
How the 'Quiet Eye' Technique Makes Athletes More Coordinated - Amorymeltzer
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/what-athletes-see/416388/?single_page=true
======
andersonvieira
The article talks about the benefits of the 'quiet eye' technique and says
that it is a teachable skill, but I couldn't find much information on how to
practice it in the references.

While looking for more information, I found these blog posts[1][2][3] on how
to apply the technique to golf playing. Perhaps some of the instructions can
be adapted to other activities as well.

[1] [http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-a-powerful-
prot...](http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-a-powerful-protocol/)

[2] [http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-
putting/](http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-putting/)

[3] [http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-success-
stats/](http://www.caddypsych.com/quiet-eye-training-success-stats/)

~~~
Aco-
As an avid golfer may I say that this was exactly what I was looking for when
coming to the comments. Thanks for posting these resources.

~~~
mhb
Also see The Inner Game of Golf: [http://theinnergame.com/products/books/the-
inner-game-of-ten...](http://theinnergame.com/products/books/the-inner-game-
of-tennis/)

------
bmelton
I'm a little shocked that this is considered newsworthy in athletics, but
that's more than offset by its potential impacts in other physical, but non-
athletic skillsets like surgery.

Every kid who's ever done little league knows that the big secret to baseball
is actually heeding the advice of keeping your eye on the ball. Every football
game we watch reinforces this -- the wide receivers who prematurely turn to
look upfield before catching the ball seem to drop the ball an inordinately
large amount, compared to those who don't. Anquan Boldin, when asked if the
cold weather made it harder to catch footballs responded (in the suave, Lando
Calrissian way that he speaks) "You catch the ball with your eyes."

But, like fine motor control, the key is in doing this consistently. It's easy
to know that you need to keep your eyes on the ball, but it's hard not to take
that for granted. When I was playing billiards competitively, it was easy to
realize that making a good shot meant doing all the little things right -- get
in a comfortable stance, keep your elbow still, as if hanging from a wire
attached to the ceiling, etc., etc., but however easy it was to know to do all
those things, in the heat of the moment, it was hard to relax enough to do
them without overthinking, becoming tense, or screwing it up in any of a
hundred other ways.

~~~
ZenoArrow
> "I'm a little shocked that this is considered newsworthy in athletics"

Something that is common sense isn't automatically accepted as scientifically
significant.

~~~
bmelton
Fair, and true. Also, on second reading, I think "shocked" far over-states my
emotions on the matter. Bewildered is perhaps more appropriate.

I think the discord comes from the disconnect that the common sense had not
already been scientifically validated. "Eye on the ball" is so pervasive at
every level of sports, and with the funding, I perhaps (naively) assumed that
sports science was more advanced than it was, leading me to the (incorrect)
assumption that this was scientific canon masquerading as common sense, and
not the other way around.

~~~
Jtsummers
In trying to find more, a researcher on the topic (Dr. Joan Vickers) has a
book from 2007 on the topic. The research has been around for a while, these
are just newer results, it seems.

[http://www.amazon.com/Perception-Cognition-Decision-
Training...](http://www.amazon.com/Perception-Cognition-Decision-Training-
Quiet/dp/0736042563)

------
bitshaker
Some friends of mine teach this for target shooting with pistols.

They can teach anyone how to shoot amazingly accurately in about 15 minutes.
Even if they haven't shot a gun before.

They call it the cybernetic loop.

[http://insightfirearmstraining.com](http://insightfirearmstraining.com)

------
msluyter
I was unaware of this concept, but I think I've run across it independently in
the context of music. I play the banjo and have noticed that if I'm trying to
make a large left hand jump, I tend to do better if I focus on the fret I'm
jumping to prior to moving my hand. I would imagine that this also applies to
most stringed instruments, the piano, etc...

