Ladies and Gentlemen: The quiet eye in pool

The newly formed Jim's Place Angels ladies pool team gathered for a group lesson with Jim Brauker, owner of Jim's place recently to discuss the importance of the quiet eye in pool. This was done in the context of the teachings of pool guru Mark Wilson, who emphasizes the importance of a careful, slow process of setting up on the ball, performing a slow backstroke, pausing and finishing with the tip on the table. Jim introduced the team to the concept of the quiet eye in sports, based on the teachings of Joan Vickers, author of the book "Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Pool". In the book, Vickers points out the importance of a lingering gaze in sports like Baseball, Basketball, golf, and pool. In pool, skilled players, wearing equipment that measures the exact location and time period of their gaze, hold their gaze on the target for an average of 600 milliseconds, or more than twice the time the eye of the unskilled player holds the gaze. Wilson, in his book and pool clinics emphasizes the importance of a slow, measured backstroke with a pause before the forward stroke. This aligns nicely with Vickers teaching, because if the backstroke is too fast and jerky the chances of the eye being able to linger for the amount of time needed for excellence is diminished. It is nearly impossible for a human to mentally determine if they are holding their gaze for 300 or 600 milliseconds. But their body can be trained to do it if the backstroke has a slow enough timing for the motor part of the nervous system to do its thing. With time, using a slow and measured backstroke and a pause before the forward stroke, the player can allow their eye to hone in on the target and direct the actions of the muscles of the arm.