02-09-2010, 08:33 AM
Not widely advertised or well-known are exercises for the eyes, and the strengthening and sharpening of focus, focus change, long-distance viewing, etc. Some are used by professional baseball players who have to synchronize to an object moving at changing speeds at up to 100 mph from 60 feet away.
As reported in Sports Illustrated 3/25/02:
To improve his visual tracking abilities, Edgar Martinez bunts tennis balls blasted from a pitching machine at 150 mph, and then reads painted numbers on them at slower speeds. "After tracking a smaller ball going 150, a baseball at 90 doesn't seem so fast." Derek Jeter uses a very expensive video system to catalog and analyze pitches thrown to him. A-Rod uses an eye focusing technique in the on-deck circle. He holds hit bat a few inches from his face; he focuses on the trademark, then quickly shifts his focus to the face of the center-fielder. "The first time it takes your eyes about three seconds to adjust, but as they warm up it gets quicker." Once in the batter's box, he focuses on the emblem of the pitcher's cap as the pitcher begins his delivery and then slides his focus to a spot on the pitcher's throwing side, roughly the same height off the ground as the cap, from where the ball is released. (In softball, these points would be the belt buckle and hip areas.) This is where he picks up the ball and begins to read its spin. "When you are locked in, the ball seems to be coming at you in slow motion and you see it so clearly." A-Rod also hits five times a day, off a tee, off soft toss, during BP, off a pitching machine, and then another round of soft toss. "I call it taking my vitamins", he says. (Others would call it entraining eye-hand neuronal networks!)
Edgar Martinez also does eye exercises twice a day. He keeps a worn card, slightly larger than an index card, that has a green circle to the left and a red circle to the right. Inside the perimeter of both circles are the words THESE LETTERS, though the R is missing from the green circle and the first T is missing from the red one. When he stares at a spot between the two circles, because of a process optics experts call binocular fusion, a brown circle appears with all of the letters of THESE LETTERS. This exercise strengthens his eye muscles. The card also includes a box of assorted letters in fine print. To improve his depth perception, Martinez will shift his focus from one of those letters to a spot on a distant wall with the same grid of letters, only larger, and then back again. An optometrist has marketed eye speed concentration and 3-D depth perception training systems.
From Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All In Your Head, by Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., Great Ocean Publishers, Arlington, VA 1995:
Lazy 8's is a simple technique that can be used to sharpen up vision, wake up enhanced visual tracking skills, and improve hand/eye coordination. Make a fist, thumb extended upward on an outstretched hand at eye-level, in the center of the body. Hold the head still, but relaxed. As you move the thumb slowly and smoothly though a pattern that looks like an 8 or an infinity sign on its side, focus on the thumbnail and track it by moving only your eyes and not your head. Start in front of your body at elbow length for at least three rotations, and vary the pattern of movement in three dimensions for at least six rotations. Then move your pattern of rotations gradually outwards 90 degrees toward the periphery of your vision, using one hand at a time, until you reach your limits of peripheral vision. This activity is very effective in strengthening the extrinsic eye muscles as well as the intrinsic muscles that alter the lens and pupil, assisting neural network development and myelination for fine motor tracking. You may want to take your glasses off if you wear them, although athletes performing Lazy 8's prior to or in competition should wear whatever contact lenses, glasses or protective eye gear they use in competition.
You may quickly become aware of some mild discomfort or some momentary inability to focus on or even see your thumbnail as your eyes slowly track through one or more locations in your visual field. This is a clear and simple sign of eye muscle weakness at that point in your visual field, and is a clear indicator for further use of this exercise, especially in the affected areas. As with any drill, technique or experience, if you detect a serious problem, you should seek professional help (in this case, an optometrist). Doing Lazy 8's is like doing push-ups for your eyes. Gentle, persistent repetition will strengthen your eye muscles and the skills they enable.
