Athlete Vision Assessment: Let's begin by talking about what a sports vision assessment is not. It is not a routine, annual eye exam with the eye doctor...even if the eye doctor says they “specialize in sports vision.” A routine, annual eye examination tests static visual acuity which may, or may not, result in a prescription for glasses or contact lenses and evaluates overall eye health.

A professional sports vision assessment is a specialized, in-depth evaluation and analysis of an athlete's visual system. The results are compared to those of professional and Olympic athletes, and can be used to identify deficits in visual performance that may be preventing an athlete from achieving peak performance.

A sports vision assessment benefits the athlete by:

  • Providing a baseline analysis of current vision skills and visual system performance.
  • Identifying deficits in vision skills and the visual system. Deficits that can negatively impact game performance and prevent optimal performance, especially whey physically fatigued or under stress during play.

A sports vision assessment is performed by:

  • An optometrist who has completed residency-training in neuro-optometry, binocular vision and sports vision.
  • An optometrist who has the sport-specific equipment and niche training to provide a sports vision assessment.

It is important to note that few eye doctors are trained in sports vision, and cannot perform a true sports vision assessment. A sports vision assessment is sport specific, and provides evaluation and analysis of vision skills and the visual system specific to each particular sport played. This is the only way to accurately identify vision deficits that impact performance.

A sports vision assessment analyzes and evaluates:

  • Refraction specific to sports performance and competition. It is not uncommon for an athlete to have a contact lens prescription used only during play.
  • Depth perception (3D) affects accurate spatial judgment and game changing decisions. Accurate depth perception enables an athlete to judge distance and speed of an object.
  • Static visual acuity is the ability to clearly see a stationary target.
  • Dynamic visual acuity is the ability to clearly see targets when they are moving through space.
  • Contrast sensitivity is the ability to perceive contrast, or shading differences, between targets. This is critical during varying light conditions, such as playing on overcast days.
  • Color vision is the ability to discriminate between different colors, and different shades of colors.
  • Accommodation allows the athlete to keep targets (balls, pucks, or opposing players) in focus as well as quickly change focus during play.
  • Fusion is the ability to use both eyes together. Fusion deficits can result in inconsistent performance.
  • Focusing is often thought of as “homing in” on a target in space. Focusing speed, flexibility and consistency allow an athlete to quickly and accurately re-evaluate spatial judgment.
  • Ocular motility (eye movements) must be fast, accurate and coordinated any time the athlete needs to quickly change focus from one target to another.
  • Binocular stability is the stability and consistency of eye alignment and eye teaming to accurately identify targets at different distances and in different directions of gaze.
  • Eye dominance is identifying the dominant eye which will take lead, or serve as the “primary” when providing the brain with the information needed to judge distance, speed and direciton of an object in relationship to the athlete.
  • Visual boundaries vary by sport and refer to the visual area that an athlete must attend to while competing.
  • Target demand can be either static (stationary) or dynamic (in motion) during competition.
  • Visual motor integration is the efficient and accurate combination of visual function and the execution of specific body movement or interaction with a target during play.

Following a sports vision assessment, the results and recommendations will be discussed with the player and parents. A detailed report will provide an in-depth reporting of the areas of deficit as well as areas of strength. This report serves as baseline testing for the athlete and provides the test results necessary to develop an individualized sports vision training program.

A sports vision training program will be prescribed to address the deficits identified, specific to the sport played. Sports vision training is not prescribed to “strengthen” the eye muscles. This is a common misconception and completely inaccurate. Sports vision training enables the athlete to accurately and more efficiently gather, process and interpret visual information. Vision skills that are critical for peak performance.

Athletes, and their families, search out the best coaches and athletic trainers to maximize game performance. Finding a residency trained sports vision eye doctor, who can perform a sport specific athlete vision assessment and provide sports vision training is equally important.

Think about it. An athlete can have strength training, speed training, nutritional counseling, technique and skill training...but if the athlete does not have elite level vision skills, it is not possible to achieve peak performance.

If you, or someone you know, is looking for a game changer – schedule a sports vision assessment with Dr. Ryan Johnson at Artisan Optics in Boise, Idaho and take the game to the next level.

Posted by lyndajohnson at 10/3/2022 4:27:00 PM
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