Eye Exercises for Sports

While the history of visual therapy or visual training goes back at least as far as the work of Dr. W.H. Bates in the 1890s, the study of visual training really came into its own in the late 20th century. In 1988, a retrospective study of 288 articles written on the subject concluded that vision therapy did indeed offer some benefits for oculomotor and binocular system disorders. Recent research from 1996 to 2008 by optometrist David Ruston in Britain and others has also confirmed the value of visual training in improving the performance of athletes.

  1. Mirror Rotations

    • To perform mirror rotations, stand in front of a mirror. Look at your own eyes for a few seconds before beginning to slowly move your head up and down and to the left and right, all the while watching your own eyes in the mirror. Repeat the exercise for 10 to 20 minutes or until your eyes feel tired. Do this for about three to four sessions a week. According to The Sunday Times of London, this exercise improves eye-movement accuracy and helps in tracking a moving ball in sports such as basketball, soccer and baseball.

    Practice Focusing

    • Practice focusing on objects at different distances. This exercise is best done outside during the day. Start by focusing on an object within three feet of you, look at it until it comes into sharp focus and then look away. Immediately focus on an object that is about 30 feet away until it is as clear as possible, then look away at an object 500 feet (one block) away. Once that object is sharp then look at an object at the horizon (maximum visual distance) for a few seconds and then look back to the object within three feet and repeat the cycle. You can do this exercise up to 10 times once or twice a day. Being able to easily focus on objects at any distance is useful for everyone to avoid eyestrain, but strong focusing skills are particularly helpful to tennis, baseball and hockey players.

    Increase Peripheral Awareness

    • Focus on an object in your extreme peripheral vision as long as you can and then rest and repeat, alternating eyes. This exercise strengthens the muscles that control your peripheral vision and improves your ability to recognize objects in your outermost visual range. According to Ask Doc Web, developing your peripheral tracking abilities will help you in just about any sport.