Can I Benefit from Sports Vision Training?
Our Sports Vision Program can benefit Youth Athletes, Adult Athletes, Military Personnel and Law Enforcement. Sports vision training, once reserved for collegiate and professional athletes, is now available to both youth and adult athletes of all ages and levels of play. Sports vision training is a good fit for any athlete who wants to take performance to the next level.
At the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown, our athletes have identified a sport (or sports) in which they wish to excel and view the sport as competitive rather than purely recreational. This group of athletes include players starting at the age of 7. All athletes benefit from sports vision training because it provides a competitive edge and enhances performance – improving prospects of play at the next level and beyond. Whether playing a sport as a career professional or for the sheer joy of beating out friends on the weekend, improving visual performance gives any athlete the upper hand.
Which Skills Can I Improve with Sports Vision Training?
Sports vision training at the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown develops visual skills used during visual input as well as visual processing in order to improve overall visual reaction speed. Improved visual reaction speed in essence allows the athlete to see the game in “slow motion”; giving the athlete time to anticipate, react and make game changing decisions all with improved accuracy and split-second timing.
Skill improvement is achieved through a series of specific dynamic vision activities utilizing specialized equipment and under the guidance of a professional sports vision training coach. This allows the athlete to maximize his or her ability to accurately, quickly, precisely and consistently interpret what they see during competition.
Every sport’s vision training program at the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown is individualized and specific to the results of the athlete’s Sports Performance Vision Assessment and the athlete’s Sports Vision Profile. Sports vision training programs are used to improve:
Dynamic Visual Acuity: How clear your vision is while you are moving.
Contrast Sensitivity: Your ability to detect subtle changes in contrast when tracking a moving object. For example: locating a white baseball passing through shadows.
Ocular Motilities: The full functionality of the 12 muscles in your eyes.
Accommodation/Near Far Quickness: The ability and speed at which your eyes can shift from a near object to a far object and achieve clarity.
Eye Teaming/Depth Perception: Your ability to use both eyes together to give you an accurate calculation of distance and/or depth.
Peripheral Awareness: Your ability to identify objects and movement in your side vision.
Speed of Recognition/Target Capture: The speed at which you can locate a target and determine the size, shape and movement of that target
Eye-Hand/Foot Coordination: Your ability to dynamically track a target and make precise contact with the target using your hand or foot.
Reaction Time: The speed at which you locate a target with your eyes
Visual Concentration: Your ability to concentrate on one target without losing concentration or having the need to refocus
Go/No Go: Your ability to acquire a target quickly, react to that target without error. For example: locating a pitch while simultaneously determining if you should swing.
Multiple Object Tracking: The speed at which you can locate multiple targets at one time and process the visual information needed to react to these targets accurately
The Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown Difference
The sports vision training program the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown is the first of its kind sports vision training program in the Georgetown, TX. Our program is recognized for delivering research-based sports vision training that is goal oriented and results driven. We provide a comprehensive approach to athlete vision care and visual skill development.
Sports Performance Vision Assessment
Every athlete undergoes a Sports Performance Vision Assessment. During the assessment, our residency trained doctor will first evaluate the athlete’s visual system as it relates to sports. For example, our doctor will test your visual acuity (clarity) in an up gaze, down gaze, dynamically and attempt to correct your vision to the best possible acuity in order to better prepare the athlete before continuing the performance evaluation. Once the doctor feels that your vision has been corrected or feels that your vision does not need correction, the athlete will complete the Sports Performance Vision Assessment. The Sports Vision Performance Assessment differs from an eye exam in that the sport-specific visual skills are evaluated and compared to both the athlete’s goal specific elite and professional athlete profiles, and the profiles that best represent the athlete’s current physical makeup. This allows our doctor to:
- Determine the precision, speed and accuracy of visual input
- Evaluate how efficiently the visual system interprets the game
Athlete’s Vision Profile
The visual abilities evaluated during the athlete’s Sports Performance Vision Assessment are analyzed and, in conjunction with the elite and professional athlete performance comparison, are used to develop the Athlete’s Vision Profile. The Athlete’s Vision Profile is a sport specific overview of the visual strengths and weaknesses in context to the position played and the desired level of competition. This Athlete’s Vision Profile is the foundation of our individualized sports vision training program and allows our doctor and professional sports vision training coaches to tailor the program to the specific needs of the athlete.
Individualized Vision Training Program
Sports vision training makes good athletes great. The individualized sports vision training programs at the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown provide targeted vision performance training, with sport and position specificity, to enhance and develop elevated levels of sports performance. All athletes work one-on-one with our profession sports vision training coach or in a 2 -person team to improve visual performance deficits and address areas of weakness identified in the Athlete’s Vision Profile. The sports vision training programs at the Vision Therapy Center of Georgetown at TSO Georgetown are unique in that they are tailored to meet each athlete at their current level of visual performance, improve visual performance deficits, and elevate the athlete’s level of play. All sports vision training programs are under the supervision and direction of residency trained, vision therapy rehabilitation and head trauma, behavioral optometrist who closely monitors progress toward performance goals throughout the sports vision training program.