The Quiet Eye in Winning Athletics

The quiet-eye effect appears in fencing and other athletic activities. Eye-tracking of national-level fencers showed that successful touches were preceded by significantly longer final visual fixations than unsuccessful ones. Elite fencers displayed a longer quiet-eye period before successful offensive moves, compared with unsuccessful moves. The quiet-eye advantage has been linked to self-paced tasks such as golf putting and basketball free throws, and it extends to fast competitive fencing. Eye fixations were fewer before offensive rather than defensive moves. Saccadic eye movements shift gaze from point to point, and these movements are controlled by frontal and parietal brain regions.

"The authors describe how the eyes remain on target before offensive moves, seeming to aid the brain's ability to filter out noise under pressure. The study by Andrade Vincze and associates, Relationships between gaze behavior and fencing performance of high-skilled fencing athletes, used eye-tracking technology on national-level fencers to show that successful “touches” were preceded by significantly longer final visual fixations compared with unsuccessful ones."

"The Quiet Eye Effect: The advantage of a long-duration final fixation of gaze on a target before movement begins has been associated with self-paced tasks like sinking a golf putt or shooting a basketball free throw, but this study extends such an advantage to the fast-moving competitive sport of fencing. The study shows that elite fencers exhibited a longer quiet-eye period (the final fixation on a target) before a successful offensive move than on an unsuccessful one."

"Offense Versus Defense: In everyday life, the eyes tend to jump from fixating or pausing on one point to another as they scan the environment. These rapid eye movements are termed saccades, parts of saccadic eye movement. In the fencing study, the authors found a "

"The quiet-eye effect is seen in fencing and other forms of athletic performance. Eye fixations were fewer before offensive rather than defensive moves by elite fencers in this study. The quiet eye effect has been seen in tennis, table tennis, and other athletic activities. The eye jumps from point to point in saccadic eye movement, controlled by frontal and parietal brain regions."

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