Sports Vision Training

• Visual Reaction Time: This skill enables an athlete to react quickly enough to visual stimuli to succeed, such as a baseball player being able to hit a 90+ mile per hour pitch.
• Hand-Eye Coordination: A relevant skill for almost every sport, this improves the ability of the eyes to control the body’s movements. It is vital for executing the necessary actions in sports of all types.
• Depth Perception and Distance Estimation: In many sports, athletes must make decisions that require precision, and in many of these cases part of that process includes rapidly determining where, and how far away, an object such as a baseball is to them. Improving this skill enhances that ability, which can make the difference when it counts.
• Eye Tracking and Movement Precision: In many sports, there are objects whose movement must be carefully tracked by the athlete. Superior eye tracking lets one better track those movements so that when the time comes, the correct actions can be taken.
• Visualization: Believe it or not, visualizing yourself successfully performing an action can make you more likely to actually do so. This skill can be trained to provide an extra boost to help athletes make the big plays that separate good athletes from great ones.

• Vision-Balance Integration: Balance is extremely important for many sports, and vision is a key component of the balance system.
• Contrast Sensitivity: Contrast sensitivity improves one’s ability to see something like a ball against backgrounds such as the sky or a golfing green, and in different levels of lighting. Being able to spot what you need to spot to succeed, no matter the conditions, can greatly improve performance.
• Dynamic Visual Acuity: This is the ability of an athlete to maintain a clear view of an object while it, and/or the athlete is in motion. In sports such as baseball, this skill is invaluable and improving it can lead to significant performance increases.
• Enhanced Peripheral Awareness: Peripheral awareness allows an athlete to be aware of things going on around them while focused on a task. In sports like baseball or soccer, being aware of things like a runner trying to steal a base or an opposing player approaching to try and take the ball can be a major advantage.

Dr. Nathaniel (Nat) Wernick, FCOVD, leads the sports vision program at Amplify EyeCare Chattanooga, providing sport specific neuro-visual training to dancers from beginners to elite. As part of the Sports Vision program, a sports vision doctor can prescribe a wide variety of training and activities that help boost every dancer’s performance.

Dr. Nathaniel (Nat) Wernick, FCOVD, graduated from the Northeastern State University College of Optometry and was selected for Residency training at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry. As a Resident Optometrist, he specialized in Pediatrics, Vision Therapy, and Traumatic Brain Injury. He has advanced training in developmental optometry and is a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (FCOVD).