Helping Athletes Improve Through Sports Vision

As the name would suggest, sports vision is all about the vision of athletes, and the training that it takes to improve their visual acuity and abilities. The goal is to help enhance the performance on the field or the court by improving vision. Some of the main components that Sports Neurology specialists will look at when testing sports vision include hand-eye coordination, focusing, dynamic visual acuity, tracking ability, visual reaction time, depth perception, and peripheral awareness.

All of these are very important when it comes to doing well in sports, but different sports may focus more on certain components than others do. Sports neurologists who are working with athletes in these different types of sports always make sure they tailor their sports vision programs specifically toward the areas important to that particular sport.

The different types of visual skills include:

• Hand-eye coordination: This refers to the skill people have at moving their body in conjunction with what their eyes are seeing at the time.
• Focusing: This refers to the athlete's ability to shift focus from one person or area to another quickly.
• Dynamic visual acuity: The term refers to the athlete's ability to keep objects clear in his or her vision even when they are moving.
• Tracking ability: Many sports will involve watching a ball or watching other players. This refers to the player's ability to keep watch of the object no matter how quickly it might be moving
• Visual reaction time: This is how quickly the athlete is able to react to something that he or she sees.
• Depth perception: Depth perception lets the athlete understand where everything on the field or the court is taking place in relation to other objects. Without proper depth perception, they would never be able to hit or field a ball, throw to someone else, or judge the distance to a goal or hoop.
• Peripheral awareness: This is the ability to see out of the corner of your eye. Athletes who have great peripheral awareness tend to be very good at their sport because they can get a "jump" on some of the action.

Testing is Important for Sports Vision Training

It is important for athletes who want to improve in their chosen sport to find a sports vision specialist who has the experience and the skills to help them improve. Doctors will initiate a number of different sports vision tests that will record the athlete's visual acuity on the above-mentioned visual skills.

Once the sports vision specialist understands where the skill level is at, they can recommend various types of training to help improve those skills.

Computer simulations are also being used as training tools today. In the future, virtual reality devices, such as the Oculus Rift, will likely become a large part of this type of therapy thanks to their ability to put the user into a realistic situation. This should be able to help batters who need to improve their ability to know when to swing at a ball, and it can also help with depth perception improvement.

I am a Sports Neurology Expert You can Trust

With 20 years of experience, I, Dr. Williams at Vernon B. Williams, MD, Inc., have made neurology my life's work. My qualifications, which includes board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, have been beneficial to many legal professionals.

If you are in need of an expert witness, do not hesitate to contact me for more information.