Posted by: Joe A. () on Thu Oct 10 14:00:31 2002

There is no "key" to vision...you have it, or you don't. You can however, improve what you have by seeing thousands of pitches, and working on a few simple concepts. More on that later.
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> > Vision is actually one of the most important elements of the swing package, yet the least talked about at the lower levels. Think about how much time and work goes into a pitchers motion to conceal the ball as long as possible. How pitchers are trained to deliver every pitch the same way...regardless of break. They do this because a hitter relies on vision as a signal to begin the whole swing process. Without having your eyes report to your body on the probable impact point, you are simply guessing, and more often than not, a victem of swinging strikes. Doc Gooden was the best at concealing ball location. In his early days with the Mets, most guys down at camp did not pick up the ball untill about 30-feet out. Coupled with his stuff, it was really frustrating to be a hitter when Doc was throwing BP.
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> > A few years ago, I had a RH kid who seemed to have all the stuff needed to make an impact in college. What I saw though, was a hitter who guessed more at the location rather than "saw" the location. He claimed he just could not see the fastball when delivered by a RHP who hinged on the right side of the rubber. I asked him to grab a mitt, sit behind the plate, and tell me what he saw. He had no problems at all...picked the ball up, and even read the break. Difference was...he had two eyes on the ball. Turned out his right eye was dominant, and his left eye was weak. His normal stance had his left shoulder pushing his chin right, and he really only got a look at the ball with his left (weak) eye. We fixed him by opening his body up a little...not wide open, but 20 degrees more than his HS coach had told him. This really helped. Turned out to be a good player.
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> > Jeff M...not Henry
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> Jeff,
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> You always hear the phrase "Keep your eye on the ball", however, I believe vision is overrated as a developable skill. Acquiring corrective lenses for any visual defecit is, for the most part, all that is practical.
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> One simply does not have enough time to track and focus on a 90mph pitch which travels for 0.5 sec, let alone study the trajectory and compute final coordinates.
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> This is all reaction - basic hand-eye coordination controlled primarily by peripheral vision. Picking the ball up from the pitcher is only useful if pitch selection is revealed in the pitcher's grip/delivery pattern. Aside from this, however, picking the ball up from the glove is highly overrated, because this information is not particularly useful during flight. If it were useful, then one would be able to predict with reasonable accuracy final pitch location/speed based on the still photo of a ball being released by the pitcher. Focusing heavily on the ball will actually impair performance, because your eyes are incapable of adjusting focus at such a high speed, and primary vision responds slower than peripheral vision.
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> The fact is, for hitters who incorporate optimal swing mechanics, batspeed is maximized. If batspeed is maximized, it is not necessary to swing, or for that matter, pick the ball up (in flight), until much later. The skill of the best hitters can be primarily attributed to their batspeed, which enables them to initiate a swing when final ball location is much more predictable - just before it reaches the plate.
>
> Regards,
> Mike.


Mike,

Let me correct you on a couple of points. A batter does not have to see a 90 mph ball coming across his line of sight. The ball is coming toward the batter. The ball starts to move "across" the line of site from about 20 or 22 feet out. The batter can not track the ball from about 20-22 feet out as it starts to move across his line of vision.

Think of it like a car coming towards you. You can see it clearly as it is moving twoard you but as it gets closer to you and starts to pass you it becomes a blurr. No, your eyes cannot follow a fast moving ball laterally, but it can when its coming toward you.

Your right, you cannot improve your basic vision, meaning your ability to see. But, you can improve your ability to see what's there and make a decision on what you see.

A ball moving at 90 mph travels 52.5 feet in .3977 sec.

By the way, its about time the one subject, vision, that is more important then mechanics came up. I can't wait to see of all the the "experts" who never mentioned it before leap in with all their expertise.

Joe A