Dr. Tod R. Davis responds to “High-Performance Vision Training Improves Batting Statistics for University of Cincinnati Baseball Players”
A common response from parents after vision therapy is that their child’s sports ability increases. “Thomas has played in baseball since he was six,” says Nancy M., Thomas’ grandmother. “However, it wasn’t until after vision therapy that Thomas, who had convergence insufficiency and eye-tracking issues, went from often missing the ball by three inches to hitting, catching, and pitching with amazing accuracy!” Not only do academic abilities improve with vision therapy, but on-the-field improvements occur as well. Vision therapy allows for better tracking, better depth perception, better balance, better hand-eye coordination, and even better response time because the visual system has been trained to register faster.
We’ve had numerous referrals from families with stories that go like this: George goes through a year of vision therapy, and the next year joins the same sports team he was in last year, say baseball, with his friend Johnny. Johnny’s parents are so impressed with George’s improved performance compared to the previous year that they ask George’s parents what sports camp they put George through. George’s parents simply reply, “We didn’t. George had vision therapy.” So, Johnny’s parents investigate vision therapy, and decide they want vision therapy for Johnny too – not because he’s showing obvious signs of a vision disorder, but because they have seen the results of what training the eyes to work with the brain-to-hand motion can do for a child.
On a national level, over the last several years, there has been more attention given to the benefits of vision therapy for athletes. There was an article in the Washington Times on June 13th titled “Eyes Have It With Help of Special Spectacles,” in which several players on the Washington National’s team are using the Nike Strobe glasses, another method of vision therapy. (We actually will be providing these through the office for those that are interested.) This has been the norm with most sports teams, where a few select players on a team receive vision therapy.
This particular article titled “High Performance Vision Training Improves Batting Statistics for University of Cincinnati Baseball Players” that I am responding to, however, is unusual in that the whole-team participated. The team’s batting average – the team, not a single player – “increased from 0.251 in 2010 to 0.285 in 2011 and the slugging percentage increased by 0.033. The rest of the Big East’s slugging percentage fell over that same time frame 0.082.” For those not familiar with baseball, this is huge, especially for an entire team’s batting average.
I suspect that vision therapy – eye vision training – is going to become more integrated into sports and sports training for both children, as well as adults in the upcoming years, and I think this article speaks towards that.
“High-Performance Vision Training Improves Batting Statistics for University of Cincinnati Baseball Players” by Joseph F. Clark, James K. Ellis, Johnny Bench (Hall of Fame catcher from Cincinnati Reds), Jane Khoury, and Pat Graman.