No, we don’t want you all to start wearing white cable knit tank tops and standing around scratching your balls but we thought you’d be interested to hear of some research that experienced riders probably already realise.
Researchers have been using tiny cameras mounted in the lenses of goggles to work out how batsmen of different skill levels watch the ball. Rather than “keeping your eye on the ball” like the PE teacher said, the better batsmen tracked the ball for the early part of it’s flight, then switched vision to the projected point of bounce and then tracked the ball onward from there for a short time. The better the batsman, the earlier they switched vision from the ball, and the same results have been found testing ping pong players.
We reckon this ties in very neatly with the idea of constantly switching vision further up the trail rather than getting fixated on approaching obstacles. The old ‘look at the solution not the problem’ adage. You’ll also find that switching vision past the apex of the turn to the exit and then as far up the trail as possible will whip you through corners far faster and more confidently.
So next time you’re out riding keep looking ahead as much as possible and you’ll be back at the pavillion for cucumber sandwiches faster than you expected.

 
For the full article and scientific methodology pull on your long white coat and pen protectors and cast your gaze over to the New Scientist website. Oh and before you ask, no elephants or other wrinkly mammals were harmed in the filming of the article thumbnail.