Dynamic Vision Training

Training the Eyes to Track Movements and Objects

Ever hear the terms 'dynamic vision'? Chances are that the answer is no.


Although it is a field that has been around and been researched for some time now, many people still don't know that it can be trained or that it even exists.


A baseball player hitting a 98 mph fastball, a quarterback "seeing" pressure from the backside, a hockey goalie "seeing" the puck through a screen of players, a lacrosse player making a pass between defenders with pin-point accuracy...


What do all of these and many similar skills have in common?


They can all be trained an improved through vision training.


A common misconception many athletes have is that athletes were just born with the great ability to 'see the field' better, to know where all of his/her teammates were on the field, to anticipate where the ball was going to land, to block out distractions, to know where things were without being able to see them, and so on.


The truth is that these are all qualities of dynamic vision, and all of them can be trained for improvement.


Dynamic vision is the ability to see things while you are in motion.


It is also specific to sports since there is action and movement in all sports.


Static vision is simply what you are able to see while you are not moving. Most eye exams are done to determine one's static vision, with an end result of some sort of quantified score (20/20, 20/10, 20/7, etc.).


While static vision is important, it can easily be corrected with laser eye surgery or prescribed corrective optical solutions (contacts or glasses).


Static vision is correctable, but not trainable.


All research suggests that an athlete corrects his/her static vision to the best it can be to help with sport performance.

All research also suggests that an athlete should train specifically to improve his/her dynamic vision. According to Thomas A. Wilson and Jeff Falkel in their book Sportsvision: Training for Better Performance, there are seven trainable areas of dynamic vision (2004, Human Kinetics, pages 26-30).

7 Trainable Areas of Dynamic Vision:

1. Focusing--the ability of the eyes to clearly focus on objects quickly, and at varying distances (ex., focusing back and forth on objects near and far as quickly as possible, such as in focusing on the goalie and the defensemen in front of the net while deciding on the best shot).

2. Tracking--the ability of the eyes to quickly and accurately jump from point to point in space (such as a wide receiver tracking the release of the ball from the quarterback's hand into his hands, and the wide receiver tracking where his defender is).

3. Vergence--the ability to accurately cross and uncross the eyes, which allows the athlete to maintain single vision from near to far and from far to near (such as seeing a ball as it comes near and as it goes away--if the eyes do not accurately cross or uncross, the athlete may see 2 balls as it comes near, making it very difficult to judge its path).

4. Sequencing--the ability to organize visual information in a given order (such as organizing instructions, plays, and events during the game).

5. Eye-Hand Coordination--the ability to coordinate between the eyes and the hands (such as in basketball, volleyball, and baseball); as a side note, it is important for the athlete to have excellent eye-foot coordination as well in order to get into proper position to best utilize his/her eye-hand coordination--eye-foot coordination is also trainable.

6. Visualization--the ability to "see" an image or scene in the mind's eye (such as visualizing the golf holes before teeing off, or visualizing the downhill ski course before taking off); there are 2 other visual perceptual skills that form the process of seeing something, remembering what was seen, seeing it in the mind's eye, recognizing the significant part of what was seen, and then acting on it.

7. Directionality--the ability to quickly and accurately perceive left and right and to project left and right out into space (such as making left and right decisions quickly under the stress of the game); by improving directionality, an athlete will also improve his/her balance and field awareness.

Training for these seven visual skills will help improve an athlete's sport specific performance. Similar to traditional performance training, it is recommended that fundamental exercises for these skills be mastered before adding any type of resistance or loading.


Progressive overload principles also apply (need to progressively load the exercises as the athlete improves).

Athletes who perform the best in their sport(s) have the highest levels of dynamic vision.


At Finish First Sports Performance, we include dynamic vision training exercises into training programs for every sport. For more information about our dynamic vision training programs, please Contact Us.