lefty writer I hear ya on the ink smudge. I tend to hold my pen like a normal righty which leads to dragging my pinky. I used to have a callous on it from all the dragging and it was always covered in ink. I couldn't even use the erasable ink pens as those smudged a ton!!

I love the lefties that turn the paper sideways (90 degrees) and write down instead of across..those types always killed me..or the totally distorted wrist turn!

redsox,

Mine was the goofy wrist-turn (overhand) until HS. I was working on a test and the left-handed teacher walked by, reached down, and turned the paper. I looked at her funny, and she replied, "Lefties need to turn their paper the opposite way." I had never thought to turn the paper. I still drag my pinky though...some habits are hard to break .

Interesting, vision in hitting has to be the most important component.

Curios to hear thoughts on right brain vs left brain dominant thinkers.

Could be the most important key of all components on a successful athlete.

Hi,
Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here:

Perhaps one of the biggest areas of misconception in all of baseball is that batting is a "handed" skill. Throwing is, but hitting isn't. I'd like to say that I learned this on my own, but that wouldn't be true. I have to tip my cap to John Reed, who taught me that in his book, Youth Baseball Coaching. Like just about everybody else, I just assumed that if you were right-handed, you naturally hit right-handed, and, if left-handed, you should hit from the left side. After all, just about everybody in baseball (I thought) accepted that as baseball gospel.
As Reed admits in his book, "I and my two oldest sons bat right-handed. My youngest son, however, bats left-handed. The reason is I got over being stupid by the time he started playing baseball."
While throwing is a handed skill, hitting simply is not. Swinging a bat is an athletic skill exactly the same as swinging an ax to fell a tree. Think about it. It doesn't matter which side you swing from, does it? It feels "right" from both sides. The reason batting from the left side of the plate feels awkward to players who've always batted right is just because of that—they've made thousands of swings from the right side of the plate and very few, if any, from the left, therefore it now feels awkward. But, if you take a kid who's never batted before and is just beginning, both sides feel equally awkward. As far as what "feels" right to an older player, that depends solely on what side he's always batted from and not at all from the fact that he's left- or right-handed.
Here's a little-known and interesting fact: A predominate number of coach's kids bat left-handed. Look around your own area and see if you don't see the same phenomena. Wonder why that is? It's because a lot of coaches already know that there are a great many more advantages to batting left than right and that it isn't a handed skill. Or, they may actually believe it is a handed skill, but they have their sons and daughters bat left anyway, believing that if they begin at an early enough age, they can "teach" their kids to overcome the "unnatural" side—that the benefits of batting left over right are worth it. They're only half right. They're right that there are far more advantages batting left, but wrong when they think they're teaching their kids to "overcome" a physically biased stance.
So if coach's sons bat left-handed at a far greater percentage than other kids, why don't they let other parents in on their "secret?" I imagine you can figure the answer to that out...
* * *
According to John T. Reed in his book Youth Baseball Coaching, there are ten advantages to batting left. They are:
• The batter is closer to first base.
• The batter finishes his swing facing first base, rather than with his back to first, as does a right-handed hitter.
• A left-handed batter "sees" the pitch better if facing a right-handed pitcher. Since the batter is turned sideways, it is harder for him to see the release point from a same-handed pitcher, and easier to see the release point from an opposite-handed pitcher.
• Home plate is not an obstacle to left-handed batters. Sometimes batters trip over home plate, especially on poorly-maintained fields, or they simply sometimes just trip over home plate. A left-handed hitter only has dirt between him and first.
• Left-handed hitters can drag bunt whereas righties can't. Since a drag bunt is one in which you start running before you bunt, it can only be done by a left-handed hitter as they don't need to run through the strike zone.
• Left-handed is better for pull hitters for three reasons:
1. Most second-basemen and many first-sackers are right-handed, which makes it harder for them to throw to second to start a double-play.
2. With only one runner at first, most first basemen play close to the bag to hold the runner, leaving a hole for the left-handed pull hitter to take advantage of.
3. A runner on first is more likely to advance two bases on a hit to right field than to left because the right-fielder has a longer throw to third.
• Opposite-handed hitters have an easier time hitting breaking balls. Curves and sliders thrown by a same-handed pitcher at the batter start out coming at the batter, then breaking away from him. They are harder to hit than breaking balls that break into him.
• Left-handed batters block the catcher's line of sight to the first base runner.
• Left-handed batters are in the way of a right-handed catcher's throwing arm.
• Most batters are right-eye dominant and therefore hit better left-handed. This is perhaps the most important and least-known reason for batting left, particularly for right-handed batters. Everybody has a dominant side and a dominant eye. Usually the dominant eye will be the same as the dominant hand. That means that a right-handed batter who also has a dominant right eye, doesn't see the ball as quickly batting right-handed. Batting left-handed allows him to see the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand quicker and clearer than he would batting right-handed. There are several simple tests to determine which eye is dominant. Simply have the player make a triangle with his eyes and then pick out an object about 15 feet away, looking through the triangle with both eyes and centering it. Then, have him close one eye and then the other and whichever open eye keeps the object centered in his vision is his dominant eye. And, that's the eye he wants to be closest to the pitcher.
*
And, as Reed claims, even if a boy is 11-12 and has always batted right, he can still master hitting from the left side of the plate. What he has to do is begin hitting off the tee, left-handed. Reed allows that after 10,000 swings from the left side, the player will then be as good from the left as from the right and will only get better and better from that point. Also—and this is a huge selling point for batting left if you believe it (I do)—a player batting left, Reed says, will always progress to at least one level higher in baseball than he would batting right.
An interesting fact is that Ricky Henderson is a natural lefty... and batted right handed! Think of the extra hits he might have gotten if he'd batted from the port side. Since he bunted for a fair number of hits, I wonder how many more he would have had if he'd had the drag bunt in his arsenal.
BTW, this is excerpted from my just-released book, Perfect Game USA and the Future of Baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
[QUOTE]Don't know where the "lefthanded kids are slow" thing came from, it is so not true.

