Training the Eyes for Sports: As Important as Regular Workouts

The logic is simple. Athletes train their bodies, hoping to reach the peak of their performance, but many of them fail to recognise the importance of training their eyes which are, after all, part of the body and at least as important to their performance as their limbs. 

The ability to see moving objects properly, locate them accurately in space, tracking them as they move, and focusing from one object to the next quickly and clearly are important in sports. Over and above that, being able to see things out of the corner of the eye, the ability to judge speed and distance, and the way in which the eyes direct our bodies, or hand-eye coordination, all contribute to sportspeople’s performance. 

These visual skills may seem like second nature – but so are other elements of sport, like the ability to run. And, as with running ability, training brings improvement. However, it’s an aspect of sports training of which few are aware. One will, for example, hear people saying that they have poor hand-eye coordination with the implied conclusion that there’s nothing to be done about it. According to Gary Rodney, that’s a false assumption. The right training can make a big difference.

Because Everybody’s Different

As with other training programs, there’s no single recipe for success. Gary says that sports vision therapy all begins with individual assessments. The basics come first. While glasses or contacts aren’t a must for everyone, some athletes might need them, so a simple eye test acts as a starting point. 

After that, a behavioural optometrist delves deeper, testing the visual skills that even people with 20/20 vision need in order to perform well in their chosen sports. Specialised equipment is used to test a range of visual skills that aren’t covered by a regular eye examination. The results enable the behavioural optometrist to identify the areas needing work, making it possible to develop an individualised therapeutic training program.

“There’s much more to behavioural optometry than just prescribing glasses,” says Gary, “and it’s not just athletes that can benefit. Some people think they’re just ‘clumsy’ when the real problem lies in their visual skills. Physical performance and visual ability are closely linked, and glasses or contact lenses aren’t always the solution.”

So, for those hoping to do better at sports, and those who aren’t into sport but have noticed issues with hand-eye coordination, depth perception, and so on, vision therapy could be a game-changer in more ways than one. 

HEAR: Ultra106.5FM Interview with Gary Rodney – Covid and Myopia: What you need to know!

For more information on vision therapy, or to book an appointment, visit the Smart Vision website: Optometrists Sydney: Optometry Services For Children and Adults | Smart Vision; for specific information about Myopia treatment and prevention visit Myopia Prevention: Solutions, Control And Treatment In Sydney; and for detailed information about Myopia Treatment visit Orthokeratology In Sydney: The Non Surgical Alternative.

To book an appointment for a thorough eye check-up, click here or Call the Bondi clinic on (02) 9365 5047 or the Mosman clinic on (02) 9969 1600.

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.

Putting the Picture Together

Rodney, a Master of Optometry holder and fellow of the International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control (FIAOMC), says treating nearsighted (myopic) children has shown him what happens when that data is faulty or incomplete. These children, who can only see close objects clearly, will see anything as a blur if it’s in the distance, and will be totally unable to put that blurred image into a “frame” of perception.

He said the brain normally interprets the eyes’ signals by using built-up memories of shapes, textures, colours and locations, and transforms this into thought processes which enable us to perceive what we are seeing and make use of the information. This process is what distinguishes perceptual vision from eyesight. It puts what’s seen into perspective by providing a picture that’s set in the context of its construction, colour and environment, all of which give the image a meaning which the viewer can understand, react to, and use.

When the Message Fails, the Picture Blurs

When it comes to the millions of people around the globe who see the world through the blur caused by nearsightedness, Rodney says the messages to the brain would be compromised, providing data only about a blur of sorts, and without the detail and clarity the brain needs in order to process the signals into a picture that’s placed in a context which can be easily understood.

With eye impairments, and especially refractive ones such as myopia, the data carried by the light can be compromised. Due to changes in the shape of myopic eyes, the the eyeball gets longer causing the light rays to focus in front of the retina, instead of on it. This changes the range of vision, and affects the distance focus, resulting in less clarity and detail in the data amassed for the brain.

Progressive myopia, Rodney says, can worsen as a child grows, continuing to do so until they reach their late 20’s, and in severe cases can lead to the formation of cataracts and in some instances, blindness. It can also impact on social development, skills like reading and maths, school performance and behaviour in the classroom.

Dealing With the Blur

Incurable, myopia can be treated in various ways, including using Orthokeratology, a treatment which is showing excellent results using nighttime contact lenses to temporarily reshape the cornea, and so lessen the refraction errors which result in confused vision. Vision therapy, during which myopics receive training in how to see what they are looking at and determine its relevance, is also proving to bring about dramatic changes in the visual worlds of many children who are treated at his Smart Vision optometry clinics in Sydney, Australia..

For more information visit the Smart Vision website: Optometrists Sydney: Optometry Services For Children and Adults | Smart Vision; for specific information about Myopia treatment and prevention visit Myopia Prevention: Solutions, Control And Treatment In Sydney; and for detailed information about Myopia Treatment visit Orthokeratology In Sydney: The Non Surgical Alternative.

To book an appointment for a thorough eye check-up, click here or Call the Bondi clinic on (02) 9365 5047 or the Mosman clinic on (02) 9969 1600.

