Do you know what blinders are? They are flaps put on horses so they don’t get startled by things around them so they keep moving forward.

Blinders keep you from seeing everything that’s going on around you. Just for fun – make yourself some blinders:

You can get two file folders and hold one on ech side of your head. (Or you can get a box big enough to fit your head in and cut out the top and a notch in one side so it will sit on your shoulders and you look out the open top. The back of your head will touch the inside bottom of the box.)

Now spend some time with a few people – your family or friends. How much to you miss because your vision is blocked? A lot, right?

That’s because you lose your peripheral vision. When there is a lot of activity going on around you, your peripheral vision provides communication.

Don’t be blinded on the basketball court

On the basketball court, peripheral vision tells you where your teammates are, where the opposing team players are and what they are all doing. It is the key to good communication on the court.

If you don’t believe me, put that box back on your head and not even the best basketball goal in the world – the Goalrilla Basketball Goal – will be able to help you communicate and be a working member of your team. It won’t be 2 minutes before your teammates are screaming at you to take that box off your head – and you probably won’t be having any fun, either.

Developing verbal and visual signals are important bits of the communication puzzle – but focusing to develop a strong peripheral vision is the other side – the information-receiving side.

Using peripheral vision, you’ll be able to anticipate and call out switches and move quickly up-and-over or down-and-around picks and screens. You’ll know who is open and who is best positioned to make the next basket.

Start practicing – everywhere – pay attention wherever you go to what’s going on all around you – you might just be shocked at how much you’ve been missing!

-Pat of the Basketball Goal Store Blog Team