1) funny looking handwriting

Actually, that part isn't true. There are three things that can't be determined from handwriting. They are: 1. Handedness, 2. s*x, 3. Age.

It's a common misconception that one can tell these things from a person's handwriting, especially the s*x of the writer. Simply not true.

Both right- and left-handed writers are equally capable of "funny-looking" handwriting.

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It's because a lot of coaches already know that there are a great many more advantages to batting left than right and that it isn't a handed skill.

Yep! Two kids, throw:right, bat:left.

"Most batters are right-eye dominant and therefore hit better left-handed."

Two thirds of the population is right eye dominant.

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Originally posted by Blue Skies:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
[QUOTE]Don't know where the "lefthanded kids are slow" thing came from, it is so not true.

1) funny looking handwriting

Actually, that part isn't true. There are three things that can't be determined from handwriting. They are: 1. Handedness, 2. s*x, 3. Age.

It's a common misconception that one can tell these things from a person's handwriting, especially the s*x of the writer. Simply not true.

Both right- and left-handed writers are equally capable of "funny-looking" handwriting.

I was born in the 50's. Back them lefties dealt with preconceived prejudices. The reasons I stated were considered real in the 50's and early 60's. "Looking at things in a lefthanded way" or "Responding in a lefthanded way" were considered negative comments.

[/QUOTE]1) funny looking handwriting

Actually, that part isn't true. There are three things that can't be determined from handwriting. They are: 1. Handedness, 2. s*x, 3. Age.

It's a common misconception that one can tell these things from a person's handwriting, especially the s*x of the writer. Simply not true.

Both right- and left-handed writers are equally capable of "funny-looking" handwriting.[/QUOTE]I was born in the 50's. Back them lefties dealt with preconceived prejudices. The reasons I stated were considered real in the 50's and early 60's. "Looking at things in a lefthanded way" or "Responding in a lefthanded way" were considered negative comments.[/QUOTE]

I understand! I was born in the 40's and know exactly what you're talking about--the prejudice. My uncle, Bill Edgerton, was a lefty who got his mitt hit by the teachers and then he ended up playing pro ball as a lefty pitcher, so he got the last laugh. I was just pointing out a common misconception that one can tell any of those three things by handwriting (s*x, age, handedness). You really can't. What happens with the s*x thing is if a guy writes clearly or with small letters, that's considered "feminine." And, it's just not at all.

