Buzzer Speed of Older Folks

[SweepingDeveloper]

This is a new post, since I might tend to get the thread about the Seniors Tournament off track. Anyway, I was wondering about something concerning an older person's buzzer speed, in regards to the lockout mechanism.

Could a player in his 50s compensate for his lack of reflexes by intentionally buzzing in early, figuring that his delay in reflexes will be enough to buzz in the moment the buzzers are activated? True, this runs the risk of being locked out if you don't time it right (for people at any age), but do you think this can be a good strategy, albeit Arthur Chu-esque unusual, for older players?

[This Is Kirk!]

I can't speak for everyone, but I felt like I had to anticipate the activation lights. If I actually responded to seeing the lights it was too late. Maybe there are some people with great reflexes that are able to actually wait for the lights, but I have a feeling most people anticipate them to some degree. It's really more about excellent timing than pure reaction, IMO. If you're too afraid of getting locked out you're being too timid.

[MDaunt]

Buzzer speed is irrelevant. Buzzer timing is everything.

What I find slowing down with age is speed of recall. Making connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information (which is what Jeopardy! really is) now takes me about 20-25% longer than it did 20 years ago.

[Golf]

In my opinion, this worry about older players (relatively speaking) is silly for several reasons.

1, as most of us know, it's has nothing to do with reaction speed. It has everything to do with timing. Alex finishes reading the clue, another human is waiting for this and then presses a button allowing contestants to ring in. It's all very human, it's very subjective instead of purely objectively reacting to a solitary signal to see how fast you can press a button. In the end all it comes down to is finding that sweet spot which has nothing to do with speed, consistency is what matters. Sort of like bracket racing.

2, everybody is different. There are older boardies here who can still out-reflex people half their age. There are 20-somethings here that have horrible reflexes. If a 20-something posted here about it not being fair because they have bad reflexes, it would be met with laughter. Personally, at age 48, I'm not scared of anybody's reflexes while playing Jeopardy (or any other quiz show) and never will be.

3, buzzer timing isn't everything. A stronger knowledge base can more than make up for it. Knowing how to properly play the game can too.

It's just one part of a much larger equation, there are many talents in play and nobody is awesome at every single facet. Even guys like Brad and KJ have holes in their games.

[RandyG]

I can't speak for everyone, but I felt like I had to anticipate the activation lights. If I actually responded to seeing the lights it was too late. Maybe there are some people with great reflexes that are able to actually wait for the lights, but I have a feeling most people anticipate them to some degree. It's really more about excellent timing than pure reaction, IMO. If you're too afraid of getting locked out you're being too timid.

Agree 100%.

[IronNeck]

It's not buzzer "speed", it's buzzer timing. Timing is a function of one's reactions, whether you're anticipating the lights or waiting for them.

And as we know from exhaustive studies, reactions slow down with age. Yeah, a 48 year-old with good reaction times will be better than a 24 year-old with poor ones, but I will definitely be worse at reacting when I'm 48 than when I was 24.

[boson]

It's just one part of a much larger equation, there are many talents in play and nobody is awesome at every single facet. Even guys like Brad and KJ have holes in their games.

Those holes are pretty tiny. When you have amazing timing, dozens of games of experience, and broad/deep knowledge it takes a very very special game to defeat either of them.

[AleBelly]

You get plenty of time to work on this during rehearsal, so you will gain comfort with buzzing in...and even get the chance to find out which approach works for you.

I don't think there's a universal best approach. I taped as a 40-year-old, and relied mostly on waiting for the lights. I found in rehearsal that I wasn't good at timing, so I made the decision to rely on reflexes for the game.

But I started getting my ass kicked on the buzzer, so I switched to timing. I locked myself out a couple of times, but I made the change out of necessity. In my subsequent games I relied on reflexes again and that worked out well.

The purpose of this rambling is to suggest that you might want to be flexible in your strategy. Your success on the buzzer will depend to some measure on the success of your opponents.

[JUkeman]

Somehow appropriate that I'm a day late ringing in on this subject.

I was on the December 9 show, and, appearances to the contrary, I had a great time in spite of buckets of buzzer frustration. Tim and Lara were great competitors, and my comments aren't intended to reflect anything but admiration for their playing skills.

