React Faster
Athletes can improve their eye-hand-body reaction time by training their reflexive response. There is little to no time for mental decision making. An athlete has to rely on anticipation and visual cues to make a decision.
Competitive Edge
Fractions of a second make a difference and will influence the level of play. They are the difference between winning and losing. Vision training can transform a solid athlete into an exceptional athlete.
Peak Performance
Sports vision training can take athletic achievement to the next level. Athletes can maximize their physical, visual and mental performance through training.
Sports vision training goes beyond basic eyesight and may give athletes the ability to achieve peak performance.
In sports, you are only as good as your eyes. Every decision we make consists of four parts: visual, perceptual, cognitive and an action response. Through training, an athlete can maximize these skills. Every athlete, from recreational to professional, is looking for a competitive edge to enhance their performance. Sports vision training can transform a good athlete into a great athlete.
Just as strength training is used to help an athlete maximize speed, strength and agility, performance vision can help an athlete react faster, see more and improve their awareness. Athletes who have completed performance vision training remark that the game seems to slow down.
The foundation of any training should focus on sport specific training. As an athlete looks to progress, strength and conditioning is the next step followed by nutrition and recovery. Athletes can then start adding in other elements, such as sports vision training, to enhance performance.
Any athlete can improve their eye hand coordination, reaction times, decision making, and concentration. Sports vision training can be completed as a focused session, integrated within a strength session, or added to sport specific drills.
Visual Skills
Sports vision is composed of a range of skills of which the importance ranges from different sports.
Dynamic Visual Acuity
Dynamic visual acuity helps athletes see clearly while they are in motion, or helps them track moving objects better.
Visual Processing Speed
Visual processing speed allows athletes to “see faster”, make better decisions, and react quicker.
Eye Hand Coordination
Eye hand coordination is the simultaneous control of eye and hand movements.
Accommodation
Accommodation is the flexibility of the visual system. Flexibility equips an athlete to change focus from near to far and far to near.
Depth Perception
Depth perception is the location, speed and distance of an object, and this is critical in sports and performance.
Multiple Object Tracking
Multiple object tracking is the ability for an athlete to split their attention, and follow moving targets in space. This can be a ball, puck, teammates or opponents.
Visual Capture
Visual capture, or working memory, is the ability to take a “mental snapshot” of the field, ice or arena, and make mental and physical decisions based on this.
Anticipation
Anticipation is the skill of being able to “think ahead” and make a decision. This can include visual capture and making decisions based off of opponents body language.
Eye Tracking
Eye tracking is the ability of an athletes eyes to make accurate, precise movements. The more efficient the eye movement, the better the information the brain receives, giving the athlete the quickest and most accurate motor response.
Peripheral Awareness
Peripheral awareness is being able to identify objects in our side vision. Training programs work with athletes to improve their awareness and have a wider view of the field.
Spatial Awareness
Spatial awareness is the ability to know where you are in relation to other players, objects and location on the field.
Convergence + Divergence
Convergence and divergence are the coordinated abilities of the eyes to work together to follow an object as it moves farther or closer.
Concentration + Focus
Concentration, focus, and attention are essential skills for athletes to develop in all sports. Minimizing distractions such as music, crowds and inner thoughts allow the athlete to be present.
Training Philosophy
The Performance 20/20 training philosophy is: Assess. Analyze. Achieve. We evaluate specific visual categories along with recommending vision correction if needed. We constantly analyze results in the context of training progression and sport. Ultimately, we expect athletes to achieve optimal performance when combining sports vision with consistent physical training.
The most important action that you can take for optimal vision is having a comprehensive eye exam with an optometrist. Most vision issues will go undiagnosed and can be very meaningful for sports performance. Vision correction through contact lenses or glasses may be appropriate. Sport specific and protective eye wear may also be beneficial depending on the athlete, sport, and position.
Performance 20/20’s approach to training follows a periodized structure similar to strength training and other sports. The drills move from simple to complex incorporating balance, cognitive challenges, and sport specific movements.
A training session is composed of exercises, intervals, and sets. The focus of the training is on elements of sports vision, but we also include cognitive challenges to increase focus. As with any training program, we would recommend a degree of flexibility. Training should be adjusted based on the athlete as needed for variation of drills, time constraints, competitions, and skill progression.
Sports vision training is also excellent for preparation or for warm up on the day of competition. A series of drills can be easily integrated with an athlete’s pregame routine.