Neurological Suspension and Focus Ratios

Sports vision expert Dr. Dan Laby taught us that there's no difference in reaction time between experienced and non-experienced athletes in simple reaction situations such as “red light, green light, stop, go.” You’ve been doing it your whole life.

However, there is a dramatic difference in non-trained and trained athletes in complex decisions where the athlete must focus on one stimulus, ignoring another stimulus in their visual field. Trained athletes are 35 percent faster and 31 percent more accurate in making complex visual decisions. That's our game right there. And the way the target setters are setting targets, it's even more important.

It’s critical to train yourself to see the subtleties in the presentations where the target is, where you're going to break it - not where you see it first, not where you see it last; but always being able to practice reading the target in the breakpoint.

What everyone sees is a little different and our perceptions are a little different. But the reality is our visual perceptions are in different phases of neurological suspension.

Neurological suspension leads us to focus ratios. This is where our focus ratios actually come from and how your score in a course will always be equal to your average focus ratio on all pairs.

The beginner is trapped looking down the barrel chasing the target. Then the beginner is trapped between the barrel and the target with a 50-50 focus ratio, still chasing the targets. He sees more target than barrel. The leads are huge. Then he gets to 75-25 learning to control the target. At this level, muzzle awareness is apparent, but it must be there in too great a presence for the brain to begin suspending the confusion. He’s still too confused.

Remember, it must be in the way for the brain to recognize it as a problem and eliminate it. This is why at this phase you cannot see what someone who lives at 95-5 or 98-2 sees - so stop trying.

There's no shortcut, pixie dust or magic bullet. You can't think your way to a 95-5. You cannot think your way to the right action; you must act your way to the right way of thinking.