I see you're one of the "smart" ones who have two righties who bat left. The other thing Reed says in his book is that being a switch-hitter has no advantages at all--that a batter should bat left 100% of the time. It's an excellent book if you don't have it. He self-published it because he wanted to be honest and he felt there were too many old-timers in publishing who followed the status quo no matter if it was true or not (like handedness in batting) and he wanted to show what was real in baseball and not what generation after generations of folks had passed on as "fact." He also explodes the myth of "throwing like a girl," which is a ridiculous saying once one knows the origin of that "observation." (It's simply that girls in general don't have as many role models as boys and the way kids really learn is by imitating. Therefore, boys and girls who only have say a mom to emulate often "throw like a girl" which only means they don't have their fingers "on top of the ball" and instead use a shotputting movement, which means they're pushing the ball. Simply by having either the little boy or girl get their fingers "on top of the ball" cures that immediately and they then throw "like a boy." (Whatever that means!). We teach a one-hour seminar in our area for single moms and their kids to correct that and also to reach them to avoid getting what we call the "Little League uppercut swing." We simply teach them to avoid putting a baseball or a softball on a tee, but instead put a volleyball or basketball on the tee. The reason a baseball is bad at a young age is the kid wants a dramatic result and ends up developing an uppercut swing. Substituting a volleyball or basketball means they'll automatically keep their weight back and develop a line-drive swing to get that dramatic result and the mom doesn't even have to know anything about baseball and her son or daughter will develop the proper stroke all by himself. That uppercut swing will get great results sometimes in LL as the fields are tiny, but once they graduate to "real" fields, those home runs turn into pop flies and they've grooved a poor swing.

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"throwing like a girl,"

My daughter is a softball player. She throws like a softball player.

"I see you're one of the "smart" ones who have two righties who bat left."

Before you put me on the smart mantle, two years after I taught my son to throw a baseball, it turned out he's lefthanded. His sister is five years older. By the time he was three hanging out at her softball practices he wanted to be part of it. Besides, who would be interested in a lefthanded, 6'1", high school sophomore throwing in the low 80's.

The dominant eye thing is a whole bunch about nothing. You have one brain: that brain has been receiving your visual signals all your life every waking moment.

Had me worried there for a bit. Made my son do all the drills trying to get the outcome I wanted! I knew though early on that since he was Rt handed and Rt eye dominant that there could not be anything to the study. He disproved it himself by his ability! LOL!

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Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
The dominant eye thing is a whole bunch about nothing. You have one brain: that brain has been receiving your visual signals all your life every waking moment.

Every now and then a banner appears at the top of a page, an advertisement for Visual Training.

Although this thread has meandered a bit, I started it to get more input on baseball and vision as one of the aspects of baseball performance.

Do that thumb test. Most people rely on a dominant eye. They still use binocular vision, but the mere fact that one eye causes the thumb to move proves dominance in one of the eyes.

There are some tremendous articles available on this subject with photographers, billiard players, sharpshooters(rifle),
and the effects of cross-dominance. The next time you shoot pool, fire at the range or targets, or even take a picture,
patch your dominant eye and perform the task from your usual right or left side.

I would not downplay visual training! I think that one of the greatest benefits for our son was keeping him home until 1st grade. This gave him ample time to climb trees every day and build tree forts. He hammered a ton of nails, very well I might add before he turned 5 and kept on for years after. I guess some things are genetic, but training and enhancing the gifts God gave you can only help your cause. He drove a ton of nails which had to improve his hand eye coordination. As he got older I would throw a tennis ball to him as he dove into the pool, eventually working it up to two balls at the same time as he was diving. I always tried to make it tougher on him because he would always beat his brothers and his friends at this game. We did that for years also. Great memories, looking back...we had lots of fun!

Who was the MLB player that would watch a candle flame for extended periods prior to a game?

Shoeless Joe stared at the candle.

Scope and Rope: A Visual Profile of Major League Hitters.
December 24, 2008
Author: Dr. Daniel Laby, Dr. David Kirschen & Tony Abbatine
Source: Frozen Ropes
Publication Date: December 24, 2008

Since 1992, our group has been interested in studying the differences between the visual functions of professional baseball players and the general population. Since that time, we have tested approximately 1500 players from the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets major and minor league systems. We tested each player with a series of visual function tests consisting of three main types: Visual Acuity (sharpness of vision), Stereo Acuity (depth perception) and Contrast Sensitivity (being able to pick a target out of a background).

