ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) How many times have you heard some announcer say that the best QBs see the entire field? The ones who don't see the entire field wind up trying to read defenses based on the limited keys available in the portion of the field that they actually CAN see. If your QB can't see the entire field, you get wide open WRs waving their hands while the QB throws the ball somewhere else because he just didn't see the open man. We can do better through science. I have previously posted info about how certain visual training exercises can improve the ability of athletes to track the motion of balls in flight better (and perhaps thicken the superior temporal sulcus of players like McKelvin in the process). Now that McKelvin is playing better, let's SEE (I crack myself up) if current cognitive neuroscience research offers any hope for making EJ able to see the entire field. Then he can more consistently target his throws at the guy who is actually most open. Turns out, there's this guy at UC Riverside who recently conducted a successful experiment to sharpen the vision of the school's baseball players: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-baseball-brain-20140214,0,1140628.story#axzz2uDmYV1OS Nineteen of the players took part in an experiment aimed at sharpening the way their visual cortex processes stimuli, improving their visual acuity by an average of 31%, according to the study. * * * * * * What we think we're doing is improving the brain's ability to read out information from the eyes, Seitz said. * * * * * * . . . the eye chart results for those who underwent the training were at times astonishing; Seitz had to move some of the players 40 feet away from a standard eye chart, and they read right down to the bottom line. Seven of the players scored 20/7.5, meaning they could read from 20 feet what mere mortals would be able to read from 7.5 feet or closer. Although not mentioned in the LA Times article, if you read the peer-reviewed research report published in Current Biology, you find this: http://download.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/PIIS0960982214000050.pdf?intermediate=true Notably, players reported seeing the ball much better, greater peripheral vision, easy to see further, able to distinguish lower contrasting things, eyes feel stronger, they don't get tired as much, and so on. How can improving our QB's peripheral vision be a bad thing? From what I read, the players already get their playbook on a tablet. I also keep reading how EJ is driven to succeed in this league, and willing to put in a lot of effort to make that happen. Why can't our offensive coordinator (who just happens to have a degree in neurobiology) put the vision training app on EJ's tablet? What could it hurt? Mr. Hackett, in the unlikely event that you or one of your assistants reads this Bills message board for grins in the off-season, check this out: http://www.ultimeyesvision.com Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field? Edited February 24, 2014 by ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimer1960 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 How many times have you heard some announcer say that the best QBs see the entire field? The ones who don't see the entire field wind up trying to read defenses based on the limited keys available in the portion of the field that they actually CAN see. If your QB can't see the entire field, you get wide open WRs waving their hands while the QB throws the ball somewhere else because he just didn't see the open man. We can do better through science. I have previously posted info about how certain visual training exercises can improve the ability of athletes to track the motion of balls in flight better (and perhaps thicken the superior temporal sulcus of players like McKelvin in the process). Now that McKelvin is playing better, let's SEE (I crack myself up) if current cognitive neuroscience research offers any hope for making EJ able to see the entire field. Then he can more consistently target his throws at the guy who is actually most open. Turns out, there's this guy at UC Riverside who recently conducted a successful experiment to sharpen the vision of the school's baseball players: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-baseball-brain-20140214,0,1140628.story#axzz2uDmYV1OS Although not mentioned in the LA Times article, if you read the peer-reviewed research report published in Current Biology, you find this: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(14)00005-0 How can improving our QB's peripheral vision be a bad thing? From what I read, the players already get their playbook on a tablet. I also keep reading how EJ is driven to succeed in this league, and willing to put in a lot of effort to make that happen. Why can't our offensive coordinator (who just happens to have a degree in neurobiology) put the vision training app on EJ's tablet? What could it hurt? Mr. Hackett, in the unlikely event that you or one of your assistants reads this Bills message board for grins in the off-season, check this out: http://www.ultimeyesvision.com Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field? Interesting article. Why did you feel the need to finish the post with the snarky comment "Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Interesting article. Why did you feel the need to finish the post with the snarky comment "Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field?" Per the last link in the OP, the app actually costs $5.99 - - I see no evidence that we are now ahead of the curve and would like to see us get there. Maybe if I bought and used the app my vision would improve enough to see such evidence, but I don't expect miracles for less than $6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealityCheck Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Couldn't EJ just open both eyes at the same time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Bad knees, and now he can't see the field either? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 The scary thing is that this science is still very much in its infancy, but growing at an astounding rate. Through neuroscience we will be able to do some amazing things in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maury Ballstein Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Can't we just buy him a few bags of carrots ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Can't we just buy him a few bags of carrots ? I'm not sure beating him with bags of carrots is going to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I'm not sure beating him with bags of carrots is going to help. I think hitting him with bags of carrots would do wonders for us all. Oh....we're trying to help HIM? Never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafter Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 The problem is, 'seeing the entire field' has nothing to do with his ability to read letters off a chart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackInDaDay Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 he came, he saw, he checked down. additions to staff will help him find open men downfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I'm not sure beating him with bags of carrots is going to help. Maybe if they were those big 50lb bags of carrots restuarants get. And it was defensive linemen swinging them as the pocket collapses. While he has three open recievers down field. That might help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Its like anything else...repeated practice of anything will improve the motor neuron