Sports Vision Training

“The Eyes Lead the Body” - Blanton Collier, legendary football coach

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Visual Processing Is How Sport Is Played

The visual skills of athletes, especially those in visually demanding sports, are essential. Focusing, tracking fast-moving objects, and reacting quickly can make a difference between winning and losing.

Often when we think of vision, we solely focus on 20/20 clarity of vision which is extremely important, however there are many more aspects to our visual system which are essential in maximizing athletic performance.

Great Athletes require better than 20/20 vision, in fact over 70% of Major League Baseball players have better than 20/15 vision. While every athlete can improve their vision, it is especially important if you notice any of the following signs in your sports performance.

Inconsistent performance
Successful performance only when body is stationary, but not when in motion
Successful performance only in specific aspects of the sport
Decrease in performance as pressure increases
Discomfort during or after performance which is not related to the muscles being used

If you have noticed any of the above phenomena, there could be an underlying challenge related to a visual skill which could successfully be strengthened with the aid of a sports vision optometrist.

Which visual skills are essential for an athlete’s success?

Depth perception
Eye - hand coordination
Eye tracking
Eye focus at various distances
Reaction time
Peripheral vision
Visualization
Visual processing
Visual memory

In addition, it’s important to mention that achieving effective visual skills can help with the self-confidence of athletes of all ages and stages.

Which visual skills are essential for an athlete’s success?

Professional and amateur athletes have been using sports vision training to improve core visual skills. For example the University of Cincinnati Baseball team showed improvements of 10% or more across all tracked batting parameters after sports vision training.

Some examples include:

Baseball: batters are required to hit pitches thrown at speeds as fast as 100mph, leaving them less time than it takes to blink to decide whether and how to swing
Tennis: the entire aim is to keep track of a small, fast-moving ball, so you can hit it back onto your opponent’s side of the field, making eye tracking a vital skill
Hockey or cycling: the athlete must clearly see and track moving objects, such as a puck and other athletes, while they are also in motion
Basketball: the athlete must know where teammates and opponents are positioned, and use that information to move up the court at speed while avoiding the opponents
Archery: heightened visual concentration allows a professional to tune out everything except the target so they can make the perfect shot

The examples are endless, as all sports and physical activity are completely tied to the athlete’s visual abilities.In sports, nearly 80% of perceptual input is visual.

Sports Vision Team

Dr. Zurcher, leads the sports vision program at American Family Vision Clinic, providing sport specific neuro-visual training to athletes from beginners to elite. As part of the Sports Vision program, a sports vision doctor can prescribe a wide variety of training and activities that help boost every athletes' performance.

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Testimonials

Such a nice optician. My grandson is only 4 and needs glasses. We were so sad, but he explained the issues, and we will follow up as he suggested.

Anna P.

I had such a good experience with the clinic. Very friendly staff and doctor, did not have to wait for long to be called, and was treated respectfully. Thanks, American Family.

June S.

Dr. Zurcher has gone above and beyond what any other eye doctor has ever done to figure out what is going on with my eyes. Very happy with American Family Vision.

Christine R.

Family Vision Clinic changed our lives! My daughter was frequently car sick, and she was getting headaches every day, often painful enough that they brought her to tears. We saw a string of doctors and therapists, but we made no progress. Finally, we found Dr. Levi Zurcher and his eye therapist Rain. After ten weeks of eye therapy my daughter no longer gets headaches, and she no longer gets car sick. Daily tears are a thing of the past. I really can’t say enough about this clinic. It was fascinating to watch Dr. Zurcher work. For the first time, someone who knew what they were doing was intently studying my daughter, really trying to figure out all of her eye issues, and his therapist Rain is one of the most patient and lovely people that I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet. We’re finished with eye therapy—yay!—and I have switched to American Family Vision Clinic for all of my family’s other eye health needs.

Lars Wulff

Very professional, yet kind and helpful. They do what they can to make the appointment comfortable. I was running a bit late, I made sure ti call. They were able to switch me with a patient who was already there, they treated me with respect, and helped my son have confidence by getting him the eye care he needed that day. Thank you so much! Would recommend to anyone. It's a blessing that they care enough to work with people who have all different types of insurance from work to state coverage.