Austin Hedges is using Nike Strobe glasses in catching drills

Corey Brock has a story up on Padres.com about a tool that Austin Hedges is using for catching drills.  I'd never heard of the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe glasses before but they aren't new.  A quick Google search shows that they came out in 2011 and were discontinued in 2013, says Bloomberg.  They also make a great comparison to the helmet that Luke Skywalker practices with in Star Wars with the blast shield covering his eyes.

The glasses have eight different settings and they strobe at different rates of speed, temporarily robbing you of your sight.  Your brain learns to fill in the gaps and when the glasses are removed the drills become easy.

Padres Austin Hedges invents catching drill | padres.com

"Doing it without [the glasses on] is tough enough, doing it with is really hard. But when you take the glasses off, it's like slow motion. [The drill] becomes really easy."

I wonder how long you can reap the benefits after you remove the glasses or if the benefits are only temporary.  If they work so well, why is that they were discontinued and can only be found on the black market?  I have so many questions.

I will say this, now it makes sense as to why I feel like time stands still when I've seen the handsome Austin Hedges in public.  My eyes are fluttering so quickly at the sight of him that my brain reacts in the same way as it would wearing these glasses and time slows down.