5 Activities to improve hand eye coordination

5 Activities to improve hand-eye coordination

When it comes to sport, hand-eye coordination is sometimes overlooked in favor of other areas of fitness such as strength and conditioning. However, the importance of hand-eye coordination should not be underestimated. It plays a vital role in nearly all sports and has plenty of day-to-day benefits.

Take up tennis

Tennis is one of the best sports in the world for improving hand-eye coordination. In fact, the full-body workout provided by an average tennis match makes it one of the best sports for fitness enthusiasts full stop. Hitting the perfect shot demands dexterity, balance, and the ability to coordinate your body with your vision. Focussing on the ball, the movement of your opponent and the court markings force your eyes and brain to multitask. Over time that builds hand-eye coordination and makes you a more poised and successful player.

Try baseball

Similar in scope to tennis, baseball demands a steady eye and incredibly fast reflexes. While it might not give you the same level of workout as tennis, the ball will be coming at you at a much greater pace. That, of course, puts bigger demands on your hand-eye coordination. Playing baseball regularly will teach the muscles in your eyes to track and react fast, making you well placed to develop your coordination skills. This doesn’t just apply to batting, either. Pitching (especially if you use variations and spin) is an excellent form of training, too.

Visit the shooting range

Shooting is an excellent way to improve hand-eye coordination. Shooting targets on a range helps you work on accuracy and, more generally, helps you to “get your eye in.” Regular practice will dramatically improve your hand-eye coordination to such an extent that it will have a tangible effect on your everyday life. Not all firearms demand or even facilitate the same level of laser-sharp accuracy, so many enthusiasts choose to build custom guns to suit their individual needs. Using an 80 lower receiver as a foundation, you can build your custom firearm from scratch, fine-tuning it for accuracy and hand-eye coordination training.

Fencing

Fencing is a little different and requires some special equipment, but you can usually hire a lot of the kit rather than buying it. The sport demands lightning-fast reflexes as well as extreme balance. You’ll be dodging and parrying blows while trying to land strikes on your opponent. Fencing is frenetic but surprisingly deft - much more so than it seems to people who haven't tried the sport before. Tracking your opponent’s foils and reacting to their attacks is a fantastic way to build up your reaction times and coordination.

Boxing

One of the more unlikely additions to the list, boxing puts huge demands on your hand-eye coordination. Rapid changes of direction, quick dodges, and spotting openings in your opponent’s defenses all build skills. Best of all, you don’t even need to take to the ring to feel the benefits. Practicing with a punchbag or working through drills will do wonders for your hand-eye coordination, not to mention your overall fitness levels.