Son Gohan's Hand-Eye Coordination (or lack thereof)

[Black Hawk]

In Chapter 421 of the Dragon Ball manga, Son Gohan, as a Super Saiyajin (though it is implied he only transformed to disguise himself), was able to effortlessly catch several bullets in rapid succession. In Chapter 427, Super Saiyajin Gohan was able to dodge several rocks thrown by Goten at speeds most certainly exceeding those of bullets. In the Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods film, a drunken (and, therefore, most likely impaired) base Gohan was able to effortlessly deflect bullets fired at his face by Mai with a single finger. In Chapter 502 of the manga, however, Gohan, after having his latent power unlocked by the elder Kaiōshin, failed to catch a Potara earring tossed to him by his father.

I can understand that, out-of-universe, Toriyama-sensei may have already, at that point, planned for Vegetto to appear, therefore making it necessary for Gohan not to fuse with Gokū. However, is there a way to justify or rationalize this apparent discrepancy in-universe?

The only explanation I can think of is that Gokū's toss had a much greater velocity than a bullet fired from any type of gun; however, if I remember correctly, Gokū tossed the Potara in such a way that it traveled in an arc toward Gohan, implying that it was simply a normal toss, rather than an incredibly powerful throw exceeding the speed of a bullet. Additionally, after Gohan was absorbed by Evil Boo, Gokū considered fusing with Dende and Hercule, ultimately choosing Hercule, and calls out to him, an above-average human (though, nonetheless, not a superhuman) to catch the Potara.

Any ideas?

[dbzfan7]

Not even a question of how the earring didn't shatter? It was pretty easily breakable. I have no real answer as Gohan needed to miss, otherwise he'd end up fusing with Goku. Perhaps Gohan didn't see the earring or know what Goku was up to, so he just stood their like a dolt?

[Black Hawk]

Not even a question of how the earring didn't shatter? It was pretty easily breakable.

That's...actually a really good point. When Gokū and Vegeta crushed the second set of Potara given to them, though, perhaps it was their superhuman strength that allowed them to do so; for all we know, the Potara could actually be quite durable. It's just that, when we see them crushed to pieces, they're crushed to pieces by two of the strongest beings in the universe.

I have no real answer as Gohan needed to miss, otherwise he'd end up fusing with Goku. Perhaps Gohan didn't see the earring or know what Goku was up to, so he just stood their like a dolt?

Gokū did spring it on Gohan pretty quickly and without much of an explanation, true. Perhaps Gohan was trying to process just what his dad was up to. As smart as he is, though, I'd honestly have figured he could have both thought about what was going on and caught the Potara simultaneously.

[DBZAOTA482]

The mystic power up gave him brain damage which fucked up his vision.

[kinisking]

It was during that moment that Gohan realized he needed glasses.

[NitroEX]

The mystic power up gave him brain damage which fucked up his vision.

If that was the case he'd no longer need glasses in Super since Mystic was stripped from him.

[Bando]

Goku threw it in a straight line toward Gohan, but Gohan should have been able to react. It's not like Goku threw it in Super Saiyan 3 or while Gohan was exhausted (Dende healed him a minute prior). He was many times stronger than his father in base, hundreds or thousands possibly. Even Bootenks should have been able to easily catch it like Burter caught the dragonball thrown by Vegeta.

[Lord Beerus]

Gohan was so fatigued from the ass kickng Bootenks gave him that it affected his concentration when Goku abruptly throw an earring at him very quickly expecting him to catch.

[Captain Strawberry]

The power of drama