PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYERS PARTICIPATING IN VIZUAL EDGE PERFORMANCE TRAINING (VEPT)Milwaukee Brewers 2006 Instructional LeagueSpaniol, F.J., Seiller, B.L., Puchalski, K., and Bonnette, R. (2006) The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of professional baseball players that participated in Vizual Edge Performance Training (VEPT), a software program designed to enhance visual skills. During the 2006 baseball season, twenty-three male subjects between the ages of 16-26 participated in a thirteen question Likert-scale survey, which examined the perceived effectiveness of VEPT. The participants averaged two training sessions per week for 5.13 minutes per session for a period of 9.6 weeks. Results from the survey indicated that 100% percent of the subjects agreed or strongly agreed that visual skills play an important role in baseball performance, while 65% believed that VEPT actually enhanced those skills (30% were undecided due to limited training time). In addition, 68% believed that VEPT improved their performance during this study and it took an average of 3.61 weeks for them to notice such improvements. Interestingly, 100% of Latin-born players (n=6) reported that VEPT improved their performance, while 63% of American-born players (n=17) felt the same. As a group, 65% believed that VEPT increased their ability to “focus”, 65% felt the visual practice improved their concentration, and 62% agreed the training augmented their ability to “see” the ball. In addition, 44% reported more consistency, 48% believed batting results increased, 46% felt their fielding improved, and 35% reported superior balance. Overall, the results of this survey indicate that a significant number of professional baseball players participating in VEPT believed their visual skills improved, which they felt translated into enhanced performance. Frank J. Spaniol, Ed.D., CSCS*D Barry Seiller, M.D. Kathy Puchalski Randy Bonnette, Ed.D. |