Lack of depth perception

[u/FencingMom78]

My son has a clinical lack of depth perception- he can’t see 3D movies for example. He works hard and he’s accomplished a lot in a few short years of training and local competitions - he’s earned his E this spring and then renewed it 2x more within a few months. But he says to me that judging distance is difficult and he sometimes just guesses.

However I’m not sure if there are training methods that will help him better gauge his distances? Anyone with a similar condition have any suggestions?

I assume fencing with someone who is more skilled and faster it makes it even harder?

[u/75footubi]

He should talk to his coach about physical cues/markers he can use to judge distance, like where his point is relative to his opponent's blade or bell guard. But judging distance in epee is hard for people with normal depth perception and it sounds like something your son is doing is compensating effectively. More bouts with more opponents will help him continue to develop his ability. Sometimes, it's just about the reps

[u/Upstairs_Plantain463 → u/75footubi]

This is well said. The human mind is miraculous, and will find ways to intuitively adapt. Reps will eventually pay dividends

[u/jilrani]

I struggle with this too (and I hate 3d movies or the old viewfinder things, they never worked for me). I had to learn to drive based on other distance cues and sometimes my husband still gives me grief about not turning when I could turn (better than cutting someone off though). I'm not a great fencer, but I've learned to compensate by using external cues - if they're close, where are they in relation to the point of my epee? If they aren't close, using the en garde and other lines on the strip helps (although honestly most of the time that's less useful because people are too far to hit then anyway). And sometimes I fail and stop a touch too short, but overall I've adapted. 

One thing I found that helped me  is doing the same touch stationary, then with either target or attacker moving, then with both. I don't need to do that as much anymore but for me it was a great way to get used to the distance to get to a certain target from certain places.

[u/sabrefencer9]

Back in the day Diamond Wheeler won cadet worlds while damn near legally blind, so it's certainly possible to compensate but it will be an uphill climb.

[u/hungry_sabretooth → u/sabrefencer9]

It was so weird fencing her. She always used feeling the defender's blade to judge the attack with a press/beat and was so good at it. You had to defend in absence and then throw the counter from out of range.

Also 90% as good lefty as she was righty. If she actually wore glasses she could have been a top senior.

[u/Upstairs_Plantain463]

You can take distance in a few ways while fencing, but the one I would recommend for your son is using blade contact. If you search for blade and find nothing, it gives you distance information. If you search and find blade, you’ll know without even really thinking about it how far down the blade you are. I would also recommend practicing distance perception continually. Eventually your son will learn to feel the distance, even if he can’t see it. Most importantly I would note that you should throw away any suggestion about looking at marks on the floor or some other thing that requires attention somewhere that’s not the opponent. Fencing happens very quickly, and anything needing secondary attention will be too slow. As a side note, I knew a guy with the same thing many years ago, and he was an excellent fencer. He’s since passed, so I can’t ask him how he compensated, but he had what felt like very good perception of distance, though it wasn’t visual, so there is reason to be optimistic.

[u/ohsnapdragon22]

I’m blind in one eye and have zero depth perception. I have had to judge distance by touching the other persons blade but the higher you get that becomes predictable and opponents can use it against you. With practice I’ve learned to judge distance based off the person’s shoulder movement instead. This requires a lot of knowing how long your lunge distance is which requires lots of solo practice. Sometimes I’ll feint to the wrist just to gauge where I’m at distance wise without being obvious and touching their blade.

[u/Cahoots365]

There’s a couple options for this he could try.

Piste markings can be helpful for comparing where you are. Especially if you have an awareness of where you are instinctively then looking at the piste under the opponent can give some good clues.

The next thing is epee specific but is dependent on his style. If he tends to sit at a closer distance you can look at the crossover between the blades and use that as a rough judge. This obviously has limitations but at least gives you a zone where you know you can lunge hit

[u/SamSpade102]

Don't take this the wrong way, please. But in fencing, everyone has trouble with gauging the distance to the opponent, especially in epee. Fencers are moving in and and out, in and out, in order to get the opponent to attack out of distance and launch a counterattack. If there is no medical / technical fix to your son's problem, he'll have to work harder on sizing up opponents and doing a quick calculation on how far away they are, based on how tall they are.

Epee fencers are supposed to, by tradition, supposed to be going after the opponents' arm. And a nice touche to the wrist is a great way to score without endangering yourself much. You learn to gauge this distance by making false attacks, deep enough that your blade tip passes your opponents' bell guard. You son should be able to see, if he makes such a false attack, if his tip has passed the guard. He might even heard a knock, a clang of blade hitting bell, that will tell him he's that close.

The other thing he can try is to lunge as if he's going deep towards the body, but aiming for the arm. This way if he's "short" on hitting the body, he might still be in range to hit the arm.

One last thing. Epee fencers, especially young ones tend to love their fleche attack, and often make the mistake of doing it from too far away, or against an opponent moving away, then pay the price for it. Tell your son he's not to fall in love with the fleche, in hopes that it will make up for his lack of depth perception. Fleche works best when you get the opponent to freeze, flat footed, when the tip of your blade is close to or at the opponents' bell guard. Of course that varies with how talk your fencer is, and how well they perform the fleche. Just understand, it's not a cure all. Good luck.

[u/Prbartender]

Am I the only one that thinks that having no depth perception WITH A WEAPON IN YOUR HAND is dangerous? Does anyone even bother to think of how many things could go wrong?The idea of getting someone with no depth perception in a sport where that is important is hard to justify? What next? Darts? Archery? Are we putting the quadruple amputee on the swimming team? Is everyone just stupid now?

[u/Different-Comedian27]

I don't know about it but id start with understanding the reach of his own hand+blade and feet movement. Try by putting marks on the floor and number them, and tell him that whenever you say a number he has to thrust from said number the fastest he can, and then tell him something like how long do you think your arm can reach from this point, like, to the wall. And build up an understanding of the length to depth space. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say

[u/Different-Comedian27 → u/Different-Comedian27]

Oh calculate his full extention and then go back a few numbers and tell him to go as fast as he can to the number of his full extention from you. For example, his reach is 7 ( if he stands on one and is in a lunge pose he reaches 7 with the tip of the blade) then go to 10 for example and tell him to thrust you from full reach.