The Visual Function of Professional Baseball Players

The results of visual acuity testing were most surprising. Certainly we felt that professional baseball players must have excellent visual acuity, but we were surprised to find that 81% of the players had acuities of 20/15 or better and about 2% had acuity of 20/9.2 (the best vision humanly possible is 20/8). The average visual acuity of professional baseball players is approximately 20/13!

Similar results were noted on distance stereo acuity testing. Seventy-eight percent of the professional baseball players were tested with superior stereo acuity this far exceeded the results on the general population. Our research clearly shows that baseball players have much superior distance stereo acuity. In fact, there was a three-fold difference between the number of baseball players achieving superior stereo acuity when compared to the number from the general population.

Our final area of focus has been on contrast sensitivity. Due to the importance of this function to both visual acuity and visual function on the playing field (i.e. tracking a white ball against the stands, or against a cloudy sky), we used three tests of contrast sensitivity. Our results indicate that baseball players have significantly better contrast sensitivity than the general population. There were also differences noted between major and minor league players.

In addition to the standard tests of visual function, we have also evaluated the effect of hand-eye dominance patterns on the performance of professional baseball players. Several studies have sought a relationship between these functions, but none have included both major and minor league populations. Our data demonstrates that hand-eye dominance patterns are not related to batting average for hitters, or earned run average for pitchers.

Although visual acuity, stereo acuity and contrast sensitivity are important to baseball excellence, they alone are not enough to make a major league player. In order for a player to be successful he must learn to integrate and master these visual functions while playing in a game. A concept like visual memory, where an object's representation is stored and its memory is recalled in future similar tasks is important. A superior player must use visual functions to quickly and properly identify the fine details of an object (such as a pitch or a fly ball), in order to produce a mental image of the object and allow for correct identification the next time an identical or similar object is seen. This may be important in recognizing the spin of the ball as it leaves the pitchers hand or the movement of the pitch as it moves along its initial trajectory.

Could Ted Williams see the ball hit the bat?

Although Ted Williams reportedly had excellent vision - he is unlikely to have followed the ball from release to contact with the bat. Despite decades of little league coaches emphasizing the importance of "keep your eye on the ball", professional baseball players have learned better! In fact, it is physically impossible for the human eye to track the baseball from the pitcher's hand to it striking the bat. The human eye simply cannot move fast enough to keep up with major league pitching. Instead, players depend on all of the visual functions detailed above (as well as the performance skills detailed below) to follow the initial path of the pitch and then predict its final location as it crosses the plate. The task of the hitter is to put the bat where he thinks the ball will end up over the plate, where the optimal point of contact between the ball and the bat will occur. Although Ted Williams was unlikely to have seen the ball strike the bat, he probably could see the red stitching on the ball and could predict it's final position over the plate 4 out of every 10 times he was at bat.

The Hitter's camera: it's all about adjustments

Although the human eye muscles (extra ocular muscles) are the strongest muscles in the body, when considering the weight they move, they do not exist in a vacuum. In order for a baseball player to make use of these muscles, he must master their control and develop an efficient pattern of use. Although there is no need to "strengthen" these muscles in the classical sense, a player can re-educate the muscles. By repeatedly viewing a specific task, the neuromuscular system can be re-educated to work quickly and efficiently to move the eyes into the proper position for viewing an oncoming pitch, similar to how fielding practice can create muscle memory. For example, a player who repeatedly views a baseball with different spinning seams will likely be able to train his visual system to notice these patterns quickly during an actual at bat. The human visual system works more efficiently when scanning, sweeping and hunting as opposed to staring at a specific target. By building a visual memory of the correct use of the eyes during practice, the batter will be able to more successful when faced with a live at-bat situation.

The Visual Dynamics of Hitting

Vision can be negatively affected by the stress of the hitting situation. Once the player is in control (he has his mental game locked in) he must use his visual skills on a consistent basis. Ask hitters where they are, visually, ("what are you looking at?") as the pitcher begins his delivery. Many hitters will not be able to describe their visual game plan or they will reply that they are "soft-focusing" and then watching for the release point. Implementing established principles of the human visual system can assist hitters in improving the "picture" they rely on to hit. A slight improvement in a hitter's visual mechanics (allowing for an earlier recognition of where it is and what it is) is crucial to long-term hitting success at the college and professional level. The following techniques will allow hitters to improve their visual game.

