Did you see this interview with last year's NBA MVP, point guard Stephen Curry?  Curry is not only one of the NBA's best shooters, but his ball handling skills make him an elite passer and give him the ability to create his own shot (which is probably going in, let's face it).  One of the key aspects to Curry's off-court training is his sports vision/vision therapy program.  Check out his flashing light drill where Curry has to respond to different colored lights on a screen while dribbling a ball.

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The degree of difficulty of Curry's sports vision training is astonishing.  While dribbling he responds to different cues from colored lights.  One color of light tells him to switch his handle and he has to reach out and touch the trigger with his opposite hand, all while maintaining his dribble of course.  A different color might signal a crossover dribble, or a pass to someone standing to his side.  Sometimes this same person standing off to the side in Curry's peripheral vision is holding up different numbers of fingers that Curry must call out correctly, yes, all while dribbling and still responding to the flashlights.  These peripheral players may even toss him back a pass from time to time that he needs to catch between his flashlight responses.  Sound overwhelming?  Many vision therapy specialists support the idea that these skills are difficult but trainable -- visual awareness, reaction time, hand/eye coordination, peripheral visual processing, etc.  Some of us might be innately better than others, but all of us can improve if we practice and "build" these skills.  And the great thing about sports vision training is that it can be completely customized to your sport, your position, and your personal strengths and weaknesses.  Just search vision therapy or sports vision specialist optometrists in your area and you can find a doctor who can help you develop your skills too -- be it for better classroom performance, on-the-field performance, or both.

Growing up, I always just thought that my vision was what it was.  I'm sure most of you felt the same way:  I needed glasses so I had "bad" eyes.  But with glasses (or eventually contact lenses) I could see 20/20 again, so I was "artificially" perfect again.  Everything seemed that simple.  You read the 20/20 line, you pass the test.

Photo via wikipedia.  Without glasses, vision for people with one, two, or three units of near sightedness get's markedly blurry.  With glasses, even people with near sightedness (or myopia) will see the clarity of the chart on the far left.  Even with the best prescription, most people will not be able to see any lines under the red line, which denotes perfect vision.  20/20 is considered "perfect" vision, but some people can see things even smaller than this!

But imagine if you could see even better than "perfect".  Fellow optometrist, Dr. Mike Peters, explores just that in his new article with Men's Health detailing the relationship between visual performance and athletic performance. Some humans actually have the ability to see far beyond perfect 20/20-- in fact the best recorded human visual acuity is 20/8.  Imagine how much faster you would read the exit sign on the highway, or see a ball coming your direction from across the field.  Not surprisingly, the best professional athletes tend to have superb visual acuity, not to mention phenomenal depth perception and  reaction times.

So the best athletes tend to have excellent vision, but were they just born with these supernatural gifts?  Even just a few years ago, many clinicians would have answered yes, at least in part, to this question.  In the past few decades, great advances have been made in the field of vision therapy, and we are finding that your vision and visual abilities can be trained and developed just like any other skill set.  As a child, every day you are learning to use your eyes and gaining better control.  We don't start out seeing 20/20 (typically it is more like 20/80 by 1 year of age); our brain, our eyes, everything must grow to work together.  You don't just see because you have eyes; you have to learn vision just like your learn how to walk.  We used to think development of vision occurred only in childhood, but we are learning that this process doesn't just stop in elementary school.  We can continue to help train the brain and eyes to improve visual function and performance.  You won't train yourself out of needing glasses, but you can train your eyes to focus faster, have better depth perception, and process the images that you see much more quickly.  This is vision therapy.

Sound interesting?  Talk with your eye care provider to see if they offer vision therapy or sports vision services.  More and more optometrists are specializing in this field, so even if your doctor doesn't offer vision therapy, they will be able to refer you to someone who does.   Visit covd.org for more information!

Schools across the country are heading back to the classroom in the next week or two, and as a parent there is more than enough to purchase and prepare to ensure your child is ready.  I know your schedules are busy, but I cannot recommend enough the importance of a full eye exam for children, especially as they return to the classroom with its multitude of visual demands!