Using the Quiet Eye to Avoid Choking

Long gazes can really help you win

Using the Quiet Eye to Avoid Choking

“Choking can be prevented through the optimal management of [quiet eye] duration as physiological arousal increases to maximum. Our results show that at the outset of [high pressure] competition, there is a tendency to reduce [quiet eye] duration on critical external task information….a key to not choking is to increase the duration of [quiet eye] as physiological levels rise.”
– Vickers & Williams, 2007

In March 2008, I introduced readers to the power and effectiveness of the quiet eye (QE) and the characteristics of elite athlete’s targeting processes. The quiet eye is defined as the length of the gaze time just before the first movement. According to the research, it is increasingly clear that elite athletes take more time on the target and have less eye movement off the target as compared with less proficient athletes.

Intuitively, this might make sense to you. It seems obvious that a skilled athlete will target for a longer period of time with more intent and less eye movement. Less skilled players take less time on the target and have more eye movement. These less skilled athletes perceive that they take more time than they actually do on target lock and that they have a steady gaze on their targets. This perception is not accurate. Fortunately, training can lead to an improvement in quiet eye.

(1) In several studies, training was shown to improve the length of the quiet eye duration leading to significant improvement in performance. In one study of golf putting with highly skilled golfers, improvement in putting success went from approximately 50 percent of putts made to 77 percent of putts made. In an amazing improvement, a collegiate basketball team improved their season-long free throw percentage a staggering 22.6 percent after training, from 54.1 percent completion in year one to 76.7 percent in year two by using the quiet eye.

(2) The powerful effect of the QE on performance is clear. Stress has been shown to erode the quiet eye duration time as ...



Joe Slowinski

About Joe Slowinski

Joe Slowinski, a USBC Gold Coach, is a freelance bowling coach who works with bowlers around the globe. He is currently on assignment with the Philippines. Slowinski is the former Director of Bowling at Lincoln Memorial University, where he served as Program Administrator and Head USBC Collegiate Men’s and NCAA Women’s Coach. The Portland, Maine native has served as the Administrative and Men's Head Coach at Webber International University and served for four years as a Master Teaching Professional at the Kegel Training Center. Slowinski is also the former Director of Coaching and Coach Certification for the National Sports Council of Malaysia. He has coached international teams at the World Championships, Pan American Games, South American Games, and European Championships, helping Belgium win a Gold medal at the 2022 EBF Championship of Champions and coaching Brazil to Gold medals at the 2015 Pam American Games and the 2014 South American Games. He was the 2018 NTCA DII/III Coach of the Year and the 2010 NCBCA Men’s College Coach of the Year.