Hand-eye coordination plays a critical role in many activities, especially sports. Getting your hands to do what your eyes see can be tricky, but it is essential to performing even day-to-day tasks well. Hand-eye coordination can also apply to your feet, such in sports like soccer. Improving hand-eye coordination can be done with some exercises and drills.
Playing Catch
A simple way to develop better hand-eye coordination is play a game of catch. Use a small ball that will fit easily into the palm of your hand, such as a baseball or tennis ball. Not only are you trying to get your hand to go where your eye follows, but you want to work on making your hand open and close when it needs to in order to catch the ball.
Using a baseball and a glove can also be effective because you need to use your hand in order to open the glove and let the ball enter. Start at a close distance and then gradually increase the space between you and your throwing partner. Have your partner vary the speed at which she throws the ball, and the height and trajectory of the ball as well.
If you can't find someone to play catch, throw a tennis ball against a wall and catch the rebound.
Table Tennis
Table tennis is an outstanding way to develop hand-eye coordination because the sport requires you to manipulate a paddle in order to hit a ball across the table. Your eyes must follow the ball while your brain sends signals to your hands telling them where to go in order to hit the ball.
You can also do drills by yourself with a table tennis ball and paddle. Practice hitting the ball up in the air with the paddle and see how many times you can hit it without letting the ball hit the ground. You'll have to focus your eyes on the ball while your hand moves in the right direction in order to hit the ball.
Other sports involving raquets, such as tennis and badminton, are especially effective in developing hand-eye coordination.
Video Games
Video games force your hands and eyes to work together. When you play video games, what you see on the screen is centrally linked to the actions your hands are performing. Because of the non-stop action, you don't have much time to look down and pay attention to what your hands are doing.
Sports video games are especially helpful because they require pressing buttons at precise points, such as when the ball reaches the batter in a baseball game. While your eyes are focused on the ball, your brain is telling your finger when to press the right button in order to hit it.