For information on the Eye Speed Concentration Trainer and the 3-D Perception and Tracking Trainer, contact Performance Fundamentals Inc. at 1-800-627-5400 or www.performancefundamentals.com/ .
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As reported in Sports Illustrated 3/25/02:
To improve his visual tracking abilities, Edgar Martinez bunts tennis balls blasted from a pitching machine at 150 mph, and then reads painted numbers on them at slower speeds. "After tracking a smaller ball going 150, a baseball at 90 doesn't seem so fast." Derek Jeter uses a very expensive video system to catalog and analyze pitches thrown to him. A-Rod uses an eye focusing technique in the on-deck circle. He holds hit bat a few inches from his face; he focuses on the trademark, then quickly shifts his focus to the face of the center-fielder. "The first time it takes your eyes about three seconds to adjust, but as they warm up it gets quicker." Once in the batter's box, he focuses on the emblem of the pitcher's cap as the pitcher begins his delivery and then slides his focus to a spot on the pitcher's throwing side, roughly the same height off the ground as the cap, from where the ball is released. (In softball, these points would be the belt buckle and hip areas.) This is where he picks up the ball and begins to read its spin. "When you are locked in, the ball seems to be coming at you in slow motion and you see it so clearly." A-Rod also hits five times a day, off a tee, off soft toss, during BP, off a pitching machine, and then another round of soft toss. "I call it taking my vitamins", he says. (Others would call it entraining eye-hand neuronal networks!)
Edgar Martinez also does eye exercises twice a day. He keeps a worn card, slightly larger than an index card, that has a green circle to the left and a red circle to the right. Inside the perimeter of both circles are the words THESE LETTERS, though the R is missing from the green circle and the first T is missing from the red one. When he stares at a spot between the two circles, because of a process optics experts call binocular fusion, a brown circle appears with all of the letters of THESE LETTERS. This exercise strengthens his eye muscles. The card also includes a box of assorted letters in fine print. To improve his depth perception, Martinez will shift his focus from one of those letters to a spot on a distant wall with the same grid of letters, only larger, and then back again. An optometrist has marketed eye speed concentration and 3-D depth perception training systems.
From Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All In Your Head, by Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., Great Ocean Publishers, Arlington, VA 1995:
Lazy 8's is a simple technique that can be used to sharpen up vision, wake up enhanced visual tracking skills, and improve hand/eye coordination. Make a fist, thumb extended upward on an outstretched hand at eye-level, in the center of the body. Hold the head still, but relaxed. As you move the thumb slowly and smoothly though a pattern that looks like an 8 or an infinity sign on its side, focus on the thumbnail and track it by moving only your eyes and not your head. Start in front of your body at elbow length for at least three rotations, and vary the pattern of movement in three dimensions for at least six rotations. Then move your pattern of rotations gradually outwards 90 degrees toward the periphery of your vision, using one hand at a time, until you reach your limits of peripheral vision. This activity is very effective in strengthening the extrinsic eye muscles as well as the intrinsic muscles that alter the lens and pupil, assisting neural network development and myelination for fine motor tracking. You may want to take your glasses off if you wear them, although athletes performing Lazy 8's prior to or in competition should wear whatever contact lenses, glasses or protective eye gear they use in competition.
You may quickly become aware of some mild discomfort or some momentary inability to focus on or even see your thumbnail as your eyes slowly track through one or more locations in your visual field. This is a clear and simple sign of eye muscle weakness at that point in your visual field, and is a clear indicator for further use of this exercise, especially in the affected areas. As with any drill, technique or experience, if you detect a serious problem, you should seek professional help (in this case, an optometrist). Doing Lazy 8's is like doing push-ups for your eyes. Gentle, persistent repetition will strengthen your eye muscles and the skills they enable.
For information on the Eye Speed Concentration Trainer and the 3-D Perception and Tracking Trainer, contact Performance Fundamentals Inc. at 1-800-627-5400 or www.performancefundamentals.com/ .
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