Sports Vision

Think of your favorite sport. Whether its shooting a few hoops, sinking that long putt, or accelerating down your favorite hill in skiing, vision plays a very important role in your performance. Most people think of vision as seeing 20/20 on the eyechart. That is only one important skill involved in maximum visual performance. Coordination, concentration, balance and accuracy are just a few of the visually-related abilities you use during a sporting event.
 
Consistently underperforming a certain skill in a sport, such as always hitting the front of the rim in basketball or overshooting the hole on the green, may be a result of your eyes and not your athletic skill. If certain visual skills are not up to par, you may unconsciously compensate for them and weak spots may develop in your game. These weak spots become obvious to your opponent who, depending on the level of competition, will play on them. A comprehensive Sports Vision evaluation can help identify any weaknesses.

In addition to a routine eye examination, which should evaluate the refractive and health condition of the eyes, the following are visual skills that can be further evaluated in a Sports Vision Workup:

1. Visual Acuity: Clarity of vision (static visual acuity) is critical in all visual sports.Just as important to sports is dynamic visual acuity , which is a measurement of how clearly an athlete can see moving objects and should also be evaluated. In addition, contrast sensitivity may be even more critical to athletic performance. Contrast sensitivity measurements give an indication of visual sensitivity to detail and how well the eyes see during different weather and lighting conditions.

2. Eye Movement Skills: Two types of eye movements should be evaluated. Saccades are eye jumping movements when looking from one object to another. Pursuits are smooth eye movements which are important in tracking moving objects. The speed and accuracy of these skills should be tested.

3. Accommodation/Vergence: The ability to efficiently change eye focusing and eye aiming when looking between objects at different distances should be tested. Efficient accommodation and vergence abilities are critical for any athlete involved in a sport which requires visual awareness of objects or players at different distances from the athlete. The testing should also probe the athlete’s likelihood of visual judgment errors when fatigued or experiencing high levels of stress.

4. Depth Perception/Eye Teaming: Depth perception is the ability  to use binocular vision to judge distances and should be evaluated at various distances and positions of gaze. These skills are critical in the athlete’s judgment of distance and speed.

5. Central/Peripheral Visual Recognition: This is a skill that measures the athlete’s accuracy and quickness in recognizing visual information and measures the response time to information in the peripheral field of view .

6. Eye-Hand-Body Coordination: These skills are critical in any fast moving sport. The speed and accuracy of eye-hand coordination and body movements in response to visual information should be tested. In addition, the visual factors involved in maintaining balance during athletic performance should be evaluated using a sequence of vision/balance tasks which simulate actual sports performance conditions.

7. Visual Concentration: This is the ability to focus your attention on the athletic task while filtering out peripheral distractions.

8. Visualization: Visualization involves picturing different parts of your activity in your "mind’s eye" while your eyes are seeing and concentrating on something else, usually the performance. Studies show that when you visualize yourself performing a particular activity, the muscles of the body actually contract. This is a form of actual sports training. Visualization can boost your confidence and aid in greater focus on your athletic goals.

If a weakness is found in any of the above areas, a Sports Vision enhancement or training program can be developed to improve these skills.

In addition to testing and training these visual skills, Sports Vision also encompasses providing custom designed and sports specific contact lenses and protective eyewear for the athlete.

Professional and weekend athletes have found that vision can play an important role in sports performance. It may be the one thing that keeps a good athlete from being an exceptional one. It also can be the all-important factor that pushes a good athlete into a category of excellence.

Two Actual Profiles of Sports Vision Patients

Profile 1-   John W. of Bethel, CT   - As a serious weekend tennis player, I take my sport seriously and will do whatever it takes to gain a competitive edge. About a year ago, I noticed that my timing was off on my backhand shot. I was consistently a little late in getting to the ball on my left side and I had trouble concentrating late in the game. I just assumed that I physically wasn’t in optimum shape.

During my routine eye exam, I mentioned this to my doctor. He recommended that I have a sports vision evaluation to analyze whether my eyes were the cause. The testing took about two hours and was unlike any other eye exam that I have ever had. When we were finished, the doctor wrote a comprehensive report summarizing my visual strengths and weaknesses. As it turns out, I needed some work on my reaction time and eye-hand coordination. I decided to do a sports vision training program, which lasted about 12 weeks. This consisted of exercises to do in the office, at home, and on the tennis court. About halfway through the program, I noticed that my timing had improved. I was now consistently reacting to the ball better. I also noticed that I was more alert during the entire match. By the end of the program, I felt that I had much better control over my eyes as well as my game. I strongly recommend having a sports vision evaluation to any athlete, at any level, who is serious about their game.

Profile 2 - Richard M. of Ridgefield, CT -. As a weekend golfer, I enjoy being outdoors and socializing with my friends out on the course. I enjoy the game, but I was getting frustrated over my putting skills. I seemed to always have trouble reading the greens and undershooting the putt. I decided to take some lessons from the club pro. After working with him awhile, he helped me in all other aspects of the game, but the putting problem still remained. He recommended that I see an optometrist that specializes in sports vision. I went to him about two weeks later. He did a complete eye exam to check my prescription and check the health of my eyes. Everything was fine. He then had me come back about two weeks later and did a whole battery of tests that related to my golf game. He even had a putter in his office that I used to show him how I lined up the ball. The results showed that my eyes have a tendency to pull in, which in turn affected my ability to judge things at a distance. My eyes were telling my brain that the hole was closer to me than it really was and as a result, I tended to undershoot the putt. I also had trouble with seeing detail under certain lighting conditions which explains why I had trouble reading the green at times.

The first thing that he did, was prescribe a specific tint for my eyeglasses that helped me see contrast and fine detail better. It was amazing how I could immediately see the improvement out on the course. The second thing that he did was "teach" my eyes to align better on objects through a series of eye training techniques. I actually enjoyed doing them. By the end of the program, my eyes were aligning more accurately and were giving my brain the proper message. My depth perception improved, and as a result my putting game improved. As an added benefit, not only did my golf game improve, but I noticed that my eyes didn’t tire as much at work. I’m on a computer throughout most of the day and there are certain times when I would find that I had difficulty concentrating on my work. This doesn’t occur anymore. I now realize that my eyes were also affecting my productivity at work. I am thrilled that I underwent the sports vision program. I recommend it to all of my friends and co-workers at the office!