Sports Vision Training for the Win!

When we are considering ways to improve our performance in sport, we usually think about things like strength, speed, and skill. But what about our vision? Not just our eyesight, but the way our eyes and brain work together to process the game in real-time. That’s where sports vision training comes in.

Sports vision training is a developing discipline, based on the theory that better visual skills – eg eye tracking, depth perception and peripheral awareness – lead to better athletic performance.

At the heart of this approach is behavioural optometry – a field that looks beyond 20/20 vision. The focus (excuse the pun) is on how a person’s visual system works during movement, under pressure, and in dynamic environments – like the sports field.

Vision and the Brain: A Winning Team

The aim of sports vision training is to help strengthen the connection between your eyes and your brain. So why does this matter?

In sport, decisions happen in milliseconds! The faster your brain can process what your eyes are seeing – such as a ball flying at you, or a teammate breaking away – the faster and more accurately you can respond.

Whether you’re a school-aged soccer player, a weekend golfer, a professional archer, training your visual system may help give you a competitive edge on the playing field (1).

The Visual Skills That Impact Sports Performance

Some key visual skills that can make or break your game include:

• Eye Tracking: Crucial for ball sports like tennis, netball, cricket or AFL. Good eye tracking helps you follow the ball accurately and anticipate movement.
• Depth Perception: This helps you judge distances – think about lining up a putt, catching a high ball, or aiming at a moving target such as when clay pigeon shooting.
• Peripheral Awareness: This helps you sense who’s around you without needing to turn your head, and is essential in fast-moving team sports.
• Visual Reaction Time: How quickly you can see, process, and respond. Sports like boxing, football and squash rely on rapid visual decisions.
• Hand-Eye Coordination: Needed for catching, hitting or passing, for example in baseball and basketball. It’s the fine-tuned link between what you see and how your body moves.

How a Behavioural Optometrist May Help

Behavioural optometrists, like the team at Aphrodite Livanes Optometrists, can assess your visual skills and tailor a sports vision therapy program to your individual needs. This might include:

• Digital vision therapy programs – utilising interactive software to replicate your sport
• Exercises using balls, balance boards, or lenses
• Computer-based eye tracking and reaction time drills
• Visual memory games
• Hand-eye coordination drills using balls, racquets, or targets
• Sports prescription glasses

These tools and techniques are designed to sharpen your visual performance in ways that align with your sport, position, and goals.

Sports Vision Training Goals

With regular sports vision therapy, you may notice benefits such as:

• Sharper accuracy
• Faster reactions
• Greater confidence under pressure
• Less eye fatigue
• Better focus (1)
• Decreased injuries (2)

Your eyes are part of your team – train them well! If you’re ready to take your game to the next level, book an appointment with a Brisbane behavioural optometrist at Aphrodite Livanes, and explore what sports vision training may be able to do for you.

References:

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1750984X.2024.2437385#abstract
2. https://journals.lww.com/optvissci/fulltext/2021/07000/review__vision_and_on_field_performance__a.7.aspx