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Military & First Responders
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Vision Health
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Basic Training
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Field-Safe Eyewear
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Assessment & Training
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Whether you’re active duty, a first responder, or a shooting enthusiast, poor vision can significantly impede your performance and safety. If you can’t see the target or other threats, you will have a much more difficult time assessing, targeting , and safely maneuvering through obstacles and other threats. More practically, if someone else sees something better or reacts more quickly, you may be at a significant disadvantage.
For example, a soldier or police officer with poor night vision may not be able see assailants or suspects while on night duty. EMTs who are nearsighted may not see traffic or obstacles as they rush to an emergency and may need to take more time to examine and treat injuries. Poor vision can slow down how quickly you can see and react to an obstacle, combatant, or victim.
Unfortunately, many active duty, first responders, and shooting enthusiasts do not realize they suffer from undiagnosed vision impairments and spend significant time and resources compensating for poor vision or slower recognition without ever addressing their unknown vision impairment. Addressing these vision impairments can save you time as well as improve your performance and safety. Therefore, it is important that you know the signs of vision impairments and ensure that you visit an eye doctor for an in-person examination.
If you experience the following warning signs, make sure you see an eye doctor right away:
All good athletes are in tune with their bodies. Because of the dynamic nature of what military personnel and first responders do, they are in every definition athletes. Being conscious of any potential visual component deficiencies should lead to a desire for a visual performance evaluation. Identifying areas of visual deficiency can have a dramatic effect on improving overall performance and safety.
Visual performance evaluations address specific visual needs based on occupation and position in the field that may vary greatly. For example, a situation like tactical shooting or firefighting has great need for depth perception and peripheral vision testing without defined acuity goals. Long range shooting, on the other hand, has a need for exceptional acuity in order to perform well.
Remember, it is important that you regularly see an eye doctor even if you don’t have signs of vision impairments. Not all vision impairments have obvious warning signs, and not all impairments immediately impact performance. It is better to be treated by an eye doctor before an impairment becomes obvious and begins to impact your performance and safety.
It is also important that you regularly see an eye doctor even if you pass regular “vision screenings.” Your vision may be “good enough” to pass a basic screening but still not at the level required by your job. For many first responders and military personnel, your eyes need to see, process, and react to much more than what a simple screening can test for.
For example, a soldier or police officer with poor night vision may not be able see assailants or suspects while on night duty. EMTs who are nearsighted may not see traffic or obstacles as they rush to an emergency and may need to take more time to examine and treat injuries. Poor vision can slow down how quickly you can see and react to an obstacle, combatant, or victim.
Unfortunately, many active duty, first responders, and shooting enthusiasts do not realize they suffer from undiagnosed vision impairments and spend significant time and resources compensating for poor vision or slower recognition without ever addressing their unknown vision impairment. Addressing these vision impairments can save you time as well as improve your performance and safety. Therefore, it is important that you know the signs of vision impairments and ensure that you visit an eye doctor for an in-person examination.
If you experience the following warning signs, make sure you see an eye doctor right away:
- Vision strain/ headaches from performance or reading
- Difficulty tracking a target/ball
- Poor aim
- Lack of peripheral awareness
- Slower reaction time
- Misjudging depth
- Difficulty with varying light levels
All good athletes are in tune with their bodies. Because of the dynamic nature of what military personnel and first responders do, they are in every definition athletes. Being conscious of any potential visual component deficiencies should lead to a desire for a visual performance evaluation. Identifying areas of visual deficiency can have a dramatic effect on improving overall performance and safety.
Visual performance evaluations address specific visual needs based on occupation and position in the field that may vary greatly. For example, a situation like tactical shooting or firefighting has great need for depth perception and peripheral vision testing without defined acuity goals. Long range shooting, on the other hand, has a need for exceptional acuity in order to perform well.
Remember, it is important that you regularly see an eye doctor even if you don’t have signs of vision impairments. Not all vision impairments have obvious warning signs, and not all impairments immediately impact performance. It is better to be treated by an eye doctor before an impairment becomes obvious and begins to impact your performance and safety.
