Question: how is it possible that you can catch a ball as it comes to as you can not think that quick ? many people say it just happenes but that is not possible it does not just happen it must be a reaction to the force of your hand and the mind thinking together to cause a reaction? have you ever thought about it and have you ever worked it out/ tryed towork it out?

  1. Lots of people have studied this, and there are a lot of processes which go on in your brain to help you catch a ball!

    Although you may not be actively thinking about catching the ball, your brain is monitoring everything that goes on around you, all the time, and your eyes are constantly moving to help you observe the world around you (you make about 2-3 eye movements per second!). It means we’re really good at noticing things that might suddenly start moving in our peripheral vision.

    So, when the ball is coming toward you, your brain will notice that movement, and it will be processing the movement of the ball as it’s coming toward you, and will be making a plan of where your hand has to go to catch the ball. Then when the ball is coming toward you, your eyes track the ball, and your brain uses this information to tell your hand where to go to catch it.

    People have done studies looking at how professional sports people catch balls accurately – they just see where the ball was thrown from, and then instead of tracking it, they anticipate where the ball is going to bounce/land, and look directly to that location to catch/hit it! So practice changes the way we use our vision to play sports!!

    0

  2. Great answer Emma!

    0

  3. yeah great answer @emma.
    Isnt it also becuase we practice and our brain’s develop neural connections that ‘spark’ automoatically when we are in ‘catching ball mode’? . The more practice, the better and more automoatic that behaviour becomes.

    0

Comments

  1. thanks that seems to make more scence now i play basketball and starting footy so does that mean your brain is always working even when u r asleep

    0

    • Your brain is ALWAYS working, it controls your breathing, blood pressure, digestion even! And when you’re asleep, its processing everything that happened that day. That’s why it needs so much energy.

      0