Looking to find out more about sports vision training (SVT)?

Well, you’ve come to the right place to get some answers! 

Aurora Eye Care is Northern Alberta‘s only clinic offering a sports vision training program with next-level technology. To say we’re proud to help our community elevate their vision and reach their athletic goals is an understatement!

Sports vision training is not part of your general eye care routine and testing. It is a separate doctor-supervised program and an individualized approach to enhancing visual skills for athletic performance.

Sound good and want to skip ahead? Feel free to fill out our SVT form and book an appointment for sports vision therapy at our Grande Prairie eye clinic. 

In this blog, we’ll cover:

• What sports vision training is
• Who benefits from sports vision training
• The benefits of sports vision training and why it matters
• The technology used during a sports vision training program
• How Aurora Eye Care facilitates sports vision training in Grande Prairie

Ready for more? Let’s dive in!

Sports Vision Training Defined

Whether you’re brand new to sports vision training or already familiar with it, we wanted to start by breaking things down and defining the what, who, and why. 

This is a bird’s-eye view of sports vision training that we’ll get further into below.

What is Sports Vision Training?

Sports vision training is a specialized program designed to enhance the visual skills of athletes across all sports, from amateur to pro.

Sports vision training is a doctor-supervised program designed to improve the visual system’s function. A sports vision training program consists of weekly in-office sessions lasting 45 minutes and home exercises to be completed 3-4 days a week, spanning a period of 4-6 months. 

It is a sequence of neurosensory and neuromuscular activities individually prescribed and monitored by a doctor to develop, rehabilitate, and enhance visual skills and processing.

Who Benefits from Sports Vision Training?

It may sound vague, but most people can benefit from sports vision training!

Vision significantly impacts how you perform and perceive sports — approximately 80% of the sensory information perceived in sports is visual.

The groups of people we’d recommend most for sports vision training include: 

• Young athletes
• Competitive athletes of any age
• Recreational athletes
• Those recovering from injuries or concussions 

Trust us, sports vision training isn’t just for the pros or newbies—it’ll help boost everyone’s performance. 

After participating in sports vision training, our athletic patients can improve their performance, reaction times, and overall strategy by developing specific visual skills.

Why Does Sports Vision Training Matter?

We think it matters a whole heck of a lot! And here’s why: SVT helps athletes (of any age and stage) train and develop visual skills that impact and improve their performance. These enhanced skills benefit not only on the court and field, but also in daily life. 

The Benefits of Sports Vision Training

1. Improved reaction time
2. Better eye-hand coordination
3. More peripheral awareness
4. Better depth perception
5. Boosted visual memory
6. Ability to focus under pressure
7. Improved vergence (eye teaming)
8. Better dynamic visual acuity
9. Improved visual tracking
10. Improved mental focus and cognitive performance
11. Enhance athletic performance
12. Reduced visual fatigue
13. Boosted confidence

Improved Visual Skills For Athletes By Sport

1. Hockey
   1. Tracking the fast-moving puck
   2. Peripheral vision for awareness of other players
   3. Quick decision making
   4. Reaction time and accuracy for passing and shooting
2. Basketball
   1. Court vision
   2. Spotting teammates
   3. Anticipating opponents’ moves
   4. Improved focus and coordination that enhance dribbling, passing, and shooting
3. Volleyball
   1. Tracking the ball’s trajectory for accurate serves, spikes, and blocks
   2. Improve visual perception for better timing and positioning
4. Baseball
   1. Batting
   2. Catching
   3. Fielding
   4. Tracking the ball from pitch to hit
   5. Eye-hand coordination
   6. Visual processing speed

In our future blog posts, we’ll expand on sports vision training for hockey, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and other sports.

Aurora Eye Care’s Sports Vision Training Program in Grande Prairie

The first step on your sports vision training journey is to book a general eye exam for yourself, your teen, or your child. This will allow our optometrists to have an updated view on whether sports vision training can benefit them, and if so, how.

Next, you or your child or teen will participate in a functional eye exam, which is an in-depth assessment of visual skills and function. 

Once we have the results of these exams, we can determine which visual skills we can improve. These will be discussed with our behavioural optometrist, Dr. Charlotte Forgie, during a consultation to receive her recommendations for the next steps. If it is determined that sports vision training is right for you, your child, or your teen, Dr. Forgie will create a customized program tailored to your or their specific skills, sport, and goals. 

As always at Aurora Eye Care, we meet you where you’re at and aim to provide you with the best eye care that fits your needs. 

Technology Used For a Sports Vision Training Program

Your sports vision training program will be personalized to fit your current vision, sport, and goals, so the technology used can vary. 

We have curated an inventory of high-quality, cutting-edge tools in our Northern Alberta clinic. Our tools include:

Quickboard

A dynamic visual training tool that helps athletes develop faster reaction times and improve eye-foot coordination.

Senaptec Sensory Station

A state-of-the-art sensory evaluation and training station which assesses ten visual and sensorimotor skills. We are currently the only location north of Edmonton that has this technology.

Neurotracker

A cognitive training system that enhances attention, mental focus, and peripheral awareness using 3D multiple object tracking exercises.

Fit Lights

Interactive training tools that use LED lights to create drills that improve reaction times and agility.

Senaptec Strobe Glasses

Using liquid crystal technology, they challenge the brain to process visuals more efficiently, sharpening reaction time and focus. Activate each visual region independently, allowing you to customize patterns to train different areas of your vision.

Enhance Your Visual Skills and Excel in Your Sport with Sports Vision Training at Aurora Eye Care

Ready to start your sports vision training journey with Aurora Eye Care in Grande Prairie? We hope so!

We’d love to help you, your child, or your teen reach their fullest potential in their chosen sport. To get started, complete our online form or book an appointment with us in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

We can’t wait to hear from you!