VISION IN SPORTS

HETEROPHORIA (EYE ALIGNMENT)

The measure of an athlete’s resting eye alignment; the position that the eyes point with respect to one another in the absence of all stimuli for fusion. This visual tendency cannot be observed under normal binocular fixation. In order to measure heterophoria, it must be conducted within specific testing conditions.

Esophoria (E) - This indicates the eyes have a tendency to rest inward

Volleyball: An athlete may approach late as they perceive the ball higher than its actual physical location. This misinterpretation of visual information can lead to a missed hit or poor timing.

Exophoria (X) - This indicates the eyes have a tendency to rest outward

Baseball/Softball: An athlete may swing early as they perceive the ball closer to home plate than its actual physical location. This leads to more swings and misses, strikeouts, and more soft contact.

VERGENCE

When the visual axes move towards or away from one another. Vergence movements can be horizontal or vertical.

Divergence -The ability of the eyes to move out while maintaining single vision, i.e. (right eye axis moves right and left eye axis moves left)

Tennis: An athlete needs to maintain depth perception when they hit the ball across court to their opponent. Quality divergence skills can help with anticipation when their opponent returns the ball back to them.

Convergence-The ability of the eyes to move inward and maintain single vision, i.e. (right eye axis moves left, left eye axis moves right)

Lacrosse: Receiving a pass from their teammate or intercepting a pass from an opponent at high speeds requires quality convergence skills. Poor convergence skills can lead to missing the ball, tipping a ball, or catching the ball in the wrong area of the crosse. This can lead to inefficient passing or having the ability to shoot quickly.

Vertical- Supra/Infravergence (one axis moves up and one axis moves down)

DEPTH PERCEPTION

Quickly and accurately judge distance of other players or objects in your visual field

Basketball: Poor depth perception could mean inconsistent shooting, passing and court awareness, especially when the background is variable (open arena, dome, or closed gym setting).

Motorsports: Racing motor vehicles of any type requires high level visual skills. Being able to accurately judge speed, distance and the proximity of other vehicles is extremely important in order to execute the most efficient maneuvers. Efficient maneuvers can mean quicker lap times.

VISUAL PROCESSING

The ability to process information quickly while reacting and making decisions

Lacrosse: A defensive player anticipating a pass across the field and quickly lifting his/her crosse to intercept the pass. Seeing where the offensive players are, while maintaining focus on the ball is vital on defense. Poor visual processing skills can have delays in reaction time.

Hockey: An offensive player attacking the net with the puck deciding whether to shoot or pass. The offensive player needs to see his teammates, the defense, and the goalie to make this decision. Processing information slowly or having poor visual capabilities can delay the opportunity to score or make the right pass.

DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY

Maintaining a clear visual picture while in motion (athlete or object)

Football: Delays in dynamic acuity could translate into poor clarity of the football, ie. when the athlete is running and either catching or defending a pass.

Baseball: Being able to identify and make a decision while an object ie. baseball, is in rapid motion is extremely important in baseball. This translates to getting to the correct spot while chasing a fly ball in the outfield or deciding whether or not to swing at a pitch.

VISUAL TRACKING

Track specific targets quickly and accurately with the ability to block out distraction

Softball: Following a softball while keeping head still is especially important while hitting or fielding.

Soccer: Rarely does any player in soccer look at the same object for long periods of time, they are constantly scanning their eyes looking at other players, the sideline, the ball, etc. Quick and accurate tracking can translate to better decision making.

BALANCE & COORDINATION

The ability to move multiple body parts at once while staying in control of the movement

Hockey: Being able to avoid contact, find an open space, or maintain position while possessing the puck is easier with better balance and coordination.

Football: Some collisions are unavoidable, but being able to coordinate vision and body can help to avoid potential season ending collisions.

EYE-HAND COORDINATION

How your hands and vision work together to perform tasks that require speed and accuracy

Volleyball: Poor ability to coordinate eyes and hands could lead to inconsistencies in rhythm and timing while passing, setting and spiking.

Golf: Being able to accurately interpret visual information and make an accurate movement, such as in teeing off or putting is extremely important in golf. Swing accuracy is much dependent on where you see the ball.

REACTION TIME

The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus (hand or foot)

Baseball: A fastball takes 0.4 seconds to reach home plate after it leaves a pitcher’s hand, but a hitter needs a full 0.25 seconds to see the ball and react. Poor reaction time can be the difference between making contact or swinging and missing.

Trap/Skeet shooting: Quicker reaction time means being better able to locate the target and accurately hit it.

SPAN AND SPEED OF RECOGNITION

The amount of information that can be taken in and the time it takes to process/react

Boxing: The faster a boxer can determine the type of hit coming from his opponent, ie. jab, hook, etc the more time he has to avoid the hit or utilize the appropriate counter punch.

Tennis: This is important in order to visually locate the ball and then recognize and determine the speed and spin to determine the proper return shot. Most often, only fractions of a second are available to make this determination.

VISUALIZATION

Conscious image control of successful movement patterns

Golf: Before the swing, being able to visualize the swing path, speed and end result; positive visualization can be used as a mental rehearsal to achieve optimum results.

Hockey: Goalies have to visualize trajectory of the puck when trying to make a stop. They have to locate the puck and then predict/visualize where it’s going.

VISUAL MEMORY

A form of memory which preserves visual characteristics of past experiences

Football: Being able to retrieve the play that is called and then transfer that into action is all part of visual memory. Recalling this information quickly and efficiently will give the athlete a competitive advantage. Also, being able to recall opponent tendencies can be used to gain a competitive advantage.

Golf: Remembering pin location on the green when teeing off is important. This will help determine the type of swing.

PERIPHERAL VISION

Ability to see movement of objects outside direct line of sight

Motorsports: The driver of a high speed vehicle has to know where they are going and simultaneously be aware of other vehicles, boundaries, etc. This skills need to be automatic in order to be an efficient driver.

Basketball: To be an efficient ball player, it’s important to always know where the ball is and simultaneously know where teamates, opponents and boundaries are located. Peripheral vision also helps with keeping your balance.