Sari R. Schwartz, OD, FCOVD, FAAO

225 Millburn Avenue, Suite 208 B
Millburn, NJ 07041

Sari R. Schwartz, OD, FCOVD, FAAO

(973) 804-6565

225 Millburn Avenue, Suite 208 B
Millburn, NJ 07041

Sports Vision Training

Our visual skills play a vital role in our ability to play sports. Many of our patients find that their sports performance improves even though they came to us for help with their difficulty with reading. The same types of vision disorders that make reading and learning difficult can often interfere with sports performance.

For example, we have seen children, who do well with T-ball, fall apart when it comes to baseball because the size of the ball is significantly smaller and harder for them to see. Once their vision problem is corrected, baseball becomes much easier.

Vision problems that impact sports performance can occur in children and adults. Therefore, it is important that you know the signs to watch for.

Signs a vision problem may be interfering with sports performance:

Eye-hand coordination seems to decrease throughout the game
Eye-hand coordination seems to deteriorate throughout the game
Visual judgment (such as depth perception) seems to be less accurate after getting tired and playing for a while
Tend to drift in and out of “the zone”
Double vision, blurred vision, excessive blinking or watery eyes occur periodically throughout the game
It gets harder to follow a moving object
Squinting a lot
During a game, head is turned (inappropriately) to use one eye rather than the other
Performance gets worse with practice
Sports which require the ability to aim at a target are harder
Performance is better in sports with larger balls, or those with no balls or hockey pucks at all

Read About Larry Fitzgerald’s Vision Training Experience

Sports Performance and Vision Disorders:

Sometimes sports professionals reach a ceiling in their performance, and they want that extra edge to outperform their competition. For example, Larry Fitzgerald, a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, attributes his ability to catch the ball with his eyes closed to having received Optometric Vision Therapy as a child.