Fielding is an essential skill that is becoming more and more influential as a selection criterion. This is because, in a cricket team, whether you’re a bowler or batsman, you have to do your part in the field.
A good fielder needs to be agile, have great anticipation, and keep practicing skills consistently, it’s not something you can slack off on, because it could cost you and your team dearly. Part of developing your skills on the field can be done through training your visual and cognitive skills.
This is an aspect many athletes fail to realize is important. The equation is simple really, if you can see better, you can field better. This is why Sports Vision by Vision Care could be a game changer for cricketers at any level and help you stand out in this key facet of the game.
Read: How can you improve your Batting with Vision Care?
Sports Vision is the science of improving athletic performance through the enhancement of visual skills. It is composed of various techniques and training methods that strengthen the connection between the brain and the eyes, something experts call ‘visual processing’.
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!
Let’s first look at how non-wicket keepers can improve their fielding with Sports Vision
- Visual Clarity
Fielding is all about spotting the ball early so that you have enough time to position yourself. That split second advantage can make the difference between being a good fielder and a great fielder.
In tough fielding positions like the covers or slip, you only get a fraction of a second to spot the ball and react. Though other physical attributes play a part, spotting the ball early, clearly gives a fielder an advantage.
In simple terms, if you see the ball early, you start reacting to it early, you get closer to the ball early and then, what do you know, you have just enough time to make that diving catch look easy.
- Contrast Sensitivity
Okay, so you saw the ball early, what next? How are you going to keep sight of the ball when it’s moving at a high-speed, taking into account the various elements like light in the environment?
The human brain tracks a moving object with reference to the contrast between the object and its background. This is why the batsmen have a sight-screen behind the bowler’s arm in a contrasting colour to the ball used in a game.
Whether you are playing under lights, in gloomy conditions or in the bright sunlight, improving this skill will ensure that you can keep your eye on the ball without losing it in the background.
- Depth Perception
This human ability is what makes it possible for you to catch any moving object. This is a skill almost like a timer in your head, which tells you when to stick your hand out.
Improving this skill is vital for fielders as it enables them to gauge at what distance the ball is at when it is traveling towards them and helps when judging a catch or making any effort to stop the ball in the field.
Read: How can improving visual skills impact your bowling?
- Eye-hand Coordination
This is the most important component in any sport. Every athlete needs to have proper coordination between the limbs and the brain.
The sensory awareness of the brain in this case is the vision. That is why it is called Eye-hand coordination. So, by training your brain to act upon visual inputs one can improve one’s eye-hand coordination by massive strides.
Well, how do these things work for a wicket keeper, a more specialized position? Let’s take a look.
The first three skills have the same effect on a wicket keeper too. But the third and the fourth skills mentioned go a little deeper in importance to the person behind the stumps.
Depth Perception:
Similar to the close-in fielders, the wicketkeeper has to act quickly when faced with the ball coming towards him. Along with this he also has to judge the length of the ball and the bounce and adjust accordingly. Developing this skill would also enable him to assess the speed at which the ball is traveling.
Read: A look at the training and technology at Sports Vision by Vision Care
Eye-hand Coordination:
Most of the time a fielder will first spot the ball and then react to it. For a wicketkeeper, things can be slightly different.
A wicketkeeper’s hands need to move with the ball. Just as his eyes pick up the sight of the ball, his hands and body need to follow. This requires great coordination between you’re your body and your brain.
These are just a few visual skills that you can work on at Sports Vision by Vision Care to improve your fielding.
Some other skills that could help are,
- Reaction Time – how quickly and efficiently you react to a visual stimulus.
- Target Capture – your ability to lock your focus on a moving target.
- Near-far quickness – how soon your eyes can adjust to seeing things close to you and far from you. This could come in handy when trying for a run-out as you need to target the stumps as soon as you collect the ball.
- Go/No Go – the ability to make decisions in pressure situations. The moment you decide whether to run in for a catch or not, which end to throw the ball to, whether to dive or not – your success could depend on this skill.
You can polish up the above-mentioned skills and many others using the advanced technology available at Vision Care’s state of the art facility in Colombo. Using equipment like the strobe eyewear can be extremely beneficial even as a warm-up technique. 
Strobe Eyewear are goggles with lenses that flicker between clear and opaque, removing visual information and making it harder to see. This in turn forces the eyes, brain and body to process visual information more efficiently. It is used to improve eye-hand coordination, increase visual memory, improve neuro stability and for concussion prevention.
Apart from the strobe eyewear, the sensory station and VR technology available at Sports Vision by Vision Care can help you work on your visual skills as you look to improve on your fielding.
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.
