HOW YOUR EYES CAN HELP YOU SCORE
It’s fall which means… sweater weather, leaves falling, pumpkin spice everything, and FOOTBALL!! In our house, football dominates most Saturdays and Sundays. Although we’re mere fans, we know there are so many out there who play not only football but many other sports. Athletes are always looking for ways to elevate their game, and visually speaking, we can definitely help! Here are some tips and tricks, some you may know and others you may not, to help sharpen your skills.
Flexibility in Focusing: In sports, you constantly need to be able to focus on a distant target and quickly refocus to a near object, and vice versa. In order to strengthen this muscle, you can focus on your computer screen and then quickly look to a picture on the wall across the room or out the window. Not only will this strengthen your ability to focus, but it will also help you to take much needed screen breaks throughout the day.
Glare Protection: Searching for the ball in the sky but the sun is making it difficult to track? This can be an all to familiar sentiment for many athletes. Many professionals combat this by using eye black to reduce glare. Not your thing? Stop by our office so we can help you get fitted for Oasys Transition contacts by Acuvue. They automatically tint when outdoors or in bright lights which can dramatically reduce glare you may notice without them. Dr. Bovy is wearing this lens in his left eye in the picture above so you can see the difference between his normal contact on his right eye.
Peripheral Vision: It can be extremely helpful to an athlete to be aware of his or her surroundings without actually turning their head. We test this skill at every comprehensive eye exam and can tell you if this is an area that you may need to work on or not. To improve your side vision, try looking straight ahead and seeing how many objets in your left and right view you can see without turning your head. Constantly try to extend that range and don’t forget to check both sides!
4. Depth Perception: Knowing how far away the ball is, whether it is in front of someone or not, and where exactly the ball is when it is fast approaching you is something athletes need to be aware of at all times. Not everyone was blessed with spot on depth perception. We test all new patients in our office to see where they stand in this area. If you’re someone that needs improvement, try practicing putting a pen cap on a pen at an arm’s length. Keep practicing in order to do this skill without hitting the edges of the pen.
5. Color Vision: Color detection can definitely help you to excel in sports. The most common color abnormality is red-green color deficiency. This can mean that seeing a reddish-brown ball on a green field can be impossible at times. We check color vision on all new patients at our office as well. If you happen to be color deficient, ask us about red contact lenses to enhance the differences between colors allowing for better distinguishing of red and green shades.
As you can see, there are a ton of visual aspects to any athlete’s skills and these are just the few we discussed today. Your eyes can truly help you to be that much more on your game each week. Try these tips or come in to our office so we can evaluate your own skills in these areas and better equip you for the big game!
