Three exercises to improve Sports Vision

With sports vision, you use specific drills to train the various skills placed on the visual system in sports. In this article, we will outline the most important sports vision drills with the highest payoff. 

Sports vision is becoming more popular recently. With the extensive demands sport places on an athlete’s visual system, it only makes sense to train it. Improved sports vision can have a positive impact on an athlete’s performance and many athletes notice the benefits from training the visual system specifically.  

Vision training can be a rabbit hole and it pays to have an understanding on what to train and how to train it. Walking into sports vision training without any knowledge can put an athlete at risk of over or underloading the system, thus negating the possible benefits. Much like walking into a gym with no knowledge of how to use the equipment or even which equipment to use.  

However, sports vision does not have to be overwhelming. We have selected our top three sports vision exercises and will outline which skills these exercises improve. 

1.Dynamic Fusion for Binocular Vision  

At the top of the list is Dynamic Fusion. This trains binocular vision. Binocular vision is achieved when our eyes can converge and diverge (move out and in together) This is our ability to maintain focus on an object. Both eyes must focus to create a single image. When convergence and divergence are not optimal, our binocular vision suffers as a result.  

Without binocular vision, we would not be able to perceive depth and the relationships between objects. Our eyes are in different places so they take in slightly different information. They send this information to the brain and it is the brain’s job to use the discrepancies between each eye to judge distance and depth. The brain fuses the images (hence the term fusion) 

There can be variations in how each eye’s mechanics work. One eye may be better at moving, one may not cross as well. Even if these variations are only slight, the images can confuse the brain. The brain then concentrates on the best image it is receiving and ignores the other one. It is not something you would even consciously notice, but at high-level sports when things are moving fast, this small issue can have a knock-on effect. We need our eyes to align and synchronize accurately in order to judge depth, distance, and the speed of objects around us. If the brain is not getting all the correct information, we can’t make accurate and fast decisions based on that information. A mechanics issue becomes a processing issue, and then a possible issue with accuracy, speed, reactivity. 

How to improve Binocular Vision  

The good news is you can improve binocular vision with a relatively simple drill.  Dynamic fusion literally trains the ability to focus with both eyes properly. If you have not trained with this exercise before you may find it more difficult than you initially thought. You may struggle to get one eye to focus or you may feel your 

eyes getting tired quickly and losing focus on the image. These are all signs that this drill IS the one for you. With practice, improvement can be made. 

Focus on the two circles and squeeze the two circles together with your eyes. A  third circle should appear in the middle of the 2 circles and should be floating towards you. This will indicate both eyes are fused onto the target. Tap the screen  and the circles will begin to move to Try to maintain the 3 circles 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oTq8xcCsx8 

2.Detailed Vision Zone for Peripheral vision  

Second, on the list is peripheral vision. We are all familiar with peripheral vision. It is our ability to ‘see’ without ‘looking’ We refer to it when we ‘see out of the corner of our eye’ It ranks highly for sports vision because athletes in nearly every sport rely on peripheral vision so heavily. Athletes with excellent peripheral vision seem to ‘just know’ where the ball or the goal or the hoop or the player IS. They seemingly don’t look, however, they are looking without needing to move their eyes or turn their head. When you consider how timing is everything in sport, saving milliseconds is an important skill. Athletes who do not have to ‘look’ save time and can still make an accurate decision. Plus, it always looks far more impressive for the crowds when you can pull off a move without even looking at what you are doing.  

How do we improve peripheral vision with a detailed vision zone?  

To train peripheral vision follow the below steps 

1. Fixate your eyes straight ahead 

2. Hold your phone, arm extended as far back as it can go, and slowly bring your phone towards the midline.  

3. When you see the number in your peripheral vision call it out loud and clear.  4. Shake your phone for the next number and begin again.

The key here is not to be tempted to look. You may get the number right but it  won’t improve your peripheral vision if you cheat this exercise. 

As you bring the phone towards the centre line, keep your eyes facing forwards.  Eventually, you WILL be able to make out the number on the phone. If your peripheral vision is poor, you may not see the number till the phone is almost in line with your closet eye. With training, your peripheral vision will improve and you will notice you do not have to bring the phone so close to the center in order to make out the number. 

What is a good peripheral vision measurement? 

Most people when they first test is only able to see 5–10 degrees with the training you should be able to increase your peripheral vision to 30–40 degrees. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHWjFwqEi90 

3.Eye-Hand Coordination  

What is eye-hand coordination?  

Hand-eye coordination is a cornerstone of sports vision training. Highly likely also the most popular as hoards of trainers and athletes can be seen working on this skill. It is third on our list however as this skill is also improved when binocular vision and peripheral vision are optimal. 

Eye-hand coordination is the ability of the vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes. And use it to correctly direct the hands. The eyes give the directions and the hands execute the given task. We begin working on this task as babies and a massive amount of brainpower goes into its development. By the time we are toddlers, we are usually already mastering the finer points of this skill. 

In sport, we rely heavily on eye-hand coordination for obvious reasons. And even when athletes are experienced, this skill always has some room for specific improvements, particularly when it comes to training the eyes.  

MOST exercises commonly used to train this are not very measurable as there are so many variables. In order to train improvement it can be helpful to use a task that is more cognitive in nature, then not only can you measure your results, you can also see how this skill stands up when you are getting mentally fatigued.  

Tap the circle when it appears - do this as fast and accurately as possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-1hky43hJg