Hand-eye coordination
and reaction-time training usually
go hand in hand when it comes to athletic performance and sports. So I am going to touch on some of the most
popular drills to help you improve both of them simultaneously. The two don’t always go together of
course: Reaction-time training is all
about reducing reaction time and improving quickness, while there are many
relatively slow and deliberately methodical activities that still require tremendous
precision and incredible hand-eye coordination, such as painting, playing a
musical instrument, or brain surgery! In
sports however, hand-eye coordination usually involves speed and timing, like
with ball and racket sports. Catching,
throwing, hitting, passing, shooting and driving all require tremendous amounts
of hand-eye coordination, usually in a reactive, time-critical situation. Depending on the sport, balls can be
traveling at 90 miles per hour or faster, bouncing and spinning along the
way. Perhaps a better way to look at
this is body-eye tracking
coordination, or neuromuscular mapping and reaction. Because in most sports, it’s not just our
hands having to react, but usually our entire body. Our feet must first transport our bodies into
position to make the play with our hands or rackets! The good news is, all this can be trained and
improved with practice and very simple drills, though apparently much of the
foundation is laid when we our kids. So
if you played multiple sports growing up as a kid – good for you! Your neuromuscular connections,
reactive-timing, hand-eye coordination and muscle-memory will always be there
for you, albeit a little rusty if you haven’t been on the court in a while!
Before I
get to these basic drills, you should know that the most fun way to develop
your hand-eye coordination and improve your reaction-time is to just go out and
play the sports you love! You’ll be much
more motivated if you’re having fun and are going all out to make the play or
win the game. The adrenalin, endorphins
and dopamine boost we get only through the passion of being immersed in the
game will greatly improve your performance and fitness too. Some of the best sports to improve hand-eye
coordination and reaction time are certainly not the most physically demanding:
Ping Pong or Table-tennis, and most racket sports require equal parts hand-eye
coordination, reaction, and timing. If
you like the beach, I recommend checking out SmashBall beach tennis – another great option! Peppering or bumping the volleyball is great
too.
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| Above - a reaction training 'ball' |
Some of these drills are so
simple, you can do them most anywhere including your office if you have a cool
boss. Here are some of the most popular,
yet simplest drills – some can be done solo but all are more effective when
done with a partner or trainer:
1. Tennis Ball drills: Everybody owns a tennis ball – the original reaction ball! Dribble the tennis ball; toss it against a
wall and catch it, alternating between hands; juggle the tennis ball; hold a
racket flat and horizontal and bounce the tennis ball off it, alternating
hands. Have a partner or coach throw
balls at you to catch one after another in rapid succession.
2. Reaction Ball drills: Available at all sports’ stores, the Reaction Ball was literally created for
performance drilling (See photo). It is
a ‘ball’ (sort of) with many lumps & bumps on it so that when it is thrown
against the floor, the athlete won’t be able to predict or anticipate what
direction it will rebound, and thus has to solely rely on their reaction to
catch it. It is reactive-training in its
purest form.
3. Card-catching drills: This drill requires a coach or a partner
to take a deck of playing-cards and stand above the athlete on a platform and
toss cards in rapid succession to the athlete.
As the card flutters and spins towards the ground unpredictably the
athlete has to catch it, just as the next card is tossed at them. Plyometric or agility exercises can be done
in between catches to improve fitness and make the drill more athletic.
4. Punching-bag/Speed-bag/Boxing drills: This
is great not only for hand-eye coordination but also for fitness value and
venting stress! Be sure to bob and weave
between punch combos, to make it full-body training. However a lot of times hitting the bag may
not be reactive in nature, unless it is the speed-bag. Remember, ideally we want our hand-eye
coordination drills to be reactive in nature…unpredictable, so that we can’t
anticipate our next move and are forced
to react!
5. Darts/Shuffle Board/Foosball/Billiards
(Sports Bar drills!): While there
may not be much fitness value in these popular sports-bar games, usually
accompanied by a few pitchers of beer, (which slow our reaction time!), there
is absolutely no denying they are great for improving hand-eye coordination.
6. Video Games: I cannot believe I’m including this, as I
never advocate video gaming, especially for our kids, but there is no denying
the hand-eye coordination improvement that video games deliver – all the
research backs this. But again, your
overall fitness will suffer – so limit your virtual athlete and get outside and
unleash your true athlete when possible!
In my opinion, nothing beats
playing your actual sport for specific improvement in that game’s skill-set as
well as maximizing fun-factor, but as a general rule we know cross-training is
essential for all athletes for injury prevention and drills are excellent ways
to isolate and target specific skills.
Plus we don’t always have time or access to play the sports we love and
this is where drills and gym-days come in handy. At some point we all have to put in gym-time,
drills and blander workout days so that we will be in top condition on
game-day!
