Vision in Sport
• Vision is composed of many interrelated skills that can affect how well you play.
• Exercise can improve your visual fitness and accuracy.
Visual Skills Terminology:
• Static Visual Acuity ~ the ability to clearly and distinctly see a stationary object
(this enables you to identify certain objects at a specific distance).
• Eye Dominance ~ to determine the eye that transmits and processes information
faster than the other eye, thereby enabling better vision in that one eye.
• Eye Movements ~ the movement of the eyes enables the appropriate selection of
visual information and thereby leading to a quicker and more accurate motor
response.
• Saccadic Movements ~ the quick movement of the eyes. This movement of the eyes
is important for scanning information to extract important information.
• Pursuit Tracking ~ the ability of the eyes to follow an object through space.
• Vergence ~ the ability to maintain binocular vision when crossing and uncrossing the
eyes. If the eyes do not converge a double image is seen.
Speed of Vision:
• Vision changes as things move.
• The brain copes by taking a series of pictures, hundreds of times a second, it puts
them all together and then you can see a continuous sequence.
1. Reaction Time:
• The time needed to detect a stimulus and respond is a measure of the efficiency of
the nervous system.
• Shorter is better.
• A fast reaction time means the athlete has more time to decide if, where and when
to swing the bat.
• Athletes’ neurones are more enhanced than non-athletes.
• When a decision needs to be made very very quickly - “go-no-go” or choice reaction
time.
• Reaction time is trainable.
• Vision is composed of many interrelated skills that can affect how well you play.
• Exercise can improve your visual fitness and accuracy.
Visual Skills Terminology:
• Static Visual Acuity ~ the ability to clearly and distinctly see a stationary object
(this enables you to identify certain objects at a specific distance).
• Eye Dominance ~ to determine the eye that transmits and processes information
faster than the other eye, thereby enabling better vision in that one eye.
• Eye Movements ~ the movement of the eyes enables the appropriate selection of
visual information and thereby leading to a quicker and more accurate motor
response.
• Saccadic Movements ~ the quick movement of the eyes. This movement of the eyes
is important for scanning information to extract important information.
• Pursuit Tracking ~ the ability of the eyes to follow an object through space.
• Vergence ~ the ability to maintain binocular vision when crossing and uncrossing the
eyes. If the eyes do not converge a double image is seen.
Speed of Vision:
• Vision changes as things move.
• The brain copes by taking a series of pictures, hundreds of times a second, it puts
them all together and then you can see a continuous sequence.
1. Reaction Time:
• The time needed to detect a stimulus and respond is a measure of the efficiency of
the nervous system.
• Shorter is better.
• A fast reaction time means the athlete has more time to decide if, where and when
to swing the bat.
• Athletes’ neurones are more enhanced than non-athletes.
• When a decision needs to be made very very quickly - “go-no-go” or choice reaction
time.
• Reaction time is trainable.
