Basketball: Visual Perception and Eye
Does crossed hand-eye dominance affect free throw shooting in basketball? The purpose of this experiment is to learn about crossed hand eye dominance and help increase free throw percentage in basketball. Some further investigations could include testing if crossed hand-eye dominance effected hand-eye coordination, if air pressure will affect the dynamics of ball bouncing, or if people that are left-dominant or right-dominant affect any certain thing. First, the eye dominance test was conducted, which determines the dominant eye. From that it is determined if the subject was crossed hand eye dominant, or uncrossed hand eye dominant.
Does crossed hand-eye dominance affect free throw shooting in basketball? Hand-eye dominance and how it affects basketball shooting are the focus of what is expected to learn about. The idea of having a dominant hand (being left-handed or0 right-handed) is familiar to everyone. What may not be so familiar is the concept of a dominant eye. Most people are accustomed to using both eyes together, and don’t think much about situations where it might matter if one eye is dominant over the other. When shooting free throws in basketball, players often hold the ball up at face-level when preparing for the shot.
In this position, the ball can easily block (at least partially) the eye on the same side of the body as the shooting hand. For shooters with uncrossed hand and eye dominances, this would mean that the dominant eye was partially blocked. For shooters with crossed hand and eye dominances, this would mean that the non-dominant eye was partially blocked. Clearly, basketball players must use their vision to locate the target and judge distance and line before skills take over to send the ball on its way. Hand and eye dominance must work together to help ones score baskets.
Crossed hand eye dominance alone will not help ones score, but with other factors involved, it might help one score a basket. If one is crossed hand-eye dominant, then their shooting percentage will increase because when players shoot free throws, they often hold the ball up at face-level when preparing for the shot. In this position, the ball can easily block the eye on the same side of the body as the shooting hand. For shooters with uncrossed hand and eye dominances, this would mean that the dominant eye was partially blocked. For shooters with crossed hand and eye ominances, this would mean that the non-dominant eye was partially blocked. The independent variable is if you are cross hand-eye dominant, and the dependent variable is how many free-throws you make. Eye dominance refers to the eye that the brain prefers, or one that has stronger processing in the brain than the other. People usually have one eye that likes to take over when binocular vision is impaired, or one eye that is more sensitive to visual discrimination. During suppression, when the brain chooses to process only one eye, the other eye is in essence shut down.
Usually it makes no difference in correcting for visual defects with eyeglasses or contacts. Data from previously done experiments support this hypothesis. One experiment done by Keith Hines and Robert Thurman stated that crossed hand-eye dominant people have a higher free throw percentage than uncrossed hand-eye dominant people. Another experiment proved the same results. This project was conducted by Ashton W. Pomrehn, who found that crossed hand-eye dominance has a positive effect on basketball players.
It makes logical sense that crossed hand-eye dominance would have a positive effect on free throw percentage because if you have uncrossed hand-eye dominance, your dominant eye is blocked by the hand shooting the basketball. According to an article in “Experimental Psychology,” the proper sequence of vision and action in shooting a basketball is not conclusively affected by crossed hand-eye dominance. Experiments testing the accuracy of basketball players shooting the ball through a variety of visual stimuli showed that, among other things, individuals tend to adjust to whatever dominant hand-eye combination they possess.
Shooting a basketball simply reflects their hand-eye skills in general. Some key terms are: dominance- the normal tendency for one side of the brain to be more important than the other in controlling certain functions, as speech and language: crossed- mixed, usually with two components; and, eye dominance- the tendency to prefer visual input from one eye to the other. More key terms are: Hand dominance- the preference of one hand to perform fine and gross motor tasks; and, crossed hand eye Dominance- having opposite dominances in eyes and hands.
There are a few key points to know while conducting this experiment. “Eye Dominance” refers to the eye that the brain “prefers” or one that has stronger “processing” in the brain than the other. People usually have one eye that likes to “take over” when binocular vision is impaired, or one eye that is more sensitive to visual discrimination. During suppression, when the brain “chooses” to process only one eye, the other eye is “shut down”. Usually it makes no difference in correcting for visual defects with eyeglasses or contacts.
