When it comes to athletic performance, most people think about strength, speed, and skill. But there’s another key factor that often gets overlooked: vision.
At Sphere Optometry + Wellness, we love to help athletes sharpen the visual skills that drive better performance in real-time competition—because in sport, what you see (and how fast you process it) changes everything.
What is Sports Vision Therapy?
Sports vision therapy is a personalized training program designed to improve how the eyes and brain work together, and strengthen the visual skills athletes rely on for performance – helping athletes play with more confidence, consistency, and control. Some of these skills include:
- Tracking (following a puck/ball smoothly)
- Reaction time
- Hand-eye coordination
- Depth perception
- Peripheral awareness
- Focus flexibility (shifting from near to far quickly)
- Visual processing speed and decision-making
Even athletes with “20/20 eyesight” can benefit from honing these skills—because sports vision is about performance vision, not just reading the letters on a chart.
Who is Sports Vision Therapy For?
Sports vision therapy can benefit all athletes in all sports and disciplines, from team sports like hockey, baseball and soccer, to individual sports like tennis, skiing, and martial arts. Whether you, or your athlete, is trying to make a higher team, improve consistency and coordination, or gain an edge in fast-paced play, sports vision training can help.
Our Approach at Sphere: Start with a Foundations of Vision Assessment
Every athlete is different—so we begin with a Foundations of Vision Assessment, an in-office examination to measure the core visual skills that affect performance in sports and activities of daily life.
From there, we design a customized training plan that may include:
- in-office sports vision training
- home-based drills and skill reinforcement
- strategies to improve performance during practice or competition
If it’s been more than one year since the last comprehensive eye exam, we recommend booking that first to make sure we’re starting with healthy eyes and optimized vision.
If you’re curious whether sports vision training could help, we’d love to guide you.
Get started by booking a Foundations of Vision Assessment with our team, and check out The Edge Program – our free downloadable sports vision guide for an introduction to the core principles of sports vision training.
