Baseball Brain Training

About This Episode

What happens inside the brain of a great baseball hitter, and can it be taught? Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice explore the subject with baseball vision trainer Dr. Bill Harrison, neuroscientist Prof. Aaron Seitz, and baseball analyst and former LA Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. Explore the difference between peripheral vision and foveal, or central, vision, and how each perceives and communicates the speed, size and movement of the ball differently within the human brain. Find out what Ted Williams, the greatest hitter in the history of baseball, said was the secret to his success. Learn how neuroscience and psychology can help us see, hear, and remember better. Discover how scientists are placing electrodes in the brain to record individual neurons, to figure out visual processing channels, and determine which neurons can be trained to improve responsiveness through exercise. Investigate what makes a great hitter, and what managers and scouts are looking for in recruits. Find out how the techniques that work to make hitters better can also be applied to helping people with low visual capabilities, and what “tells” hitters look for when sizing up a pitcher on the mound 60 feet 6 inches away from the batter’s box. You’ll also hear about Ned’s new book about his years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, The Big Chair, and how great athletes, like Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Barry Bonds see the game in their minds in slow motion, frame-by-frame, while their bodies play at full speed.

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Baseball Brain Training.