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Coaches & Athletic Trainers
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Vision Health
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Whether you’re coaching little league or a professional sports team, poor vision can significantly impede your athletes’ performance and safety. If your athlete can’t see the ball or other players, they will have a much more difficult time catching, passing, and safely maneuvering through obstacles and other players.
More practically, if someone else sees something better or reacts faster, your athlete is at a significant disadvantage. If you watch almost any sport, the player that truly stands out (the great not just good player), is the one that seems to see things just a little bit earlier and react just a little bit faster.
Encourage Regular visits to the Eye Doctor
Unfortunately, many athletes (especially children) do not realize they suffer from undiagnosed vision impairments. Coaches spend significant time and resources training athletes to compensate for poor vision without ever addressing the undiagnosed vision impairment. Addressing these vision impairments can make your training more effective, as well as improve your athlete’s performance and their safety. Therefore, it is important that you know the signs that your athlete may be suffering from a vision impairment and ensure that all your athletes visit an eye doctor for an in-person examination.
As a coach, if your athlete exhibits all the physical skills and proper technique to be successful, yet they still perform below expectation, consider a visual performance evaluation. If any of your athletes complain about the following problems, make sure they see an eye doctor for an in-person comprehensive eye examination:
Screenings are not Enough
Remember, it is important that all your athletes regularly see an eye doctor even if they pass a vision screening or do not exhibit signs of vision impairment. Not all vision impairments have obvious warning signs or impact performance right away. It’s better for your athlete to see an eye doctor before the vision impairments are obvious and/or already impacting their performance.
Furthermore, your athletes’ vision may be “good enough” to pass a school screening, but their vision can still not be good enough for their sport. Therefore, all athletes should regularly see an eye doctor even if they pass vision screenings, especially if competing at a high level in sport to address additional factors, outside of acuity and eye health that constitute a “sports performance evaluation.
For more information on how you can improve eye health, see
Encourage Regular visits to the Eye Doctor
Unfortunately, many athletes (especially children) do not realize they suffer from undiagnosed vision impairments. Coaches spend significant time and resources training athletes to compensate for poor vision without ever addressing the undiagnosed vision impairment. Addressing these vision impairments can make your training more effective, as well as improve your athlete’s performance and their safety. Therefore, it is important that you know the signs that your athlete may be suffering from a vision impairment and ensure that all your athletes visit an eye doctor for an in-person examination.
As a coach, if your athlete exhibits all the physical skills and proper technique to be successful, yet they still perform below expectation, consider a visual performance evaluation. If any of your athletes complain about the following problems, make sure they see an eye doctor for an in-person comprehensive eye examination:
- Blurred Vision
- Complaints of lack of clarity in sport
- Difficulties in night ( indoor) vs daytime sport environments
- Headaches
- Double vision
- Difficulty tracking targets or the ball
- Misjudging depth, missing catches, shooting balls high or low of targets
- Timing Issues
- Slowed decision making on the field
- Consistent difficulties effectively running plays designed by the coach
- Irritated eyes during sport
- Difficulty with varying light levels
Screenings are not Enough
Remember, it is important that all your athletes regularly see an eye doctor even if they pass a vision screening or do not exhibit signs of vision impairment. Not all vision impairments have obvious warning signs or impact performance right away. It’s better for your athlete to see an eye doctor before the vision impairments are obvious and/or already impacting their performance.
Furthermore, your athletes’ vision may be “good enough” to pass a school screening, but their vision can still not be good enough for their sport. Therefore, all athletes should regularly see an eye doctor even if they pass vision screenings, especially if competing at a high level in sport to address additional factors, outside of acuity and eye health that constitute a “sports performance evaluation.
For more information on how you can improve eye health, see
- National Eye Institute: Sports and your Eyes
Athletes who can process multiple visual inputs from multiple sources more quickly (such as the ball, other players, and obstacles) may be able to set themselves up for success by improving their ability to catch, maneuver, and pass more efficiently. If you can train your athletes to see the ball and other players more quickly, they can react to the plays more quickly.
Incorporating some basic vision exercises can make your overall training program more efficient. Prior to incorporating vision training, make sure your athletes receive a comprehensive sports eye exam. This will help in maximizing the possible return from your training.
Add Vision Skills To What You're Already Doing
It's usually best to incorporate aspects of visual performance into drills that are already being performed. Adding visual skills enhancement concepts into established training routines that the athlete is comfortable with can substantially improve performance without adding additional time to the overall training session.
Basic Tips:
Here are some basic exercises and training tips you may want to incorporate into your training:
See our Basic Training Page for videos and instructions on incorporating vision skills into your training.
Work With Local Sports Vision Eye Doctors
Remember, these tips are simple tools to help improve basic vision performance. They will not replace an in-person comprehensive eye examination, assessment, or training with an eye doctor or vision trainer. For more information about working with SV doctors and trainers in your area, visit:
Incorporating some basic vision exercises can make your overall training program more efficient. Prior to incorporating vision training, make sure your athletes receive a comprehensive sports eye exam. This will help in maximizing the possible return from your training.
