Arm Question

[Chris O'Leary]

if the lead arm is in fact more important for power and control of the bat during a swing, why do we have them bat from the side of the plate that puts that strong arm in the least important role?.

Force of habit, mostly.

Many righties bat lefty for that reason. It also puts the (usually) dominant right eye in front.

 

[Nor10]

Force of habit, mostly.

Many righties bat lefty for that reason. It also puts the (usually) dominant right eye in front.

I was getting there actually, about the dominant eye I mean. Glad you brought that up as I was about to ask where you would want your dominant eye when staring at a pitcher, but that is for another discussion I suppose.

 

[Hitter]

I was getting there actually, about the dominant eye I mean. Glad you brought that up as I was about to ask where you would want your dominant eye when staring at a pitcher, but that is for another discussion I suppose.

I have never put much faith in dominant eye except for shooting....from the net....

Importance of ocular dominance

In normal binocular vision there is an effect of parallax, and therefore the dominant eye is the one that is primarily relied on for precise positional information. This may be especially important in sports which require aim, such as archery, darts or shooting sports.

It has been asserted that cross-dominance (in which the dominant eye is on one side and the dominant hand is on the other) is advantageous in sports requiring side-on stances (e.g. baseball, cricket, golf) [11] ; however, recent studies have shown this not to be the case. In a study of professional baseball players, hand-ocular dominance patterns did not show an effect on batting average or ERA. [12] Similarly, a recent South African study found that "cricketers were not more likely to have crossed dominance" than the normal population [13] .

Ocular dominance is an important consideration in predicting patient satisfaction with monovision correction in cataract surgery [14] , refractive surgery, and contact lens wear.

We teach to try and get a good two eyed look.

Thanks Howard

 

[cshilt]

I was getting there actually, about the dominant eye I mean. Glad you brought that up as I was about to ask where you would want your dominant eye when staring at a pitcher, but that is for another discussion I suppose.

Since we have binocular vision, and use that binocular vision to track speed and depth, I am more concerned with getting a good two-eyed look at the pitcher. We use a slightly open (5 degree offset) stance to accomplish this. It isn't a hard and fast offset, but we try to find what works for each individual.

I usually measure it by having the student focus on a spot directly in front of them while in their stance. Typically something at least 10 feet away. First I have them close the eye furthest away from the pitcher and ask if they can see the spot; the answer is always 'yes' for this eye. Then I have them close the eye closest to the pitcher and ask the same question; a lot of times the answer is 'no' or 'not as well'.

After we open their stance to 5 degrees (or so), we repeat the process and the results are usually (pardon the pun) eye opening.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

I have never put much faith in dominant eye except for shooting....from the net....ataract surgery [14] , refractive surgery, and contact lens wear.

We teach to try and get a good two eyed look.

Agreed.

Everything I've read says that a two-eyed look is the most important thing, because you need to see the ball with two eyes to judge its movement and distance well.

If you're just getting a one-eyed look, with either your dominant or non-dominant eye, you're going to have to guess more.