SEE! Why seeing it so important in sports, and how you can improve eye focus and vision- Part 1 of 2

In this two part series we’ll offer insights as to why we emphasize

 “SEE” as a foundational part of our programs. 

If you walked into the gym while one of our programs was running, you would likely hear “Catch SEE Shoot” or  “Catch SEE Pass”  “Catch SEE drive” over and over in a variety of ways within a few minutes.  

For many kids there is so much happening in the game of basketball that it is overwhelming. (this can be said for many other sports as well.) The kids speed up and go out of control even in practice scenarios, as coaches and parents are yelling at them to go go go! 

How do they have the time to actually see what is going on and process it? In other words, learn? They don’t……

One of the foundational principles that we believe in at Start Right Basketball is to develop skills that will ignite the joy of basketball, when you can SEE the game and what is happening it gives you a chance to enjoy it! 

Another foundation is to show kids ways to learn so they can apply the principles in other areas of life. 

Back to basketball. Though catch is mentioned in the examples above, the larger emphasis is on SEE. Why? 

Let's look first at shooting.

Here is a hypothetical situation. 

You have Steph Curry on a basketball court, then you blind fold him, walk him around for 10-15 seconds, then give him a ball and ask him to make a shot. Think he will make it?….Not likely. 

He is one of the greatest shooters of all time, but in this case he has no point of reference where to shoot. If he were to make it, it would be pure luck. And making a second would be nearly impossible. 

Now if you had him move around with his eyes closed, and allowed him 1 second to open his eyes, see the hoop and shoot the ball, his shooting percentage would soar compared to the example before. Now if you gave him 2 seconds the percentage would increase again. 

There are many people out there who have as good of shooting form as Steph Curry, but his ability to lock into the target faster than those who are already the elite of the elite is what makes him arguably the greatest shooter of all time. 

In athletics a person's hand eye coordination is foundational in their ability to succeed. Those that can focus on their target the fastest and best….are the best shooters. This is not just anecdotal, research has validated this through modern eye tracking tools and scientists have developed the quiet eye visual training. Check out the video link below for more information.

Quiet eye- what you see before, during and after are critical in sports performance. 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1zuROicUbU)

Basketball, like many sports, is incredibly fast moving, and in order to develop the ability to see the target faster, we need to strengthen that muscle, and get faster. Repetitions and variation are keys, but also habit building. 

Creating the habit to lock into the rim for a fraction of a second when you catch the ball gives the player a much stronger chance of making a shot if they choose to take it. 

At Start Right Basketball we often spend a few mins in our programs just tracking the rim/target. As kids advance we add a ball fake, or a dribble to make it more game-like, but the focus is primarily on SEE the rim/ your target, and holding that focus for 1 full second. 

Even if you are not ready to spend 5 mins a day working on tracking the target alone, challenge yourself next time you're on the court to hold your eyes on the target for a fraction longer, or until the ball hits the rim. (better, until you see that swish!)

In part two we will look at how “SEE” affects passing, dribbling, and just about everything else in the game of basketball.