To the average person, 20/20 vision is just fine; but for an athlete, a myriad of visual skills are needed in order to excel. These skills include:
Dynamic Visual Acuity - visual acuity while in motion
Eye Tracking - the ability to "keep your eyes on the ball," no matter how fast it may be traveling
Eye Focusing - changing focus quickly and accurately from one distance to another
Peripheral Vision - seeing people and objects "out of the corner of your eye"
while concentrating on a fixed point
Fusion Flexibility and Stamina - the ability to keep both eyes working together while engaged in high speed, physically stressful situations
Depth Perception - quickly and accurately judging the distance and speed of objects
Visualization - picturing events with your "mind's eye" or imagination
Eye-Hand-Foot Coordination - precise coordination between the visual and action systems
Visual Reaction Time – the time needed to process and respond to what is happening
Visual Concentration - the ability to screen out distractions and stay focused on the ball/target
Athletes, both professional and amateur, have found that these visual skills play such an important part in sports performance that many are turning to Sports Vision Training to stay on top of their game. Sport Vision Training, a branch of Optometric Vision Therapy, provides specialized therapy to develop visual skills to a peak level to improve the athlete’s ability to follow a ball, react more quickly, judge depth accurately, and improve hand/ eye coordination.