Coaches in sport have always known that the training that they provide changes the body of their athletes.Muscles become stronger, a greater amount of oxygen
is taken up by the blood,there is more energy available, technical skills become more efficient, and more can be done with less effort.
These physiological and biomechanical changes are well known, but less is known about the fact that physical training also leads to positive changes in the brain.
Baseball
Cricket
Golf
Rifle shooting.
Billards
Table Tennis
The Quiet Eye is a final fixation or tracking gaze that is located on a specific location or object within 3 degrees of visual angle (or less) for a minimum of 100msecs. The onset of the Quiet Eye occurs prior to the final movement of the task, and the offset occurs naturally when the gaze deviates off the location or objext by more than 3 degrees of visual angle for a minimum of 100 msecs. Since elite athletesexhibit an optimum control of the Quiet Eye relative to the final movement, the Quiet Eye may be viewed as an objective measure of optimal perceptual-motor coordination
Reprinted, by permission, from J.N. Vickers, 2007, Perception, cognition, and decision training: The quiet eye in action (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics), 11.
How important is the gaze of an elite athlete ?
Humans control their gaze in a distinct way within three major catergoriesof tasks: targeting tasks, interceptive timing tasks, and tactical tasks
Example of where the targets for the gaze are fixed in space - basketball free throw, rifle shooting
Examples of where the target for the gaze is more complex as in abstract and moving targets - putting on a sloping green
Examples of where the target for the gaze is on interceptive timing tasks - baseball batting, cricket batting, table tennis, goal tending
