Things didn't go well for James Stewart in Toronto. The key in-race incident and Stewart's ankle injury are the result of a vision-related issue. Stewart explains it like this:
"I could see Reed exiting the finish line corner. I took a quick glance out of the corner of my eye and entered back on the track to get back in the race. As I entered back on the track to get back in the race Travis Preston was coming over the finish line jump and we collided. We both went down pretty hard, I’m just really happy that Travis wasn’t seriously injured. I hurt my ankle and foot but was able to get back on my bike to finish third."
There are several key points here. The first is that racers like Stewart must rely on their ability to accurately and safely assess a situation from a quick glance. There just isn't enough time to do more than take a quick glance. So it becomes imperative that the racer's visual system (including the eyes and the mind) is able to correctly see what is happening in the span of that fleeting glance.
And as James points out, it is important that the racer's peripheral vision works well. In fact, using one's peripheral vision, as James says he did, can be a smart thing to do at times. The peripheral vision is more sensitve to movement and using it can be an advantage in some situations. However, peripheral vision relies on rod cells. And unfortunately for James, the retina's rod cells have a slower response to light and cannot perceive changes in stimuli (in this case, that stimuli was Travis Preston) as rapidly as cone cells. At Toronto, James should have turned his head and taken a glance down the track. James didn't make the best use of his vision skills at this moment, and he was injured, fined and placed on probation as a result -- not to mention that Travis Preston barely escaped injury. On top of all that, James's reputation was injured and that seems to be especially painful for him. It pains me too because I want to see James live up to his full potential in Supercross and Motocross.
This whole situation points out how important vision skills and fit eyes are in Supercross racing. For example, studies show that people can improve their ability to drive a car (or ride a motorcycle) by practicing skills that improve peripheral vision. I think James could have increased his chances of seeing Travis Preston by improving is vision fitness. Here are some of the vision skills that are important to motorsport athletes (and all athletes actually).
Dynamic Visual Acuity
This is the ability to clearly see objects while you and the objects are moving fast.
Visual Concentration
Visual Concentration is the ability to screen out distractions and stay focused on the race.
Peripheral Vision
This is the ability to see something out of the corner of your eye. In racing, much of what happens does not happen directly in front of you. It is important to increase your ability to see action to the side without having to turn your head.
Field of Vision
This is the ability to see a wide scope of action. It depends, in part, on peripheral vision but it is primarily a mental phenomenon and it may incorporate methods of perception that are not scientifically well-understood. However, we do know that fit eyes training can increase an athlete's field of vision.
Eye Tracking
This is the ability to follow objects without much head motion. Eye tracking helps you maintain better balance and react to the situation more quickly.
Eye-Hand-Body Coordination
Eye-Hand-Body Coordination is how well you can use your muscles to control the motorcycle (or vehicle) based on what you see with your eyes. It is an important part of motorsports because it affects both timing and control.
Visual Memory
Visual Memory is your ability to process and remember a fast moving, complex picture of everything happening on the track. The racer with good visual memory always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Visualization
Visualization is the skill that enables you to see yourself performing well in your "mind's eye" while your eyes are seeing and concentrating on something else, usually the portion of the track directly in front of you. Using scanning techniques, researchers have found that the same areas of the brain that light up during performance also do so when you visualize the performance.
Visual Reaction Time
Visual reaction time is the speed with which your brain interprets and reacts to on-track action. In Toronto, Stewart just didn't see Preston, so it wasn't a visual reaction time issue. However, we have probably all had situations where we saw something but couldn't react fast enough. Visual reaction times can be improved through nutrtion and training.
Depth Perception
Depth perception enables you to quickly and accurately judge the distance between yourself, your opponents, corners, jumps and other obstancles on the track. If you cannot hit your braking points or other markers exactly, your depth perception may need training.
As you know, the theme of this blog is that training for fit eyes should be an integral part of preparing for any motorsport racing competition, just like physical fitness training is today. I think James's recent unfortunate story emphasizes the importance of eye fitness training.
In closing, I also want to say that I think James has excellent natural eye fitness and visual skills for racing, judging by the way he rides. This incident appears to be an aberration. I can't think of too many other times when James obviously just did not see an important incident on the track quickly enough. Even though I think James has above average eye fitness for racing, it isn't perfect as proven in Toronto. I do believe he (like everyone else) could improve his eye fitness for racing with a well-designed vision training system.
Fit eyes are a key to safe and fast Supercross racing. If you are a racer, fit eyes could be your winning advantage.
[UPDATE: check out this post for a discussion about how James Stewart goes so fast .]
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