MiTi: In order to improve players reaction speed and execution, the Italian U21 conducts "blind eyes" training

October 8th, according to "Gazzetta dello Sport", the Italian U21 national team conducted a unique "blindfold" training, the main purpose of which was to improve the players' reaction speed, execution ability and adaptability.

Coach Baldini hopes to convey his anti-traditional philosophy, which helped him achieve success at Palermo and Pescara. Although this training method seems strange, it has its scientific basis. If young players persist in such training for a long time, their vision will be significantly improved.

For the U21 team, occasionally conducting such exercises will help improve their reaction speed, execution ability and adaptability, so that they can respond faster when facing difficult situations. In this way, they learn how to use their brains and bodies to perceive the game, rather than relying solely on their eyes.

The new coach has implemented similar training programs in Catania, Palermo and Pescara, each lasting no more than 20 minutes and divided into three stages: first covering the dominant eye (usually associated with the dominant hand or foot), then the other eye, and finally without wearing an eye patch. This technology has also been used in boxing: "I hope to push these young people to not only observe the court with their eyes, but also feel it with their minds and bodies."

In addition, he also changed the team's accommodation arrangements, no longer allowing each player to live in a separate room. Instead, players at the same position were placed in the same double room to facilitate discussion of technical issues, and the goalkeepers were three to a room. Baldini encourages team members to interact with each other and even invites them to explain training to new members as a way to strengthen team cohesion.

On rest days, players are free to choose a dinner location outside of the menu prepared by a nutritionist. However, when returning to the training ground, everyone's cell phones must be left in the room or turned off and placed in a basket until the last exercise is completed. One day, Baldini plans to invite the group to his home in the Carrara countryside to learn how to forage for mushrooms.