HISTORY

Eskimos were arguably the 1st to introduce sports

spectacles to reduce glare from snow and water.
Although Chinese may have used transparent
colored pebbles for magnification and light
protection.

The earliest used of sports spectacle was however

attributed to Emperor Nero who reputedly views
gladiators in combat through as emerald.

1920 Oklahoma optometrist, Alexander Skeffington,

Skeffington
developed “Behavioral Optometry” which led to
sports vision enhancement training and that visual
skills are learned and could improve.
What is sports vision?
 A term, which encompasses the
assessment, correction, and enhancement of
vision as well as the protection of the eyes
during sporting activity.

Visual Skills
- Developing visual skills includes
learning to use both eyes together
effectively. Having both eyes move, align,
fixate, and focus as a team enhances the
ability to interpret and understand the
potential available visual information.
 Visual Input 3 fundamentals
Visual Acuity of Visual
Refractive Stauts
Contrast Sensitivity Function process
Ocular Health
Color vision
Accommodation
Eye movement Visuomotor
Binocular Vision and Stereopsis Output
Eye-hand
Visual Processing Eye-foot
Speed Recognition
Vision and Balance
Learned Strategies
Central-peripheral awareness
Speed and Span of processing
Visual Reaction Time -
Sensory integration
 Eye Movement Skills or Eye Tracking
Ability to follow a moving objects smoothly
and accurately with both eyes.
PURSUIT – smooth eye movements in tracking
moving objects
 SACCADES – eye jumping movements when
looking from one object to another.

Accommodation and Vergence

The ability to efficiently change eye
focusing and eye aiming when looking
between objects at different distances
 This should also include visual judgement errors
when fatigued or experiencing high levels of stress.
 Visual Skills Evaluation for
Sports Vision Workshop
Visual Acuity
The ability to clearly see, inspect,
identify, and understand objects at a
distance. People with 20/20 distance
sight still may have visual problems
Static VA – sharpness and clarity of sight.
Dynamic VA – ability of seeing moving objects clearly.
Contrast Sensitivity – visual sensitivity to detail.
how well eyes see during different weather and
lightning conditions
Depth Perception and Eye Teaming skills
(Binocularity)
Ø Depth perception – the ability to
quickly and accurately judge the
distance and speed of objects.
Ø Depth perception is the ability related
to two-eyed aiming and should be evaluated
at various distances and positions of gaze.

Central and Peripheral Recognition
Ø This is a skill that measures the
accuracy and quickness in recognizing
visual information and measures the
response time to information in the
peripheral field of view.
Eye-hand Body Coordination
 How effectively your visual system guides
your motor skills. How fast it takes you to
see something, process it in your mind and
physically react to it.

Visual Concentration
The ability to focus your attention on
task while filtering out peripheral
distractions.

Visualization
•Picturing different parts of your activity in
your “mind’s eye” while your eyes are seeing
and concentrating on the performance.
Understanding Visual Skills
I. Ocular Motility – Eye Movement Control
Eye movements require highest level of
movement precision in the human body.
This skill allows rapid and accurate shifting of
the eyes along a line of print in a book, quick and
accurate shifts from desk to chalkbaord, and back
again and sure tracking in sports.
Inadequate eye movements’ control
may necessitate using the finger to
help the eyes maintain fixation during
reading.
• It may show up as loss of place when reading
or copying from the chalkboard, skipping
words, or rereading, or repeatedly omitting
 .Accommodation – Focusing Ability
Rapid, automatic focus adjustments are essential
to efficient visual functions.

This skill allows accurate shifts in visual

inspection with instant clarity, as from desk (near)
to chalkboard (far) etc. focusing ability also relates
to the ease with which visual attention may be
sustained.

Inadequate focusing ability greatly

reduces visual efficiency and effectiveness
in accomplishing visual tasks. Inability to
sustain clear focus at near working distance
will result in blurring of print after reading
for a short while, fatigue, avoidance of
close work and reduce comprehension.
Binocularity Integration – Eye teaming
ability

The human visual system is designed so

that the paired eyes and their
reciprocating muscles can work to such a
high degree of teaming that the two eyes
perform as though they were one.

