A bright idea of catching in the dark

LONDON, March 29: Learning to catch cricket balls in the dark could brighten England's Test hopes in the future, English psychologists claim...

LONDON, March 29: Learning to catch cricket balls in the dark could brighten England’s Test hopes in the future, English psychologists claimed on Friday.

Researchers have found that catching skills can be improved by practicing in a blacked-out room lit only by ultra-violet light.

The catcher sees nothing but the glowing ball and is not distracted by anything else in his or her field of vision.

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As a result, say the researchers, attention is focused fully on the sources of information relevant to catching.

Dr Simon

Bennett, from Manchester Metropolitan University, said subjects who took part in trials in which they were thrown 30 balls from a tennis machine improved their catch success rate from six to 22 after practising for a number of sessions in conditions of interspersed light and dark.

When they practised only in the light they could not manage more than an average of 18 catches. Catching practice held only in the dark was not as successful as that held in alternate light/dark conditions,however.

Presenting the findings at the British Psychological Society annual conference in Brighton, Dr Bennett said: “One explanation for this phenomenon is that in normal light there’s lot of information, much of which is distracting, such as the background arm movement and things picked up in the peripheral vision.

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“By removing these sources of distraction you are directing the subject to the information relevant to improving his skill.”

Dr Bennett said the catchers in the experiment were all novices. He suspected the approach would not help people already at the peak of their sporting careers, but said: “It might help future cricket and tennis players who are just starting out.”