hand-eye essentials

Hockey requires finely honed visual acuity and with it, effective hand-eye coordination (HEC). This neurological ability allows the body's visual system to guide hand movements and entrench kinematic patterns. This complex interaction involves several physiological components, including sensory perception, cognitive processing, and motor output.

Sensory Input

The eyes receive visual stimuli, converting light into electrical signals through photoreceptors in the retina. This information is transmitted to the visual cortex via the optic nerve (Kandel et al., 2013).

The eyes use a combination of eye movements ( all of which are trainable ) to track a moving ball in sports, including:

Saccadic eye movements

Saccades are a result of a complex interplay of muscles and neural signals. Used for rapid scanning. Athletes move their eyes ahead of a target to anticipate its location. For example, in hockey, players use predictive saccades to anticipate the ball's bounce and trajectory and where it will impact the stick.

Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs)

Used to track slowly moving objects - in hockey ( compared to ball speed ) this is usually player motion.SPEMs are conjugate eye movements that are initiated from the Frontal Eye Fields in the brain. It's important to train both SPEMs and saccades to have an efficient visual system.Trained SPEMs allow athletes to continuously follow the ball, in ever-changing match conditions, which can give them an advantage over their opponents.

Vestibulo-ocular movements

These coordinate the eyes with head motion to assist with balance; crucial when in motion such as ball carrying.Often referred to as the vestibulo–ocular reflex it is an involuntary reflex that stabilizes the visual field and retinal image during head motion by producing eye movements in a counter direction. The foundation of scanning in hockey.

Vergence eye movements

Allow the eyes to focus on objects at different distances. This needs to be practised, particularly given the predominant focal length in modern life is as short as the distance from your face to your phone. Your eyes need flexibility and mobility to react to situations quickly without getting tired. Eye yoga is the easiest way to give your eyes a stretch. This exercise involves changing your focus by concentrating your eyes on an object about arm’s length away and then shifting your focus to something far away for the same amount of time. This exercise can help improve your eye flexibility and mobility.

Athletes use a gaze strategy called combined eye-head tracking (CEHT) to track moving objects. CEHT involves adjusting both smooth pursuit and VOR signals.

Cognitive Processing

Once in the visual cortex the visual sensory data is processed by the brain enabling it to, interpret and trigger resultant action from the location, speed, and trajectory of objects. This stage engages multiple brain regions, including the parietal lobe, which is crucial for spatial perception and the planning of movement (Henriques et al., 2005).

Motor Output

The processed information is then sent to the motor cortex, which coordinates the necessary movement of the hands to match the visual target. This involves activating a series of muscles through the motor neurons that control limb movement (Sweeney et al., 2003).

Overall, effective hand-eye coordination is crucial for sports like hockey, where players need to rapidly track a fast-moving ball ( and players) and respond with precise hand - body movements.

Specialized Training for Hockey Players

Training designed to improve hand-eye coordination can be beneficial for hockey players, as it allows them to react quickly and accurately during gameplay. Research indicates that specific training methods can enhance this skill.

Evidence-Based Training Strategies

Vision Training

Vision training focuses on enhancing visual skills, including depth perception, tracking, and reaction times. According to a study by Kearney et al. (2018), specialized visual tasks such as tracking moving objects and focusing on varying distances can lead to significant improvements in eye-hand coordination for athletes.

I have recommended this platform before and do so again as it is engaging and effective ( and no no click through $ to us ). It’s an excellent place to start and helps bind the program of on-turf activities into a consistent tranche of planned, progressively loaded visual acuity work. You can use the online platform anytime and anwyhere

Implementation

Exercises such as catching a ball while standing on a stability board or Bosu ball, focusing on visual targets while moving is fun and challenging.

Do these with both feet planted then standing on one leg only. Throw the ball below your hip line and throw and catch it. Mix and match his with some Bosu strength work such as Med Ball squats.

Similarly you can do a simple one legged overhead press on the Bosu with a Kettlebell in one hand and throwing and catching a tennis ball vertically with the other.

Ballistic Training

This method involves practicing movements that mimic game scenarios. A study by Maffiuletti et al. (2016) indicated that ballistic training not only enhances motor performance but also fine-tunes the neuromuscular responses necessary for coordinated movements.Context and gradated challenges can be pre-programmed to optimise engagement and improvement.

Practical examples

Exercises involving hitting a ball against a wall with a hockey stick or performing quick succession passes with a partner can improve hand speed and coordination; particulalry if y have multiple players mixed with differing angles to track and receive. Start with a golf ball working hard to ensure you address front and reverse stick receives and incorporate overheads before moving to a hockey ball and repeating.

Utilizing equipment, such as reaction balls and vision-enhancing goggles, can create unpredictable situations that require quick hand-eye coordination. Research by Lee et al. (2021) found that using reaction balls significantly improves coordination and reaction times in team sports.

Rebound nets and walls are invaluable for tracking and acting on angled and bouncing motions.

Incorporate drills with reaction balls that bounce unpredictably, requiring players to react quickly with their hands while tracking the ball visually. These should be part of warm up and repeated in self-training sessions.

Cognitive Training

Cognitive training exercises enhance the decision-making and processing speed needed for quick, coordinated movements. Studies show that athletes can improve their HEC through exercises aimed at enhancing cognitive function (Voss & Klusowski, 2019).

Incorporate skick-based drills that require players to make split-second decisions whilst multi-tasking. A simple starter is having a designated player engaged in a small-sided game such as 4 vs 2 who is passing around the 2 interceptors to respond to a whistle at which point they pick up one of a number of balls spread outside the 4 vs 2 perimeter and pick one of them up with the stick from a running start morphing into a 3D carry for 5 meters before dropping the ball dead and throwing an overhead to a designated target area. Each of these perimeter balls carry with them a different hand eye task for example, the 2nd mult-tasker ball can be a stick pick up and run with ball on stick action whilst clearing mini hurdles then lifting the ball into a bin.

There is ample creative opportunity for coaches to mix and match fine motor skill challenges with physical small-sides game skill basics.

Incorporating specialized training that targets the physiological mechanisms underlying hand-eye coordination can lead to significant performance improvements in hockey players. By utilizing vision training, ballistic training, drills with specialized equipment, and cognitive exercises, players can enhance their coordination, ultimately contributing to better performance on the turf and court.

Bibliography

Henriques, D. Y., et al. (2005). The role of the parietal cortex in sensorimotor integration and hand-eye coordination. Nature Reviews Neuroscience , 6(6), 458-465.

Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M. (2013). Principles of Neural Science (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Kearney, P. J., et al. (2018). Visual training improves hand-eye coordination in athletes. Journal of Sports Sciences , 36(4), 1-9.

Lee, B. C., et al. (2021). The effect of reaction balls on hand-eye coordination in athletes. Journal of Sports Medicine , 24(3), 250-257.

Maffiuletti, N. A., et al. (2016). Effects of ballistic training on performance and muscle activation in athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research , 30(1), 195-205.

Sweeney, J. A., et al. (2003). The role of the motor cortex in movement planning and hand-eye coordination. Nature Neuroscience , 6(12), 1309-1314. ### Physiological Mechanism of Hand-Eye Coordination