Add Vision Skills To What You're Already Doing
It's usually best to incorporate aspects of visual performance into drills that are already being performed. Adding visual skills enhancement concepts into established training routines that the athlete is comfortable with can substantially improve performance without adding additional time to the overall training session.
Basic Tips:
Here are some basic exercises and training tips you may want to incorporate into your training:
- Do drills with the SVP Vision Ring to improve eye tracking and eye-hand coordination while warming-up, waiting for their turn to play, or off the field.
- Simple drills, such as the coach holding up fingers during an on-field soccer drill, can encourage athletes to keep their head up to identify how many fingers are up to keep their on-field awareness and avoid injury.
- Adding strobe training glasses to any safe on-field skill adds complexity to the task, and increases the visual processing demand of the athlete to improve their on-field decision making.
See our Basic Training Page for videos and instructions on incorporating vision skills into your training.
Work With Local Sports Vision Eye Doctors
Remember, these tips are simple tools to help improve basic vision performance. They will not replace an in-person comprehensive eye examination, assessment, or training with an eye doctor or vision trainer. For more information about working with SV doctors and trainers in your area, visit:
- SVP's Find an SV Provider
- AOA's Doctor Locator
No matter how good your athletes are, accidents will inevitably happen. In fact, eye injuries are a leading cause of blindness in children in the United States, and most of these injuries happen while kids are playing sports (NEI). In addition, 90% of these eye injuries are preventable if one wears the appropriate sport safe eyewear.
Accidents that lead to eye injuries can have a long-lasting impact on your athlete’s performance and can eventually lead to permanent blindness. Loss of vision can not only impact an athlete’s performance, but can negatively impact their physical and mental health, as well as their academics and work.
Accidents that lead to eye injuries can have a long-lasting impact on your athlete’s performance and can eventually lead to permanent blindness. Loss of vision can not only impact an athlete’s performance, but can negatively impact their physical and mental health, as well as their academics and work.
"Dress" or "Normal" Glasses are Not Safe!
Unfortunately, many times, eye injuries in sports can be caused by the use of non-sport safe frames. Therefore, it is important that all your athletes wear appropriate sport safe eyewear.
Learn What Eyewear is Right For Your Sports
Work with a local eye doctor to learn what eyewear is appropriate for your sports and how your athletes should properly use their eyewear. The wrong eyewear, or eyewear used incorrectly, will not only be ineffective, but can negatively impact vision, performance, and safety.
Standards For Eyewear
There are standards of impact resistance established to quantify the safety of eyewear in regards to impact.
More Information:
Unfortunately, many times, eye injuries in sports can be caused by the use of non-sport safe frames. Therefore, it is important that all your athletes wear appropriate sport safe eyewear.
Learn What Eyewear is Right For Your Sports
Work with a local eye doctor to learn what eyewear is appropriate for your sports and how your athletes should properly use their eyewear. The wrong eyewear, or eyewear used incorrectly, will not only be ineffective, but can negatively impact vision, performance, and safety.
Standards For Eyewear
There are standards of impact resistance established to quantify the safety of eyewear in regards to impact.
- Dress frames are eyewear designed for school, work, or social settings and should never be used for sports. These frames are not made from sport safe materials, and their hinges are not designed to survive an impact. If you encounter an athlete using these frames, please refer them back to their ECP to discuss a more sport appropriate option to protect their eyes and maximize their performance.
- Impact resistant frames are required for certain sports with small projectiles, such as racquetball and squash. These frames are generally referred to as “sports goggles.”
- Sport safe frames are a step down in impact resistance quality, yet are readily used in sports due to the impact resistance of the frame and lens materials. These frames can be rimless or full frame options. There is some risk associated with these, as they may not meet ASTM standards.
- Sport active frames, used in sports such as running and cycling, have sport performance qualities, such as improved peripheral vision optics and lack of fogging, yet these are not expected to have objects impact the frame.
More Information:
- National Eye Institute:
- Prevent Blindness: Sports Eye Safety
- Protective Eyewear for Young Athletes:
If you have an athletic trainer on staff, that trainer should be encouraged to learn more about sports and performance vision via the SVP Academy, and/or coordinate a meeting to discuss topics relevant to their sport with a local eye doctor, located via the AOA or SVP doctor locator. Many eye doctors will take the time to educate athletic trainers about eye injury triage and/or contact lens insertion and removal.
To learn more about how Sports Vision Pros can help you and your athletes improve their visual skills, see our Visual Assessment and Visual Training pages.
How to find a SV provider:https://www.sportsvisionpros.com/find-a-sv-provider.html
To learn more about how Sports Vision Pros can help you and your athletes improve their visual skills, see our Visual Assessment and Visual Training pages.
How to find a SV provider:https://www.sportsvisionpros.com/find-a-sv-provider.html
- SVP Academy:
- Coaches/ATC: Beginners Guide to Sports Vision
- ATC: Tier 3 courses
- Tips & Updates Blog for
- SVP Community: