Get the Visual Edge

What does it take to win? Your eyes are the answer

November 15, 2019 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Sports_Vision

 

To excel in sports, considerable attention is paid to factors such as coaching, nutrition and fitness, but there is one area that often gets overlooked: VISION.

Studies have shown that elite athletes have superior vision: they see better, wide peripherals, better depth perception, and better eye/hand coordination. In short, better vision means better performance.

There are over 20 visual skills that an athlete needs to perform at their peak. Here are some examples:

Visual acuity

►Static: The ability to see a non moving target at a fixed distance.
►Dynamic: The ability to see a target that is moving.



Contrast sensitivity

The visual systems ability to process information about objects under varying lighting conditions; the ability to pick up subtle differences in lighting.



Accommodation

The ability to quickly change focus for different distances without momentary blur or processing delays. Accuracy, ease, speed of change, and sustaining ability are important subcategories within accommodation.


Depth perception

The ability to accurately localize objects in space and understand spatial relationships relating to oneself and two objects around oneself.


Peripheral awareness

The entire portion of the external space that can be seen without a change in fixation. Processing of information from the peripheral field is extremely beneficial in successful performance.

The good news is you can improve your vision, and Gold Coast Optometric Vision Performance in Oyster Bay, N.Y. is the place to do so. Led by Dr. Anne Hanna, OD, FCOVD, Gold Coast begins by performing a sports vision assessment that:

►Determines deficient or less efficient skills.
►Is sport-specific and designed for the precise visual skills necessary.
►Guide athletes to learn accurate, fast and sensitive visual skills.
►Increase load—movement, balance gaze, timing—until performance maintained at stress level of game performance.

Sports vision training is designed to improve the athlete’s visual skills for their sport. The training continues the athlete reaches automaticity in visual performance skills, with a high degree of peripheral awareness and visual processing speed.

Gold Coast has worked with countless athletes and many tennis players, and is the Official Vision Trainer of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy (JMTA).

“To have Dr. Hanna, who is the best at her craft, right her in our backyard, we’re so fortunate to be able to take advantage of that,” said Mike Kossoff, director at JMTA’s Long Island Annex at Sportime Syosset. “Any chance our players can get to get an edge on the court, and also improve in the classroom, it’s a win-win for them. Some of our best players have been doing this for a year and we’ve already seen drastic changes.”

Maximize your performance on and off the court and let Gold Coast help improve your vision. You can do so by visiting GCOVisionPerformance.com, call (516) 226-3991 or e-mail Info@GCOVisionPerformance.com.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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