Simple eye-hand reaction time in the retinal periphery can be reduced with training.

One critical aspect of sports vision is eye-hand reaction time, especially for visual stimuli in the retinal periphery. A key question is, "Can eye-hand reaction time be reduced with training?" Evidence from a series of recent experiments suggests that it can. The results in the retinal periphery demonstrated the following: (1) eye-hand reaction time can be reduced by training a small extent (∼10-20 msec) involving central visual processing changes, (2) the training effect transfers to other retinal loci, and (3) the improvement is retained following the cessation of training. These results suggest that training of eye-hand reaction time in the retinal periphery should be considered in athletes to potentially improve their on-field sports performance.