Cricket is one of Sri Lanka’s favourite pastimes. From the streets of Colombo to the fields of Kegalle, the beaches of Hikkaduwa and the hills of Kandy, the sport is enjoyed across the island by young and old alike.
Cricket is also the sport in which Sri Lanka has seen the most success internationally, with the national Men’s team having won both the ODI and T20I World Cups in the past.
A sport that is widely played from amateur to professional levels by both men and women across age groups, things can get pretty competitive on the cricket field.
As we have spoken about in the past on this series, this is where Sports Vision by Vision Care comes in. The state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Colombo is well-equipped to help you become a better cricketer.
Click here to learn more about Sports Vision by Vision Care
In this article, we will focus on how working on your visual skills can improve your performances as a batsman.
Overview of visual skills
At Sports Vision by Vision Care, 10 key visual skills are assessed and worked on. They are as follows:
Visual Clarity – See clear details from any distance
Contrast Sensitivity – Judge differences in contrast
Depth Perception – Judge depth information at different distances
Near-Far Quickness – See details quickly in distance and nearby
Perception Span – Visually acquire critical information in a split second
Reaction Time – Rapid hand reaction to a visual signal
Target Capture – Rapidly shift and recognize peripheral targets
Multiple Object Tracking – Tracking of objects moving in space accurately
Eye-Hand Coordination – Accurate and fast hand reaction to changing targets
Go/No Go – Make accurate decisions to react in pressure situations
For batting, as you would have realized, all of these skills are required. However, in today’s piece we will be focusing on 2 key skills, which you may not even realize are extremely important to developing your batting prowess.
Have you ever had an instance where you’re in a match or in the nets and the coach’s advice to ‘watch the ball’ is running through your head? You keep your eyes trained on the ball as it leaves the bowlers hand, you watch as it comes down the pitch and gets closer to you and then you make your move to play the shot and somehow, you miss the ball! If you’re lucky, the ball just goes safely into the hands of the keeper and not onto the stumps or your body.
If this happens regularly, then you train harder (maybe even get yelled at by the coach – ‘keep your eyes on the ball!’), you get a friend to give you extra throw-downs, you work on your footwork, your head position, the angle your bat comes down from, but still the problem persists. Whether you’re missing the ball completely, nicking it or are just unable to time the ball regularly, chances are, your depth perception and near-far quickness skills could be the areas you need to focus on most.
What is Depth Perception?
Depth perception is the ability to see in 3D (height, width and length) and the ability to judge how close or far an object is. In batting, this is a critical skill to develop and can improve your performance against both pace and spin bowling. The ability to see the ball and judge, as accurately as possible, the distance and trajectory at which it is coming to you, is of utmost importance if you want to firstly, get bat on ball and, more importantly, time the ball.
Click here to find out about the technology used at Sports Vision by Vision Care
What is Near-far quickness?
This is the ability to shift focus between and see details clearly in objects both near and far. Your brain processes information very quickly and wants to give a clear picture of what your eye is focusing on. The ability to do this quickly, has a big impact on your performance. In that sense, near-far quickness supplements the depth perception skill, enabling you as a batsman to track the ball accurately from the time it leaves the bowler’s hand to when it hits your bat.
Your eyes lead the body
There is a saying used at Sports Vision – ‘Your eyes lead the body’ and it is most relevant in this instance. You can imagine that if you always think that an object is closer or further away than it actually is, you would react faster or slower than is required to complete the task successfully, missing the ball completely, mistiming or edging it.
This is a critical and sometimes overlooked area, particularly in the present time, when many people are at home due to the pandemic and may not necessarily be able to train as consistently as they usually do outside. Being indoors a lot and not having much of a range for your eyes to focus can dull our depth perception and near-far quickness skills unless we are able to keep training them – which is something that Sports Vision by Vision Care can help with.
Working on the fitness of your body is essential to reaching your potential as a sportsperson, but ‘visual fitness’ is as important in achieving this. When your ‘Visual Fitness’ is at the highest level it can be, only then can you unlock the true potential of your body.
The technology available at the Sports Vision by Vision Care facility is state of the art, with various stations in place to assess and train your skills. In the case of developing depth perception and near-far quickness, VR technology as well as the Senaptec Sensory Station, Synchrony and Fitlight Trainer can be used to further develop those skills, as well as the other 8 mentioned above.
Senaptec Strobe Eyewear in particular, is an essential tool that’s being used at Sports Vision by Vision Care. It is designed to help you process information quicker to react faster and is scientifically proven to enhance visual memory, dynamic visual acuity.
Research shows that even 5-7 minutes of training with the Strobe Eyewear can help with anticipation, making it an ideal tool to use in. warm-up before practices or a match to sharpen your senses and ‘get your eye in’ to have a real competitive edge over your opponents.
Not much of a batsman? Don’t worry, we have content lined up for the bowlers, wicketkeepers and fielders too coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Want to find out more about Sports Vision? Call/Whatsapp +94 76 697 6278 OR fill in the form below and Sports Vision by Vision Care will contact you!
What is Elevate Your Game with Sports Vision by Vision Care?
Elevate Your Game is a series of articles and videos put together through the collaboration of ThePapare.com and Sports Vision by Vision Care to show you how you can get better at your sport, with a little bit of help from the experts at Sports Vision.
Watch this space for more informative articles on sports such as Gaming, Football, Tennis and Basketball if you want to Elevate Your Game.
