Reaction time in sport: why seeing fast is not enough

In many sports, a few fractions of a second can make all the difference.

A goalkeeper must react to a shot. A tennis player must identify the trajectory of the ball. A basketball player must perceive an opponent's movement before choosing their action.

We often talk about reaction speed, But reacting quickly does not depend solely on the speed of the muscles.

Before a movement is executed, the brain must first to perceive information, analyze it, make a decision, and then transmit a motor response.

It is this succession of steps that makes cognitive training particularly interesting in sports.

What is reaction time?

Reaction time corresponds to the delay between the appearance of a stimulus and the start of the athlete's response.

In a sporting situation, the stimulus can be:

• the movement of an opponent;
• the trajectory of a ball;
• a change of direction;
• a visual signal;
• or even a game situation that suddenly changes.

The brain receives this information, interprets it, and selects an appropriate response.

An athlete's speed therefore depends on both their physical qualities and its ability to quickly process available information.

Perceive, decide, act

A sporting action can be schematically broken down into three stages:

1. Perceive

The visual system gathers information from the environment: position of the ball, movement of the players, distances, speed or direction.

2. Decide

The brain analyzes this information and selects a response.

Should we move forward? Dive? Pass? Strike? Change direction?

3. Take action

The motor command is then transmitted in order to carry out the movement.

The goal is therefore not simply to perform a movement quickly. One must be able to make the right decision quickly.

Why unpredictable situations are important

When an athlete knows in advance the movement they have to perform, part of the decision-making work disappears.

In a match, the situation is different.

The player must constantly adapt to information that he does not fully control.

Training that incorporates uncertainty can therefore place greater demands on:

• visual attention;
• anticipation;
• eye-hand coordination;
• the speed of information processing;
• decision-making.

This is precisely what brings cognitive training closer to the constraints encountered in competition.

What role can stroboscopic glasses play?

THE AnceFlex® stroboscopic glasses rapidly alternate between phases of vision and darkness.

During certain exercises, the athlete therefore has less continuous visual information.

He must learn to use available information more effectively, to anticipate the trajectory of an object more effectively, and to maintain the precision of his movements despite this visual constraint.

The goal is not simply to make the exercise more difficult.

The goal is to create a additional perceptual constraint in order to stimulate the mechanisms involved in visual information processing and coordination.

In which sports should reaction time be trained?

This ability is involved in a very large number of disciplines.

In football, a goalkeeper sometimes has very little time to analyze a shot and trigger his dive.

In tennis, the player must quickly interpret the trajectory and speed of the ball.

In combat sports, the opponent's movements require extremely quick decisions.

In basketball or handball, the position of teammates and opponents is constantly changing.

The principle remains the same: The faster and more unpredictable the environment, the more important the brain's ability to process information efficiently becomes.

Training the brain in addition to physical training

Physical preparation obviously remains essential to athletic performance.

Strength, explosiveness, speed, mobility, and endurance allow the body to execute movements efficiently.

But the body must first receive the right information.

Neurovisual training therefore seeks to complement traditional preparation by working on the processes that precede movement: see, analyze, anticipate and decide.

It is this combination of physical and cognitive abilities that allows us to get closer to the real demands of sport.

Another way to approach performance

For a long time, sports training focused primarily on the body.

Current knowledge about how the brain works now makes it possible to integrate visual and cognitive dimensions more fully into preparation.

At AnceFlex®, we develop solutions designed to integrate these constraints directly into sports exercises.

Because before every move, there is information to perceive and a decision to make.

AnceFlex®

Improve your reflexes. Develop your coordination. Unleash your potential.