Don't let the ball play you; the Scan and Hunt strategy

The eyes are in their most natural and tensionless state when they are gazing and scanning. Staring or fixating on an object leads to a diminished clarity of vision. Hitters must learn to trust their eyes by "getting off" the pitcher to maximize their visual acuity (sharpness). The traditional soft-fine focus method of watching the pitcher leads some hitters to over focus (lock-up) and restricts their ability to gaze and scan to the release point. Suggest to your hitters that they should find a comfortable "route" to the pitchers throwing side so as to avoid the visual "locking" that inhibits a clear picture of the oncoming baseball. Over teaching the "release point window" restricts many hitters in scanning for pre-pitch cues and also inhibits their visual rhythm as they prepare for ball release.

Find your groove: Visual Independence

Hitters must take control of their field of vision as they prepare for the oncoming baseball. Many hitters inhibit their ability to observe pre-pitch visual cues (arm slot, wrist angles, elbow height, head tilt) by over-fixating on the pitcher or parts of his body. Hitters should experiment with different gaze routes to the pitchers release point. As all coaches preach, hitting involves timing and a certain internal rhythm. The hitter's visual mechanics should be no different. Locking in to the pitchers tempo and horizontally shifting (right to left for a RHP) to the release point may not be the ideal "road map" for all hitters. Hitters should be encouraged to take their own routes to the release point so that minimal attention is given to the pitchers tempo and body movement. Popular "routes" described by professional hitters include approaching the pitchers throwing side from the back, shortstop side, and from the front of the mound.

Separating the good from the best; Visual Stress Response in Hitting

The intensity of the at-bat, or more accurately, the intensity with which an at-bat is pursued, is one of the more important factors involved in visual stress. Intensity relates to the degree of physiological arousal created by the hitter. As a general rule, the greater the intensity with which a visual task is approached, the greater will be the stress response. Game observations of hitter's ocular (eye) actions have allowed us to classify professional hitters into three visual categories as they approach an at-bat. Certain hitters exhibit a catatonic (fight) approach to the at-bat; exerting maximum visual concentration and maintaining an intense desire for achievement. The second category we have called the fright approach, which consists of a paralysis of action; just staring at the pitcher; immobilized to effectively recognize where the ball is coming from and what type of pitch is being thrown. Hitters with high strikeout totals and/or missing breaking balls by significant margins are typically found in these two visual categories. The syntoxic (flow) approach involves pursuing the at-bat with the least amount of pressure or tension, flowing with it, not becoming upset if the at-bat is difficult. Classic behavioral medicine tells us that a psychological acceptance of a visual task will make it less stressful. It is no coincidence that hitters that genuinely enjoy the challenge of an at-bat see the ball sooner and clearer as a result. The eyes are no different then other hitting muscles. Increased tension and over-exertion (bug-eyes) will decrease focus flexibility and restrict eye movement. Significant improvements of a hitter's game performance must start with an examination of their visual mechanics.

Real-game practice: Visual Mechanics must precede all swings

Effective pre-game and practice swings should always have a game-like visual start. Hitters should execute their individual routes and tracking patterns prior to looking at the ball on the T or swinging from a soft-toss drill. Besides giving the eyes an effective stretch, the hitter is rehearsing the entire hitting process needed for game situations. Hitting practice with no visual component is similar to a pitcher preparing to pitch in a game while warming up in the bullpen 45 feet away from the catcher! Markers in the back of the hitting tunnels or baseballs positioned near a teams soft-toss or T-stations will provide for a visual start to each practice swing. We have all heard the maxim; "Perfect practice makes perfect performance"; adding the visual process to all practice swings will simulate game hitting. No different than making mechanical adjustments in their swing, hitters can adjust their visual mechanics to achieve long-term game success.

Dr. Daniel M. Laby, M.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

Dr. David G. Kirschen, Ph.D., OD
Chief of Binocular Vision and Orthoptic Services at the Jules Eye Institute,
UCLA School of Medicine

Tony Abbatine, National Director of Instruction, Frozen Ropes Training Centers

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quote:

Originally posted by Frozen Ropes NTX:
...he probably could see the red stitching on the ball...

"Ugliest baseball I've ever seen, but there they are! The red stiches...plain as day!"




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