Sports Vision Training: Subtle changes NOTICEABLE results
We’re constantly talking about the WAV’s sensory training advantages and the application to so many therapeutic and fitness scenarios. Often times we focus on concepts like proprioception, balance, and posture, however one significant and often overlooked benefit to sensorimotor training is its nearly instant impact on your gaze. Sports vision training exercises are implemented by athletic trainers for improving performance.
So what is gaze tracking, or more broadly sports vision training? Essentially it’s how your vision, brain, and movement play together. As the Michigan College of Optometry explains, sports vision training exercises are designed to sharpen “visual attention, eye movements, dynamic acuity, reaction time, peripheral awareness, visual direction, and anticipation.”
Nearly 80 percent of perceptual input in sports is visual. For athletes, this means refined, yet nearly imperceptible, micro-movements of the eyes can lead to better performance. For the average mover or rehab patient, the benefits are similar and may actually promote a safer, higher quality of movement. Higher quality movement is something that everyone benefits from.
We’re excited about how the WAV’s innate design automatically incorporates this training technique to positively impact movement patterns!
Sport Vision Training is a New Old Trend
The concept of eye gaze tracking is not new. New moms are often advised to hold toys a few inches from their newborn’s face to allow the baby to focus its developing sight on a stationary object. Then, the mom is told to slowly move the toy back and forth in an effort to strengthen the infant’s gaze tracking. In fact, humans develop eye gaze tracking before language processing. In one study, vision is suggested as a way to predict premature infants’ later development!
Like many of the components of WAV training, such as assuming the “eight month old supine position,” vision (or gaze) tracking clearly asks you to go back to basics. We build our exercises from the core movements we made when our nervous system was rapidly developing. The goal is to reintroduce you to the primary movement strategies most of us now take for granted.
“Vision training focuses on improvements in the central processing centers of the brain.”
Remember, though, we’re not talking about improving your eyesight. You’ll still need to keep your glasses. Vision strengthening and eyesight are different concepts. As Dr. Bernhard Sabel, a neuroscientist at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, explains, vision training causes “[improvements]...not in the optics of the eye, but in the central processing centers of the brain.” There is still much work to do in the field of vision training, but we’re impressed with the fundamental research findings being shared!
Keep Your Eyes on the WAV
In general, where the eyes lead the body shall follow. Look up. Chances are you also bent your neck and tilted your head back.
Most of us are quite familiar with the idea of hand-eye coordination for catching and hitting a ball. Similarly, eye-body coordination is how well you coordinate control of your eye movement with your desired body movement. Improving eye-body coordination through sports vision training techniques focuses on using the whole visual process to better effect your motor commands.
The WAV uses flowing liquid to help tune in to your sense of vision. Take for example, the rotation of your body when hitting a tennis ball. Much like that toy your mom may have been moving around for you to follow with your eyes, during this movement you are engaging your nervous system’s visual patterning to command your body to connect with and direct the ball to your intended location. A really simple way to see this in action is by simply trying to rotate without looking first. Then allow your vision to direct your turning. Feel the difference?
As neuroscience expands our understanding of human movement, the role of vision in our ability to achieve top performance will become more clear. Many athletic trainers have already realized the benefits with their athletes. Taking from these results, the applications in every day movement scenarios are increasingly being considered. One study suggests that injuries like ACL can alter how our nervous system processes information and makes us even more dependent on visual feedback to regulate dynamic stability. While ACL injuries are common among athletes, they are becoming more common among the general population as so many of us stay active in our later years.
Whether you are an athlete or simply have an athlete’s mindset you can still benefit from sports vision training. Many WAV training exercises will call attention to the visual component of movement. We’ve taken this more integrated approach to put you in closer step with your body’s abilities. Sensory sports vision training is a trend we are following closely.
Try this WAV movement and discover if you have 3 tell tale signs that your eye-body coordination may be impacting your performance.
We are excited by the benefits of vision training and seeing how research is proving its value in different scenarios. Check these resources to learn more about it or contact us if you have questions!
- A.M.Williams , K.Davids and J.G.Williams, Visual Perception and Action in Sport, E. & F.N. Spon, Ltd, 1999
- A Vision Training Program’s Impact on Ice Hockey Performance, Journal of Optometry & Visual Performance, April 2015
- Vision Training to Boost Sports Performance, New York Times, March 26, 2014
- G. Gredebäck, S. Johnson, C. Hofsten, Eye Tracking in Infancy Research, Developmental Neuropsychology, Jan. 2010.
- Hokyoung Ryu, Garam Han, Jaeran Choi, Hyun-Kyung Park, Mi Jung Kim, Dong-Hyun Ahn, Hyun Ju Lee, Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study, Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 2017
- D. Grooms, MEd,]6 ATC, CSCS1, G. Applebaum, PhD2, J. Onate, PhD, ATC, FNATA, Neuroplasticity Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Framework for Visual-Motor Training Approaches in Rehabilitation, Journal of Orthopaedic and Sport Physical Therapy, May 2015
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