Is visual training the sports world’s next big thing?

Can Visual Training help improve batters?

Seattle Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan began this season on a tear. His numbers at the All Star break: a .280 batting average (versus a career average of .234), a .382 on-base percentage (career .331), and a .573 slugging percentage (career .491). In interviews, Branyan credited his newfound success in large part to a piece of software that runs on an ordinary laptop. “I think it’s helped me really pinpoint and focus on the ball,” Branyan said of the Vizual Edge program, which offers a variety of exercises to train and sharpen visual skills. “I see the ball exactly where it is. I don’t want to say it’s all because of this. … But, I mean, I was a .230 hitter.”

maybe not.

As for Russell Branyan? The second half of his season didn’t go nearly as well as the first. His on-base percentage, for instance, dropped to a subpar .274. Granted, he’s been dealing with a back injury, which may well be the source of his problems. But it could also be that visual training isn’t yet the performance-aiding Holy Grail that top-end athletes are forever in search of.