Agencies
... Read More
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
Written By: Agencies | Published : June 1, 2014 12:28 PM IST
It goes without saying that vision is important in most sports, but can overall athletic performance be enhanced by means of training the eyes? According to a recent article in the New York Times, the answer is an emphatic 'yes.'
Called 'vision training,' the new trend involves more than just regular check-ups with the ophthalmologist. Vision training actually has little to do with eyesight quality, as the Times article points out, but is changing our perception of athletic preparation.
If seeing is believing, the goal of vision training can be roughly described as a way to increase the reaction time between the former and the latter. Many sports are ultimately a game of depth perception, including football, baseball, and equestrian show jumping to name a few. Still others, like golf, depend on shifting visual focus, and competitive sailing depends on the skipper's ability to identify the strength and direction of shifting wind on the water.
If the idea of vision training seems far-fetched, supporters say that stimulating vision sensory neurons optimizes their capacity to send reaction-provoking messages to the brain. 'With sensory neurons, just like muscles, it's use or lose it,' Dr. Bernhard Sabel, a neuroscientist at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany, told the New York Times. 'This applies both to athletes and the partially blind.' On the other end of the spectrum, recent award-winning research indicates the pivotal importance of visual sensory perception in seniors, whose risk of accidents is likely to increase as a result of adjusting to new lenses.
According to David B. Elliott, PhD, whose studies on senior optometry earned him the 2013 Glenn A. Fry Lecture Award, magnification distorts peripheral vision, making objects seem closer or further than they appear. Vision training is likely to apply to all types, not just athletes. In fact, the exercises are doable for genuine couch potatoes. Examples include holding a beaded string at the tip of the nose, focusing successively on each bead with the goal of improving convergence, the ability of the eyes to team up and focus on near field objects.
Until now, one such exercise would be recommended by vision therapists for individuals with an actual convergence problem that glasses won't correct. Vision therapy is nothing new, known to be able to increase coordination and memory. It has long been applied to lazy eye and double vision syndromes with the goal of strengthening eye muscles by repetitive, organized up-and-down movements. Now that vision training has broken free from its necessary-for-those-who-need-it associations of the past, new companies like Dynavision and Vision Coach that produce equipment and create exercises are are popping into sight, according to the New York Times.
US company Ucansi has meanwhile created GlassesOff, an app that could help you improve your vision when reading. Studies say vision training works. The journal Current Biology published a study in February led by psychologists who were able to improve baseball players' reading of eye charts by 30 percent.
Source: AFP Relaxnews
Image Source: AFP Relaxnews
For more articles on diet & fitness, visit our fitness section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.
