You Don't Need Eyes To See, You Need Vision

I'm a big fan of Faithless and a couple of years ago I was listening to Reverence and I was stopped in my tracks by what I thought was a great lyric. Maxi Jazz knocked out this great line

YOU DON'T NEED EYES TO SEE, YOU NEED VISION.

Then, last season I was working with a basketball coach and I was listening to him talk to players about the importance of maintaining vision during the game. He used this simple drill to demonstrate the importance of vision.

Here's what you need to do. Place both arms out in front of you at head height so that you can see your hands with your 'pointy finger' (that's a technical term!) sticking up in the air.

Slowly move your arms to the side to a point just before you loose sight of the fingers in your peripheral vision.

That whole areas is what you can see 'your field of vision to be able to read the game'.

Keeping the arms in the same position, drop your head.

YOU'VE NO LONGER GOT FULL VISION

Being able to see what is happening on a field of play is vital and it's why I have a real issue with the way so many 'running' drills are coached.

If there's one tool that actively encourages athletes to drop their head it's the speed ladder. I think speed ladders have a limited application anyway, but if you insist on using them that at least make sure you encourage your athletes to keep their heads up.