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball is Not Enough

According to Rodney and Gattegno the key to top performance on the sports field lies in perceptual vision, and not just in the good eyesight determined by the Snellen charts of letters and numbers used in standard eye tests. Nor is perceptual vision purely about “keeping your eye on the ball”.

Instead it involves how athletes perceive, interpret and make sense of what they see, and how they process and respond to the “information” of the ball and its immediate surroundings. Any shortfalls in these areas of perceptual viewing can impact considerably on athletic performance levels if ignored.

“It’s not that people can’t take part in sport with perceptual vision problems. And they may even perform well. But there’s a good chance they will perform better, and be more committed to their involvement in the game, if those perceptual shortcomings are addressed,” Rodney, the founder of Smart Vision in Sydney, said.  

HEAR: Gary Rodney Interviewed By David Wood Ultra106five.com

How Sports Training Works

Rodney said players’ ability to keep their eye on the ball remains vital, but they also need to be able to judge where it is; track where it is going; and have a good idea of how fast it will get there, in order to time their response. And they also have to be aware of the environment in which the ball is travelling and any activities occurring which might affect their choice of how to respond. This involved a wide range of visual functions beyond dynamic vision.

He said perceptual vision can be improved using state of the art technology blended with the simple exercise that vision therapy provides. Programmes can be specially tailored to fit individual athletes and the sports they take part in, each of which have their own needs. These include hand-eye, eye-body and eye-foot coordination which power bodily movements as a response (tennis), excellent peripheral awareness of actions taking around them (team games) and other vision connected factors like reaction time, visual alignment, balance and depth perception. 

Support for Sports Vision Training Growing

According to Rodney, vision therapy, which tweaks any shortcomings in perceptual vision, is increasingly winning support from professional coaches and trainers operating at everything from Olympic level to those moulding the Olympic and national sports stars of tomorrow on today’s school and public fields. It’s also winning the attention of parents wanting to understand whether vision issues are behind why their children are avoiding sporting activities.

It’s also attracting the attention of researchers, who are increasingly looking at the concept of perceptual vision and its connection to performance on the field. This has resulted in the publication of several studies and papers on both the prevalence of perceptual shortcomings in players, the therapy and its level of success.

Research Results

These have lead to wide-ranging conclusions, including statistics showing that athletes taking the medals at Junior Olympic and Olympic levels sported the best overall vision. At the same time, as many as one out of three of those who didn’t make the podium had less than perfect eyesight, and one in four scored lower when screened for depth of vision and eye-hand coordination. And a relatively small section even battled with keeping their eye on the ball.

Other studies and tests have shown vision training to produce better results, particularly in team games and those involving bats and balls. One such study, where cricketers were grouped separately for cricket and vision training, showed those given the vision training showed greater performance improvement than the others. Another showed 30% improvement in baseball batting averages after vision training.

Smart Vision Optometry clinics in Sydney focus on providing eye care for a number of vision problems with particular focus on children and myopia, and on determining the best treatment for each case. Visit the Smart Vision website: Optometrists Sydney: Optometry Services For Children and Adults | Smart Vision to find more information provided by the Smart Vision behavioural optometrists and for information on the precautions applied during COVID-19.

Click here to book an appointment online or Call the Bondi clinic on (02) 9365 5047, or the Mosman clinic on (02) 9969 1600.  

Syndicated by Baxton Media, The Market Influencers, Your Digital Marketing Agency.

Have you ever heard the saying “keep your eye on the ball”? For superior sports performance (and concussion avoidance – whatever floats your boat), this is completely true. One must be able to see moving targets (people and balls) clearly. They must be able to track the target as it moves, change focus from one target to another, judge the speed and the distance of the target, be aware of what is going on around them and have pretty adequate eye-hand coordination. All. At. Once.

So it makes sense then that many of our Vision Therapy patients are future sports stars in training. We have cricketers, footballers, horse riders, netballers and some pretty impressive handballers! Some patients see us because they are already pretty good at their favourite sport but their vision is holding them back from being the best. Other patients are completing vision therapy because they want to be able to play sports with their friends and keep up with the other kids. There are also the patients that simply want to navigate the school playground without constant fear of flying objects.

Now don’t be fooled, just because kids make up a large proportion of our patient cohort we aren’t limited to the younger age groups. We see also women who want to be able to play tennis with their friends on a Wednesday, men who want a better edge when competing with their football team on the weekend and a couple of older patients who want to improve their balance and coordination so they can throw a ball around with the grandkids when they are babysitting.

But you don’t have to take our word for it. A team of psychologists studied a group of baseball players and found that after completing a little over 24 vision therapy sessions, the players batting averages and reading accuracy improved by 30%. Another study examined a group of college students who received cricket training and a group who received visual training. The vision training group performed significantly better and the researchers concluded that vision therapy results in improved sports performance. Even famous American footballer Larry Fitzgerald admits that he would not have had such a successful career as a sports star without the help of vision therapy.

Sports vision training is done on a sport-specific basis with a custom-tailored program for each sport and athlete. If you are having trouble getting to the next level in a particular sport or simply wish to enhance your performance, contact one of our Behavioural Optometry practices in Sydney today.