It is also important that you regularly see an eye doctor even if you pass regular “vision screenings.” Your vision may be “good enough” to pass a basic screening but still not at the level required by your job. For many first responders and military personnel, your eyes need to see, process, and react to much more than what a simple screening can test for.
In addition to ensuring optimal vision health, vision assessments and training can help elevate your performance even if you have no untreated vision impairments. Vision is an integral component to reaction time, balance, agility, and overall performance. If you can see the target and other threats sooner, you can react to the situation faster. If you can process multiple visual inputs more quickly, such as a moving target, other targets, and obstacles, then you can aim, maneuver, and perform more efficiently.
Incorporating some basic vision exercises and training can help start your vision training and make your overall training program more efficient.
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.
Remember, these tips are simple tools to help improve basic vision performance. They will not replace an in-person comprehensive eye examination with an eye doctor or working with a vision trainer.
Incorporating some basic vision exercises and training can help start your vision training and make your overall training program more efficient.
Here are some basic exercises and training tips you may want to incorporate into your training:
- Dynamic tracking - Each one of your eyes has 6 muscles that help control its movement. Just like training your skeletal muscles helps in physical performance, so too can training your eye muscles.
To make sure you focus properly on an object/ball, we often put numbers, letters or colors on the ball or objects we are training with. In this scenario, not only do you have to accept or catch the ball, but also identify the character/color before you do.
- Postural vision training - It's important that you train your visual system in the position that you perform.
- Multiple object/skill tracking - This drill mimics the demands of your vision system in a game situation. By making you focus on more than one thing at once, it makes each simpler individual task more difficult and prone to confusion. For example:
- Catching is simple. Balance can be easy. Catching while balancing can break down both systems. Training these together can greatly improve performance.
- Catching is simple. Balance can be easy. Catching while balancing can break down both systems. Training these together can greatly improve performance.
See our Basic Training Page for videos and instructions on incorporating vision skills into your training.
Remember, these tips are simple tools to help improve basic vision performance. They will not replace an in-person comprehensive eye examination with an eye doctor or working with a vision trainer.
No matter how much you train, accidents will inevitably happen. Accidents that lead to eye injuries can have a long-lasting impact on your vision and lead to permanent blindness. Loss of vision can not only impact performance, but can negatively impact your physical and mental health, as well as your academics and work. Therefore, it is important to wear appropriate performance-safe eyewear.
Visit a local eye doctor to learn what eyewear is appropriate for your line of duty and how you should properly use their eyewear. The wrong eyewear used incorrectly will not only be ineffective, but can negatively impact your vision, performance and safety. Be sure you discuss all physical activities you perform, both on and off duty, with your eye doctor.
Below are a few tips and resources to help you understand safe eyewear:
For more information on field-safe eyewear, please see our Eye Protection page.
Visit a local eye doctor to learn what eyewear is appropriate for your line of duty and how you should properly use their eyewear. The wrong eyewear used incorrectly will not only be ineffective, but can negatively impact your vision, performance and safety. Be sure you discuss all physical activities you perform, both on and off duty, with your eye doctor.
Below are a few tips and resources to help you understand safe eyewear:
- As a general rule, fashion eyewear is never acceptable for extreme or high risk situations.
- All eyewear should be certified for impact resistance.
- In some cases, eyewear can be a detriment, and contact lenses may be a better option.
For more information on field-safe eyewear, please see our Eye Protection page.
The best way to maximize your performance through vision training is to utilize the community of eye and vision professionals. Eye doctors with sport/performance vision expertise can provide comprehensive eye examinations, sports-specific visual assessments, and training. They can work with you as well as your trainers and coaches to ensure you're fully utilizing your vision to improve your performance.
Below are some tips on how to find and develop a relationship with sports vision providers and trainers.
For more information, please see our Visual Assessments and Visual Training.
Below are some tips on how to find and develop a relationship with sports vision providers and trainers.
- Look for a doctor that lists their experience with vision performance on their website.
- Check doctor locators on Sports Vision Pros.
- Ask trainers of local elite teams if they work with anyone in the area.
For more information, please see our Visual Assessments and Visual Training.
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