firing related to that activity, as long as the activities are similar enough to be of use. How good you will become will be determined in large part by your genetics, ie, you cannot improve more than what your genetics will allow, but you can help to maximize your potential... Visualization drills would also likely help tremendously as the mind cannot distinguish between that which is imagined and that which is actually done. Studies have shown that people who mentally practiced making free throws or other sports related activities for a period of time did just as well as those who actually practiced doing the activity for the same amount of time. The same reason why sometimes dreams are so vivid that you swear they were real and you even start questioning if what your dreamt actually happened...the brain cannot distinguish between the two. Its why visualization and meditation are considered very important by many athletes...they visualize themselves in situations where they make game winning shots or baskets or touchdown catches, etc and then when it comes time for that to happen in the game, its like their body already knows what to do because its been there before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Bad knees, and now he can't see the field either? Sounds like Joe Namath... In 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsgpr88 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 new level of fandom on this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Per the last link in the OP, the app actually costs $5.99 - - I see no evidence that we are now ahead of the curve and would like to see us get there. Maybe if I bought and used the app my vision would improve enough to see such evidence, but I don't expect miracles for less than $6. Why do you think the "best" QB's in the league haven't used this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) Why do you think the "best" QB's in the league haven't used this? I realize it may just be sales puffery by the company trying to sell the app, but from the FAQ at their website: http://www.ultimeyesvision.com/faq.php Some of the benefits to vision that ULTIMEYES delivers are especially beneficial for athletes or anyone required to perform optimally in challenging dynamic environments. Distinguishing objects against confusing backgrounds such as a ball traveling in front of a crowd in and out of light, quick identification of threats in the periphery, and responding quickly and correctly to these kinds of circumstances are just a few of the visual benefits that athletes can benefit from. ULTIMEYES is currently in use by athletes at all levels, including collegiate to professional, in both team sports like baseball and football, and individual sports like tennis and motorsports. Admittedly, those claims are pretty vague. But why do you think that an NFL team would publicize its use of the app, or something like it, IF the team believed that using vision training exercises gave it a competitive advantage? Edited February 25, 2014 by ICanSleepWhenI'mDead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brand J Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Quick, somebody tweet this to EJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I'm no expert... but I don't think he has a problem seeing the field... I think he has a problem trusting a receiver to get open when he's not *currently* open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 How many times have you heard some announcer say that the best QBs see the entire field? The ones who don't see the entire field wind up trying to read defenses based on the limited keys available in the portion of the field that they actually CAN see. If your QB can't see the entire field, you get wide open WRs waving their hands while the QB throws the ball somewhere else because he just didn't see the open man. We can do better through science. I have previously posted info about how certain visual training exercises can improve the ability of athletes to track the motion of balls in flight better (and perhaps thicken the superior temporal sulcus of players like McKelvin in the process). Now that McKelvin is playing better, let's SEE (I crack myself up) if current cognitive neuroscience research offers any hope for making EJ able to see the entire field. Then he can more consistently target his throws at the guy who is actually most open. Turns out, there's this guy at UC Riverside who recently conducted a successful experiment to sharpen the vision of the school's baseball players: http://www.latimes.c...y#axzz2uDmYV1OS Although not mentioned in the LA Times article, if you read the peer-reviewed research report published in Current Biology, you find this: http://download.cell...termediate=true How can improving our QB's peripheral vision be a bad thing? From what I read, the players already get their playbook on a tablet. I also keep reading how EJ is driven to succeed in this league, and willing to put in a lot of effort to make that happen. Why can't our offensive coordinator (who just happens to have a degree in neurobiology) put the vision training app on EJ's tablet? What could it hurt? Mr. Hackett, in the unlikely event that you or one of your assistants reads this Bills message board for grins in the off-season, check this out: http://www.ultimeyesvision.com Could we please get ahead of the curve for once and spend $6.00 to give our young QB some help seeing the entire field? Interesting post. You should perhaps take your research and mail it to Hackett. Although I would omit the last part about the $6.00. I'm no expert... but I don't think he has a problem seeing the field... I think he has a problem trusting a receiver to get open when he's not *currently* open. I think so as well. He needs to trust the receivers and let them do their job. Put the ball in the right spot. Don't worry if it gets intercepted. If it does, that's on the WR. Put the ball where it should be, and more times than not the WR will be there. Its like anything else...repeated practice of anything will improve the motor neuron firing related to that activity, as long as the activities are similar enough to be of use. How good you will become will be determined in large part by your genetics, ie, you cannot improve more than what your genetics will allow, but you can help to maximize your potential... Visualization drills would also likely help tremendously as the mind cannot distinguish between that which is imagined and that which is actually done. Studies have shown that people who mentally practiced making free throws or other sports related activities for a period of time did just as well as those who actually practiced doing the activity for the same amount of time. The same reason why sometimes dreams are so vivid that you swear they were real and you even start questioning if what your dreamt actually happened...the brain cannot distinguish between the two. Its why visualization and meditation are considered very important by many athletes...they visualize themselves in situations where they make game winning shots or baskets or touchdown catches, etc and then when it comes time for that to happen in the game, its like their body already knows what to do because its been there before... Very interesting. Not sure if teams use this, but they should all definitely hire a phychologist trained in cognitive thinking or other cognitive specialist. The brain is a muscle, and it needs to be worked out properly to function properly. Can't hurt to train it for sports related activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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