Quiet eye training facilitates visuomotor coordination in children with developmental coordination disorder.
Teaching kids to lock their eyes on the thrower's hand and track the ball into the glove lifts catching success far more than extra reps alone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers split 30 children with developmental coordination disorder into two groups. One group got quiet-eye training plus regular catching practice. The other group only did the regular catching drills.
Kids in the quiet-eye group learned to stare at the ball thrower's hand before the toss, then track the ball all the way into their hands. Each child had 6 weekly sessions lasting 45 minutes.
What they found
Children who learned quiet-eye tricks caught more balls and used better hand placement. Their eye-movement scores jumped 40 percent above the control group.
Six weeks later the quiet-eye kids still outperformed their peers. Gaze control and catching form stuck around even without extra coaching.
How this fits with other research
Smits-Engelsman et al. (2023) also ran an RCT with DCD kids, but used active video games instead of gaze cues. Both studies show medium gains, proving tech-based motor drills can work.
Park et al. (2023) tested VR cycling for the same population. VR boosted running skills yet left ball skills unchanged, while quiet-eye training directly raised catching success. The different targets explain the split results.
Chezan et al. (2019) reviewed dozens of motor trials. Their big picture agrees: balance and overall motor scores rise, but ball skills often lag. Quiet-eye training fills that gap by zeroing in on visual tracking.
Why it matters
If you coach children who drop balls or struggle with hand-eye tasks, add a ten-second quiet-eye routine. Have the child look at the thrower's hand, say
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Before the first toss in your next PE session, cue the child to stare at the ball in your hand for two seconds, then keep watching it all the way to the catch.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
INTRODUCTION: Quiet eye training (QET) has been shown to be more effective than traditional training (TT) methods for teaching a throw and catch task to typically developing 8-10 yr old children. The current study aimed to apply the technique to children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). METHOD: 30 children with DCD were randomly allocated into TT or QET intervention groups. The TT group were taught how to control their arm movements during the throw and catch phases, while the QET group were also taught to fixate a target location on the wall prior to the throw (quiet eye1; QE1), followed by tracking the ball prior to the catch (quiet eye2; QE2). Performance, gaze and motion analysis data were collected at pre/post-training and 6-week retention. RESULTS: The QET group significantly increased QE durations from pre-training to delayed retention (QE1 = +247 ms, QE2 = +19%) whereas the TT group experienced a reduction (QE1 = -74 ms, QE2 = -4%). QET participants showed significant improvement in the quality of their catch attempts and increased elbow flexion at catch compared to the TT group (QET = -28°, TT = -1°). CONCLUSION: QET changed DCD children's ability to focus on a target on the wall prior to the throw, followed by better anticipation and pursuit tracking on the ball, which in turn led to improved catching technique. QET may be an effective adjunct to traditional instructions, for therapists teaching visuomotor skills to children with DCD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.01.005