The main sensory system for taking in information from the outside world is the visual system, be it in sport or overall in life!

As I have already written about, the three main steps that happen while the brain is processing visual input are:

1. Receiving visual input – every time when the information comes in through our eyes (incoming ball, moving athlete, or similar)
2. Interpret input – after receiving a visual input, our brain then needs to make a fast decision what to do about it.
3. Create output – for example, making a movement.

The faster you see something, the faster you can respond to it!
The more you work on one of the most significant segments of input quality – visual input, the faster you will be to respond to it!

When it comes to visual system, one of the most common and simple problems for many athletes is the eye convergence!
I am getting more and more surprised with the fact how many handball goalkeepers and athletes overall are not able to voluntarily cross their eyes!
Which is consequently linked to the question I get all the time: “Why this is important at all?”

Well, it is important because that is one of the first steps which can show us that our athlete is struggling with eye convergence, which further on means that the athlete can struggle with depth perception, reaction, timing, catching, throwing and with so many other important things in athletic performance (but also overall in life).

Remember – the faster you see something – the faster you will respond to it!
If you are working on speed in your athletic performance, this is probably the first thing that you have to consider in your training!

Once again, how often do you work on input quality?