Athletes need strong muscles and endurance to perform at the top of their game, but what about vision? Good visual skills are just as essential for an athlete’s success. To help athletes reach peak performance, Lentz Eye Care will outline the most essential visual skills that help an athlete compete and how to maintain them.
Tracking:
Tracking is the ability to follow a moving object such as a ball with your eyes. This helps you predict where the ball will go and prepare your body to act accordingly. It also helps you judge distance, which can be especially helpful in sports like golf or baseball. Working on tracking exercises like following a finger from side-to-side or up and down can help improve this skill.
Depth Perception:
Depth perception allows athletes to accurately judge the distance between themselves and other players, objects, or obstacles on the field. It is key for any sport that involves hitting or throwing balls, whether it’s soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball, etc. Playing catch with a partner or participating in drills that involve movement can help strengthen depth perception skills.
Peripheral Vision:
Peripheral vision enables athletes to detect movement at their edges while they are focused on something else such a ball or goal post. It is important in team sports where players must be aware of their surroundings at all times in order to anticipate plays by opponents or know where teammates are on the field. Practicing drills that require quick glances at different angles can help train this skill.
Eye-Hand Coordination:
Eye-hand coordination combines tracking abilities with hand-eye coordination so that when an athlete sees something they can move their hands quickly enough to catch it (or dodge it if necessary). Exercises such as popping bubbles with chopsticks, fishing games using magnets on strings, and batting practice can all help develop eye-hand coordination skills for athletes of any age or level of experience.
No matter what sport you play, good visual skills are key for success both on and off the field. Lentz Eye Care recommends scheduling annual eye exams for all athletes so that any potential vision problems can be addressed before they have an impact on performance—because when it comes to seeing clearly on the playing field, there really is no margin for error! With these tips in mind and regular checkups at Lentz Eye Care Clinic, athletes will have no problem keeping their visual skills sharp!