Deficiency in eye teaming may result in

strabismus, double vision, suppression
(blocking out the information from one
eye), reduce depth perception, reduce
attention span, or the use of excessive
compensatory effort with minimal
Visual Motor – Eye-hand coordination

The eyes and hands must integrate in a

coordinated manner for optimal
performance.
Skill in eye-hand coordination is
essential to the accurate production of
written language symbols and to
efficient performance in sports.

Deficiency in eye-hand coordination

may make the handwriting difficult.
Poor spacing and inability to stay on a
ruled line may result. Overall sports
performance will also be affected.
 Visual Form perception

Form evaluation skills allow immediate

and accurate discrimination of visible
likeness and differences, and the ability to
reproduce and generalize forms.

Difficulties in this area may result in

the confusion and likeness and minor
differences, confusing similar beginnings
and endings of words, failure to
recognize the same word in the next
sentence, “tracking with fingers” to help
determine likes and differences (tactual
reinforcement).
 Directional Concepts

For optimal visual processing, directional

responses should be completely accurate and
automatic.
This skill relates to the appreciation of a
“sidedness” to one own body, projection of
directions in order to classify visual
information, and visual imagery consistent
with the laterality and directionality skills.

Confusions in these areas may result in

reversal of forms, letters such as “b” and
“d”, words as such as “on” and “no”, and
“was” and “saw”.
 Visual Intake – Visual Memory

By the age of 6, the visual system should be

the most effective information gathering
system.

Inadequate visualization may affect

comprehension in all academic areas, difficulty in
spelling, mathematics, and difficulty returning
or remembering visual information.

Obtaining the maximum amount of information

in the shortest time is essential for maximum
performance.
 Vision Therapy
Vision is the dominant sense and is composed of
the three areas of function:
Visual Pathway Integrity including eye health,
visual acuity and refractive status.
Visual Skills including accommodation (eye
focusing), Binocular Vision (eye teaming) and
Movement (eye tracking).
Visual Information Processing including
identification, discrimination, spatial awareness
and integration with other senses.
 Conditions For Visual Training:
Slow academic learning
Difficulty in school
Visual and or physical discomfort
Certain types of strabismus and or amblyopia.
Developmental and perceptual difficulties
Enhancement therapy for activities such as sports,
reading, etc.

VISION THERAPY
Vision therapy is a sequence of activities
individually prescribes and monitored by the doctor
to develop efficient visual skills and processing.
Prescribe after or comprehensive eye
examination has been performed and has
indicated that vision therapy is appropriate
treatment option.
Vision Therapy program is based on the results
of standardized tests the needs of the patient and
the patient’s signs and symptoms.
The use of lenses, prisms, filters, occluders,
specialized instruments and computer programs is
an integral part of vision therapy.
Vision therapy is administered in the office
under guidance of the doctor.
It requires a number of office visits and
depending on the severity of the diagnosed
conditional, the length of the program typically
ranges from several weeks to several months.
Activities paralleling in-office techniques as
typically taught to patient take practical at home
to reinforce the developing visual skills.

Vision Therapy
– the use of therapeutic procedures to modify
visual function.
FOUR (4) major area in Vision Therapy

1.Developmental Vision Training – used for the

guidance and development of visual abilities in
young children.
2. Preventive Visual Training – used to prevent
the development of vision disorders that might
otherwise occur.
3.Rehabilitative Vision Training – used to
remediate specific diagnosed vision disorders.
4.Enhancement Visual Training – used to
enhance visual abilities required for specific
sports, work, or academic demands.
Sports • Initial Examination/Interview
• Visual Training Skills needed
for specific sport

• VT Program design

• Evaluation

• Comment/ Recommendation
 RESEARCH TOPICS
1. Visual Impairment
(Low vision; moderate, severe, profound)
2. Down Syndrome
3. Autism
4. Learning Disability
Slow learner
Dyslexia
 Composition of Report
1. Definition
2. Causes or Factors
3. Characteristics:
Intellectual development
Language development
Personal and Functional development