Sports vision therapy
Sports vision therapy (SVT) is a specialty within the field of optometry. Practitioners train patients to fine-tune visual skills that can improve their sports performance. This type of therapy can also increase functionality in daily life. It can serve as preventive care by improving coordination and reaction time.
In general eye care, an optometrist helps patients maintain healthy eyes and vision. Doctors check patients' eyes and visual acuity, prescribing glasses and contacts if needed. They also diagnose, treat and manage eye conditions and vision problems.
SVT goes beyond standard care, teaching patients to hone dynamic visual skills, including:
- Hand-eye coordination
- Peripheral vision
- Spatial awareness
- Depth perception
Training is tailored to the unique demands of a person’s chosen sport and visual needs.
Vision plays a pivotal role in sports performance and injury prevention. Poor visual skills can lead to missed opportunities or even accidents. This makes vision training a vital tool for athletes aiming to excel and stay safe.
A sports vision specialist can build vital vision skills in your athlete. Doing so will ultimately improve their game and protect their vision.
Key visual skills improved by sports vision therapy
Athletic vision therapy focuses on the visual skills that make the biggest impact on the field and court. Here’s how SVT targets five critical areas:
Eye-hand coordination
Eye-hand coordination is the ability to have your hands where you need them to respond to what you see. Your brain does this by processing the visual data your eyes capture and using that information to determine your body’s motor response.
Sports examples include:
- Positioning yourself to respond to a tennis serve
- Timing your baseball swing to ensure it makes contact with the ball
Benefits of fine-tuning this skill include improved accuracy when hitting, throwing and catching.
Training methods for eye-hand coordination often involve reaction drills. Common drills include the use of a sensor-pad touch board. Circles are placed evenly across the board, with lights and sensors in each circle.
Athletes face the board at arm’s length. When the training begins, a circle lights up briefly on the board. The athlete must touch the circle to turn off the light. Once they do, another circle lights up. The athlete is timed to see how long it takes for them to touch a certain number of lights as fast as they can.
Depth perception
Depth perception, also called stereopsis, helps you judge how far away things are. It’s tied to binocular vision, which is your brain’s ability to integrate visual information from both eyes to create a single 3D image. There are two types of stereopsis:
- Dynamic – Dynamic stereopsis is used in “catching” sports with a moving target. They help you gauge when to jump for a basketball rebound or close your glove around a baseball.
- Static – Static stereopsis is used in sports where the target is fixed, like golf or archery.
The ability to accurately judge distance and depth is important for optimal sports performance. The “pencil push-up” exercise can be done at home using just a pencil and an index card. To do the push-ups, you repeatedly shift your focus from near to far and vice versa. This trains your eyes to work together better, which also improves your ability to perceive depth.
Visual tracking
Visual tracking is the smooth, continuous following of moving objects with only the eyes. It’s utilized when you try to follow a fast-moving hockey puck or the trajectory of a golf ball. The skill involves keeping your eyes locked on something as it moves.
In sports, athletes often practice multiple object tracking. This involves the visual tracking of multiple objects (or people) at the same time and responding accordingly. For example, to make a catch, a wide receiver in football tracks the movements of the quarterback, the football and the nearby cornerbacks (defenders). And they do all of this while running designated routes at high speeds.
Strong tracking skills help you stay focused on fast-moving objects, whether you’re batting, catching or kicking. Visual tracking therapy can also improve cognitive skills, such as thinking, learning, remembering, problem solving and decision making.
Peripheral vision
Peripheral vision, also known as side vision, allows you to see what’s around you without turning your head. In football, it helps you spot a defender sneaking up. In volleyball, it lets you track teammates.
Improving the use of your peripheral vision can make it easier to keep track of what’s going on around you. Wide-field awareness drills using Fitlight technology can help enhance your peripheral awareness, potentially allowing for quicker response times.
Reaction time
Reaction time is the speed that your brain processes what your eyes see. In sports, taking an extra few milliseconds to react could affect whether you:
- Hit a home run in baseball or strike out
- Dive in time to block a goal in soccer or let the other team score
- Duck a punch in boxing or get knocked out
Faster reactions mean smarter, quicker decisions.
Some SVT specialists use strobe light training and rapid-response games to help athletes speed up reaction times.
Benefits of sports vision therapy for athletes
One of the main reasons to pursue sports vision training is to enhance your overall athletic performance. But vision therapy has other benefits too. SVT may help:
- Lower an athlete’s injury risk
- Boost an athlete’s confidence
- Detect undiagnosed concussions
- Promote recovery following concussion or traumatic brain injury
- Strengthen overall cognitive skills
It’s important to note that vision therapy does not replace regular comprehensive eye exams. While the program includes an athlete's vision assessment, it does not check for the quality and health of an athlete’s eyesight.
How sports vision therapy works
Sports vision therapy often begins with an athletic vision assessment. An optometrist or SVT specialist checks how your eyes perform in sports-specific situations.
Based on the athlete’s sport and their areas of weakness, the assessor will create a custom training plan or program. These plans typically include a combination of:
- In-office sessions for assessment and use of clinic-based equipment
- At-home exercises and drills to maintain progress between office visits
Training programs can last a few weeks to several months, depending on the athlete. Plans are customized based on a person’s vision and athletic needs and goals. Throughout the program, the SVT specialist monitors the person’s progress and makes adjustments as needed.
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Who can benefit from sports vision therapy?
Almost any athlete can benefit from sports vision training. Youth players, including high school standouts, get an edge for tryouts or scholarships. Amateur and professional athletes can sharpen their skills to stay competitive. Even an athlete recovering from a concussion or eye injury can rebuild their game with therapy.
Retired pros and non-athletes can also look to SVT to sharpen their reaction time, eye-hand coordination and other vision skills. While their assigned exercises may focus less on sports use cases, they can still use the training to help enhance their visual abilities.
When to consider sports vision therapy
Performance vision therapy may be right for you if you ever experience:
- Difficulty tracking fast objects – Struggling to follow a speeding ball or puck might improve with training for visual tracking.
- Frequent misses or errors in play – Missing catches or misjudging shots could point to poor depth perception.
- Post-concussion vision issues – After a concussion, your brain and eyes might not sync up correctly, causing blurry vision or dizziness.
- Inconsistent sports performance – Fluctuating success from game to game could become more consistent with the help of performance vision therapy.
- Trouble tracking multiple objects – Practicing multiple object tracking can help you keep an eye on the ball and other players at the same time.
Getting started with sports vision therapy
If you’re ready to give vision therapy a try, be sure to find a qualified sports vision specialist. Ask your coach or eye doctor if they have any recommendations. It’s important to have a comprehensive eye exam first to diagnose and correct any vision problems that could be getting in your way.
After your eye doctor rules out any eye health or vision issues, the SVT specialist can provide a sports-specific assessment and start your custom vision training plan. Taking care of your eyes and building on your visual skills can help boost your performance and keep you at the top of your game.
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