How Your Eyesight Affects Your Athletic Performance
No matter the type of sport you’re involved in, your eyesight plays an important role in your athletic performance. If you want to perform to the best of your ability, it’s essential that you have healthy eyes and great vision. The clarity of your vision isn’t the only indicator on the quality of your eyesight. In fact, you may be affected by vision problems that worsen your athletic performance, which is why it’s important to see an optometrist.
The Correlation Between Eyesight and Athletic Performance
Your vision and eyesight can affect many different aspects of your athletic performance, the primary of which include your:
- Motor performance
- Visual acuity
- Information processing
- Clarity of sight
- Visual memory
- Depth perception
- Peripheral vision
Keep in mind that different sports have different requirements when it comes to a person’s eyesight. If you play baseball, your hand-eye coordination must be fantastic, which is determined by your visual acuity and concentration levels. Depending on the speed of a pitch, a batter has less than two-tenths of a second to decide whether to swing at a pitch or let it sail by.
For golfers, great eyesight is important for visualizing a shot and seeing the target. Regardless of the specific sport that you play, your eyesight is integral to your performance. If your athletic performance is worsening without any reason for doing so, a vision problem may be hindering your performance.
How to Effectively Improve Your Eyesight
If you visit an optometrist and find that your eyesight is lacking in a couple of areas, there are several steps you can take to improve your eyesight.
Consider Cataract Surgery
A cataract occurs when the lens of your eye becomes cloudy, which results in blurry vision. This vision problem mainly develops as a person ages and can continue to worsen until the affected individual loses their eyesight. If your vision is blurry because of a cataract, your athletic performance will almost certainly take a hit.
The only way to get rid of a cataract is to remove it via cataract surgery, after which an artificial lens will be placed in the same location. While side effects may occur after surgery, complications are rare. Cataract surgery may be exactly what you need to restore your vision and improve your athletic performance.
Look Into Sports Eyewear
No matter the state of your vision, you should consider sports glasses or goggles to protect your eyes from corneal abrasions or blunt injuries. These types of protective eye-wear are made from polycarbonate plastic, which is more durable than the material used for standard eyeglasses.
If you obtain polarized lenses, you can get rid of any sun glare while playing sports. In the event that your eyesight is worse than it should be, simple contacts or eyeglasses may improve your eyesight enough to enhance your athletic performance.
