What reaction exercises can and cannot do
Drills help in a specific way. Practice mainly improves consistency. You produce fewer slow responses, and you get better at the exact cue you train on. Raw simple reaction time moves only a little.
Five drills to try
- The timed test, daily. Run the test above once or twice a day. Five tries take under a minute, and the average in milliseconds gives you a number to follow.
- Ball drop and catch. A partner holds a tennis ball at shoulder height and lets go without warning. Catch it after one bounce. When that is easy, catch it before it lands.
- Wall ball. Stand a few steps from a wall, throw a ball against it and catch the rebound. Step closer or throw harder to leave yourself less time.
- Partner cue drills. A partner calls or points left or right, and you touch a marker on that side as fast as you can.
- Aim training. The aim trainer adds mouse movement to the reaction, which suits anyone who plays games on a computer.
How to use the test as a drill
Treat one run as one set. The panel is red, then turns green after a random wait of about 1.5 to 5 seconds. Click, tap or press Space when it changes. A click before green cancels the try and it is repeated, so the drill rewards waiting for the signal instead of guessing.
Do your sets on the same device each time, since every device adds its own delay.
Simple drills and choice drills
| Drill | Type of reaction |
|---|---|
| Timed test | Simple: one signal, one response |
| Ball drop and catch | Simple, with a whole arm movement |
| Wall ball | Simple, with tracking |
| Partner cue drill | Choice: two signals, two responses |
| Aim trainer | Reaction plus aiming |
Mix both kinds. Hick’s law says that decisions slow down as options are added, so a drill with a choice in it will feel harder than a plain click test. That is expected.
Keep expectations modest
Sleep matters as much as any drill. Sleep loss slows reactions, so test and train when you are rested. For the side of the topic that is not about drills, read how to improve reaction time. Your best score, average and number of attempts for every test are on the dashboard.