RI study: Players catch fly balls by keeping eye on them, not by predicting where they’ll land

RI study: How to catch fly ball? Keep an eye on it

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Brown University study says the way baseball outfielders catch fly balls is simple: by keeping their eyes on the ball.

A paper by researchers at Brown delves into how fielders snag balls batted high in the air — a long-running question among scientists and sports fans.

The researchers asked varsity baseball and softball players to catch virtual balls in a virtual reality lab.

They discovered players don’t predict where fly balls will land based on their trajectories. Instead, they found players watch the balls and position themselves so it appears the balls aren’t speeding up or slowing down.

Professor William Warren co-wrote the paper. He says the research eventually could be used in robotics or to help people with vision problems.

The paper was published last month in the online Journal of Vision.