~~~
atom-morgan
Similarly on a motorcycle you're frequently told simply to look where you want
to go as you enter a turn. That alone makes your hands do what they need to
do.

~~~
ionforce
My unscientific take on this is it's about micro adjustments and just in time
feedback. By focusing on where you ARE going, you will make that happen
subconsciously through your motor skills. If you are going the wrong way (in
micro amounts), you will self-correct.

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munchbunny
This is interesting to me as a juggler because almost everything you do in
juggling involves maintaining your spatial awareness of multiple objects even
though you are only able to focus on one at a time.

Much of understanding a juggling pattern is developing the ability to see
where a ball will go in a split second. By the time you actually catch that
ball, you probably did several other things in the meantime, but the right
time to "look" is anywhere from a tenth to a half second before you actually
catch.

When you start out, you feel the compulsion to follow each ball until you
catch it. When you get better, you start seeing the ball at its peak and
anticipating its landing.

Practice enough and you start tracking 5 balls instead of 3, or tracking and
anticipating the spins on clubs. There's obviously a ton of muscle memory
involved, but maintaining enough focus to keep track of everything with well
timed, short glances is a developed skill.

Makes me wonder about how to do this intentionally. I don't think I've ever
been able to do this consistently.

------
rickdale
Theres a great mental toughness book/concept called Mindset[1], and the
concepts are definitely all over the sports world. The book is considered by
some to be the Inner Game Of Tennis[2] of today. But one of the concepts in
Mindset that they say even the top guys can mess up is that if you are in a
negative state of mind, you must give yourself a trigger word, or some sort of
positivity before restarting your concentration. In other words, if you are
telling yourself, "I am playing like crap. Wah Wah.. Ok, now concentrate!" You
are likely to fail. However, if you are able to stop yourself, or correct
yourself and say, "run run run." Then start concentrating, you are more likely
to succeed. In relation to the article, quiet eyes are only as good as the
mindset behind them. (I hope that made some sort of sense). But it basically
means you need to have the right mindset before you start concentrating.

The run run run is from an example in the book. I noticed when the Detroit Red
Wings were on a losing skid this year players had "skate skate skate" written
on the tape of their stick. Also, Roberta Vinci quoted Mindset after taking
down Serena Williams at the US Open. And Roger Federer has talked about using
a lot of tactics in Mindset.

[1].[http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Mental-Guide-Jackie-
Reardon/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Mental-Guide-Jackie-
Reardon/dp/9043912271/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448394641&sr=1-1&keywords=Mindset+tennis)

[2][http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Tennis-Classic-
Performance/...](http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Tennis-Classic-
Performance/dp/0679778314/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448394563&sr=1-1&keywords=the+innergame+of+tennis)

~~~
leoc
Obligatory Inner Game of Tennis TV feature:
[https://youtu.be/ieb1lmm9xHk](https://youtu.be/ieb1lmm9xHk)

and specifically related to keeping the eyes on the ball:
[https://youtu.be/ieb1lmm9xHk?t=255](https://youtu.be/ieb1lmm9xHk?t=255)

------
bitwize
In elementary school I had to take remedial gym. Yes, remedial freakin' gym, I
had so many left feet. When practicing basketball techniques I kept missing
the basket until the teacher told me to keep my eye on the rim of the basket
and get the ball just behind that forward rim.

It started going in time after time. Not every time -- remedial gym kid! --
but enough times to where I felt I could do it.

~~~
blacksmith_tb
It's interesting to me that techniques like this seem to be more about
visualization than a kind of stillness, which the article is discussing. I
certainly use a technique like that when climbing - I try to imagine the hold
I am trying to catch is actually farther away than it actually is (partly
since overshooting isn't as much of a problem as undershooting), which tends
to help with getting there.

~~~
Jtsummers
Would that be something like punching _through_ a target? If you're aiming for
_just_ the hold, you risk not putting enough power or movement behind your
effort. If you're aiming for after it (or after a hole in golf, through the
person in boxing, etc.) then you will achieve your actual goal.

