Sports Performance
Athletes are becoming increasingly more aware of the advantages of superior vision to their game. High level and professional athletes are becoming more involved in neuro-visual training for Sports performance.
They are enhancing their visual skills to improve their game and give them the much desired edge over their competition. Sports Performance training is becoming the new frontier in improving sports performance
for athletes.
What is Sports Performance Training?
Sports Performance Training, a form of vision therapy, and is aimed at developing specific visual skills and processing in athletes of all ages. Prescribed activities retrain the brain to effectively interact with the eyes and improve visual function which improves sports performance. This has been referred to as “the new frontier” for performance enhancement with professional athletes. Many pro-players are including Sports Performance Training as part of their regimen to give them a unique and improved edge over the competition.
Training focuses on heightening an athlete’s visual abilities within their sport. Through visual tests, NeuroVision can determine a players level of visual function as it relates to their game. A comprehensive neurovisual training program is then implemented to improve skills such as tracking, near-far focus, peripheral awareness, hand-eye coordination, visual reaction time, as well as balance.
Neurovisual training for sports also has expected benefits such as the potential to improve reading, academics, as well as mental/emotional constructs.
Visual Skills in Sports
Peripheral Focus
The ability to see all around to the sides as well as above and below, such as seeing the puck on the ice and the players all around, while keeping the central focus locked on target straight ahead. This is important for knowing where things are, and for coordinating movement. It tells the body what’s going on all around us. Narrow focus on the ice or the field would limit decision making and options, as well as not seeing defending players and the ability to protect oneself in the game. When peripheral focus is maximized, athletes have a heightened awareness of what’s developing in the play. They see more of the field of play, seeing more options for greater anticipation and opportunities in the game.
Near-Far Focus
The ability to change the eyes position of gaze between far and close. Being able to change focus quickly is important for most aspects of sports, including the ability to know how far away things are. When this is not optimized in sports, there can be a difficulty localizing and following the play from end to end. When this is optimized, the player has a better understanding following the play and better able to engage with the players that are close while making decisions on how to play the ball or puck.
Tracking
The ability to move the eyes smoothly to follow a moving object like a player, the puck or a ball. When this skill is not efficient it’s easy to lose the puck or lose track of the ball. These players with reduced tracking skills may have difficulty following the play and the game. The importance of well developed tracking skills is that it allows the player to engage appropriately when there are unpredictable patterns of play that they need to be able track in order to make solid decisions in the game.
Visual Reaction Time/
Eye-hand Coordination
The visual system tells the body what to do. For accurate play in sports the visual system gives the arm/hand/foot accurate information as to where in space it needs to be to react appropriately. When this system is not accurate, a person can be uncoordinated, miss the puck or ball, and fail to make the necessary plays. Developing this system is important for a player to be able to show up in the game, to direct the appropriate action in time, and to react immediately without hesitation or delay. This will help winning battles for the puck, or one-timing the play.
Visual Efficiency
and Stamina
This means that the eyes move around for the whole game without getting tired. The eyes are constantly in motion the whole game which can use up a lot of extra energy and effort if the eye movement skills are not efficient and properly developed for high efficiency. Players who have less visual efficiency may find that they are on their game for the first half of the game and then it falls apart in the later half. The players who have improved visual efficiency and stamina have more ability for consistency in their game to deliver the same level of performance from start to finish.
Eye Teaming
and Binocularity
These are the skills that allow the two eyes to work together as a team which gives optimum depth perception. There are many levels of depth perception ability. A player with reduced depth perception may not be able to judge positioning of where things are in the game as well, or as easily. Those players who have better quality and quantity of depth perception, and who are able to maintain depth perception over a wider range of eye movement, will have an advantage to be more accurate in performance.
Sports Performance Evaluation
This evaluation is for athletes who want to elevate their game to the next level!
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This assessment addresses:
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Eye-hand coordination
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Visual fatigue
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Performance stamina and consistency
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Tracking
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Peripheral vision
This evaluation consists of one appointment.
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Doctor Visual Skill Exam & Treatment Plan Assessment
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the doctor will investigate over a dozen functional visual skills as it relates to your unique situation, and prescribe a treatment plan and vision therapy program to enhance and maximize your visual skills as it relates to your sport
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The appointment is 1 hour.