I will be 70 next month. I did give the J! gods plenty of other opportunities to get me in my prime (auditioned in 1970 for the Art Fleming version), but when I got the call in September, I was as pumped as anyone to kill it.

And because I'd been aware for a while that reflexes diminish with age, I had built a very elaborate Jeopardy! simulator that essentially reproduces game play using content from J! Archive. The simulator randomly pops a signal light on the screen after the clue's been read (because, in the living room, people could key off the MC's "enabling" mouse click - which you can't hear in the studio), locks players out if they ring too soon, and enables the first player to answer.

I've played hundreds of games on this system, against a pretty wide range of opponents, and going into the studio, the one thing I felt confident about was my buzzer speed. I'm still not sure why the training didn't translate to the studio - it may be what others have said - if you wait for the light to come on, you're, likely too late. I did try to modify my timing and mostly felt that I was ringing in too soon. I held the buzzer up, down, sideways and behind my back ...

The more serious issue for older players is cognitive: I was sloppy on an "N" category that wanted the name of a Canadian dog: Having been to the Newfoundland museum in St. John's that has a beautiful statue of Newfie up front, I offered up "Labrador." I was sloppy on another clue that essentially asked or the war which was going on in 1967. I was registered for the draft back then, and still came up with the Civil War - because "Anderson" was in the clue. And when "Andersonville" actually came up I'm a later clue, nada.

Anyway, it was a great experience and an honor to have been given the chance. I'd recommend, if at all possible, getting your appearance in before you hit 70. I did, but the four-month margin was apparently not enough.

[Winchell Factor]

Buzzer speed is irrelevant. Buzzer timing is everything.

What I find slowing down with age is speed of recall. Making connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information (which is what Jeopardy! really is) now takes me about 20-25% longer than it did 20 years ago.

Seconded.

Concerning the buzzer, the essential question seems to be whether you'll watch for the lights or try to anticipate them based on Alex's cadence. In my season, Alex Jacob and Brennan Bushee stand out as two excellent players who did watch for the lights and react to them. Both had great success, but both are much younger than 50, and both have spent a lot more time playing games than I have. I never tried playing by watching the lights; neither did most of the other older players I know.

[morbeedo]

First rule of Jeopardy! for gomers: "You have to ring in."

[whoisalexjacob]

Buzzer speed is irrelevant. Buzzer timing is everything.

What I find slowing down with age is speed of recall. Making connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information (which is what Jeopardy! really is) now takes me about 20-25% longer than it did 20 years ago.

Seconded.

Concerning the buzzer, the essential question seems to be whether you'll watch for the lights or try to anticipate them based on Alex's cadence. In my season, Alex Jacob and Brennan Bushee stand out as two excellent players who did watch for the lights and react to them. Both had great success, but both are much younger than 50, and both have spent a lot more time playing games than I have. I never tried playing by watching the lights; neither did most of the other older players I know.

I never waited for the lights.

[BobF]

Buzzer speed is irrelevant. Buzzer timing is everything.

What I find slowing down with age is speed of recall. Making connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information (which is what Jeopardy! really is) now takes me about 20-25% longer than it did 20 years ago.

Seconded.

Concerning the buzzer, the essential question seems to be whether you'll watch for the lights or try to anticipate them based on Alex's cadence. In my season, Alex Jacob and Brennan Bushee stand out as two excellent players who did watch for the lights and react to them. Both had great success, but both are much younger than 50, and both have spent a lot more time playing games than I have. I never tried playing by watching the lights; neither did most of the other older players I know.

I never waited for the lights.

What about omgwheelhouse?

[Sherm]

I was going to post to Vaughn that if Alex Jacob told you he waited for the lights, and you believed it. Keep in mind, the guy is a pro poker player, and he had to have been lying. There is no way a person could have been as dominate as he was on the buzzer during his ToC run if he was waiting on the lights. I always remember one of the first threads I ever read on this board as a lurker years ago. I understood then, if I ever got on the show, DO NOT wait for the lights. The termed used then was "Zen".

In fact, here is the thread. "What was Your Buzzing Strategy?" A blast from the past. OK, July, 2011.

https://jboard.tv/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=165