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
That's exactly it. The movement and power you develop is different when you're
trying to puncture thru the target rather than just hit it. You'll recruit
different muscles, etc

~~~
Jtsummers
I've taken up BJJ this year, and took some boxing lessons (no time to actually
train in it yet). That was something emphasized in boxing, and only rarely in
the BJJ classes. But when I started applying that concept to BJJ (particularly
with sweeps and a couple other things), I improved _significantly_ in just a
couple weeks.

A bit of this "quiet eye" stuff as well. I think, along with the benefits of
properly seeing and visualizing to improve coordination, it also encourages a
deliberateness of motion. Similar to "punching through", when you move
deliberately and without hesitation you get a more fluid and powerful
movement.

------
dmfdmf
I wonder if there is a conceptual equivalent of this technique. Instead of
"keep your eye on the ball" prior to some complex physical action you'd use
"keep your eye on the principle" prior to some complex mental action (i.e.
thinking)

~~~
nekopa
Interesting. I use something similar when I am training people. When I want
the group to discuss something, I usually leave a relevant image up on the
projector. When I do this, I find people stay on topic a lot more and the
discussion is more fruitful.

On a side note, images work better than having text up. Something about the
image seems to work without distracting them from their discussion

------
gohrt
Older writeup:

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/keeping-your-eye-
on...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/keeping-your-eye-on-the-ball/)

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22564009](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22564009)
"Quiet eye training expedites motor learning and aids performance under
heightened anxiety: the roles of response programming and external attention."

------
natdempk
Has there been any research of these techniques applied to video games? It
would be interesting to know if there is a measurable benefit to say staring
at the opposing character in a fighting game instead of the neutral space.
Likewise for things like making tough shots in first person shooters or
precise jumps in platformers.

~~~
ThrustVectoring
Anecdotal personal experience: I noticed getting significantly better at One
Finger Death Punch after reading "The Inner Game of Tennis".

~~~
natdempk
I've read The Inner Game of Tennis as well and I agree its helped me with an
improvement mindset with video games. However I haven't seen much academic
research around these topics and I'm curious if its out there.

------
jegutman
Reminds me of this podcast (specifically on free throws) I ran across
recently:

[https://gimletmedia.com/episode/2-free-
throws-2/](https://gimletmedia.com/episode/2-free-throws-2/)

A different style of talking about it of course.

------
kazinator
[2005]:
[http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/21/spark.quiet.eye/index...](http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/03/21/spark.quiet.eye/index.html?iref=mpstoryview)

------
jawarner
The "quiet eye" reminds me of "quieting the mind" in meditation.

An athlete will perform better in times of pressure if they can focus on the
task and not get distracted mentally.

And it's visible in the eyes when athletes have the calm, quiet look of
focused attention.

------
ThrustVectoring
Having read "The Inner Game of Tennis", this just seems like the obvious thing
to do.

------
joyeuse6701
There is quite a bit of relevant discussion in Kendo and Kenjutsu when it
comes to studying your opponent and adjusting your gaze to encompass the
entire opponent as opposed to any single feature. I wonder if it is connected.

------
alfalfasprout
Also super important in tennis. Your ability to direct and control the ball
consistently dramatically changes if you always keep your eye on the ball. Of
course, it's easier said than done to do this consistently.

------
giardini
How does this differ from "Keep your eyes on the ball!" spoken more than 50
years ago by my dad (and probably 100 years ago by his father?)

~~~
Jtsummers
It doesn't. In this and related articles, this is research that quantifies the
difference in performance when the adage is emphasized versus an emphasis on
form.

------
uremog
It's like a finger pointing at the moon.

~~~
bloodorange
Glad to see Master Lee is not forgotten!

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andyl
I believe it makes a difference in coding as well.

~~~
richard_mcp
Can you expand on that? I'm curious how someone would use this technique to
improve their coding.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
My version is a bit different: It really helps to know my editor well enough
that I just look at a spot on the screen and the cursor goes there (without
conscious thought).

That's probably not quite the same thing as the article is talking about,
though...

~~~
jhayward
I can do this in verb-noun structure of VI/VIM, but for some reason the
somewhat richer but less structured Emacs movements don't flow as easily. I've
been using either for decades.

