What they found was that the athletes did take their eyes off the ball. What we found is indeed the batsmen do a much more sensible thing. Land says that watching the pitch gives them enough information to guide them to where the ball is expected to bounce. Once the ball bounces, he says, its trajectory is much less ambiguous. Baseball, however, is another matter.
Baseball is much worse.
Most of the player's decision is made early on, and the player doesn't have time to change direction once it's made. Since this kind of eye movement happens unconsciously, it can't be taught per se, but Land suspects that simply knowing what goes on mechanistically might help. It is intriguing, but with regard to the extent to which it will help humanity, I am very humble about that. All rights reserved. Email This to a Friend.