What is Sports Vision Training?

Since up to 80% of perceptual input in sports comes from the eyes, sports vision training, also known as “performance vision training,” focuses on maximizing an athlete’s vision and visual skills such as:

  • Clarity of sight

  • Processing of visual information

  • Visual-motor performance

  • Susceptibility to injury

We help athletes see faster and process visual information faster so they can make quicker and better decisions when competing.

  • “Vision” involves much more than seeing “20/20” in each eye. Some vital visual skills involved in sports include:

    • Visual Acuity

    • Contrast Sensitivity

    • Eye-Teaming

    • Depth Perception

    • Eye-Tracking

    • Visual Memory

    • Peripheral Awareness

    • Eye-Body Coordination/Reaction Time

    • Adair, R. K. (2002). The physics of baseball. HarperCollins, New York.

    • Clark J, Ellis J, Bench J, Khoury, Graman P, High-Performance Vision Training Improves Batting Statistics for University of Cincinnati Baseball Players, PLoS One. 2012; 7(1): e29109.

    • Buscemi, A., Mondelli, F., Biagini, I., Gueli, S., D’Agostino, A., & Coco, M. (2024). Role of Sport Vision in Performance: Systematic Review. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 9(2), 92

    • Kirschen, D. G., & Laby, D. L. (2011). The role of sports vision in eye care today. Eye & contact lens, 37(3), 127-130.

    • Laby, D. M., Kirschen, D. G., & Pantall, P. (2011). The visual function of olympic-level athletes—an initial report. Eye & contact lens, 37(3), 116-122.

    • Haupt, C., & Huber, A. B. (2008). How axons see their way–axonal guidance in the visual system. Front Biosci, 13, 3136-3149.

    • Erickson, G. B. (2020). Sports vision: vision care for the enhancement of sports performance, 2nd edition. Elsevier Health Sciences.

    • Coffey, B., & Reichow, A. W. (1990). Optometric evaluation of the elite athlete. Problems in Optometry, 2(1), 32-59.

    • Hughes, P. K., Bhundell, N. L., & Waken, J. M. (1993). Visual and psychomotor performance of elite, intermediate and novice table tennis competitors. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 76(2), 51-60.

    • Omar, R., Kuan, Y. M., Zuhairi, N. A., Abd Manan, F., & Knight, V. F. (2017). Visual efficiency among teenaged athletes and non-athletes. International journal of ophthalmology, 10(9), 1460.

    • Vickers, J. N. (2012). Neuroscience of the quiet eye in golf putting. International Journal of Golf Science, 1(1), 2-9.

  • The sports vision pyramid (see below) was designed “to help organize many of the research findings and to provide a systematic approach to understanding the various components of sports vision” - quote from Kirschen, David G., and Daniel L. Laby. "The role of sports vision in eye care today." Eye & contact lens 37.3 (2011): 127-130. Each layer of the pyramid is laid on the one below and contributes to the overall strength and stability of the system