Sports Vision Training by Sport
Sports vision training practices the visual and decision skills a sport depends on, such as tracking, reaction time, anticipation and decision speed. At Ares Elite Sports Vision in Carmel, Indiana, it is for athletes from age 12 in hockey, racing, basketball, soccer, football, volleyball, baseball, softball and other high-speed sports. It starts with a 75-minute evaluation ($449), in person, run by Dr. Joseph LaPlaca, OD.
What does each sport ask of an athlete’s vision?
Every sport places different demands on the visual and cognitive system, and each sport below lists its own. These come up in most of them:
Visual Demands
- Dynamic tracking and anticipation
- Extreme peripheral awareness
- Fast depth judgment
- Visual processing under fatigue
Common Bottlenecks
- Late reaction to fast-moving targets
- Over-focusing (tunnel vision)
- Slow choice decision making
- Executing incorrectly under pressure
Each sport’s graphic is illustrative: it marks the A.R.E.S. stage (Acquire, Route, Execute or Synchronize) of the sport’s headline demand, named in its caption. The stall is the same length in every graphic; it is not a measurement.
Hockey
What does hockey ask of a player’s vision?
Hockey asks for tracking ultra-fast pucks, peripheral awareness in traffic, and split-second decision-making.
Racing
What does racing ask of a driver’s vision?
Racing asks for high-speed visual processing, gaze control, and sustained performance under load.
Basketball
What does basketball ask of a player’s vision?
Basketball asks for multi-object tracking, spatial awareness, and quick-trigger execution.
Soccer
What does soccer ask of a player’s vision?
Soccer asks for field vision, anticipation, and fast, accurate foot coordination under pressure.
Football
What does football ask of a player’s vision?
Football asks for pre-snap processing, route anticipation, and dynamic depth tracking.
Volleyball
What does volleyball ask of a player’s vision?
Volleyball asks for high-contrast trajectory tracking, depth perception, and explosive reaction speed.
How does sports vision training start?
With the sports vision evaluation, in person in Carmel. It measures how quickly the athlete acquires information, routes decisions and executes coordination sequences, and shows which of those steps is slow; it is not a medical eye exam. Every test in the evaluation
Sports vision training is then built from the athlete’s own numbers and the demands of the sport, not from generic drills, in person in Carmel or remotely with Ares Academy. There is no fixed program length: training is planned around the season and continues as part of the athlete’s preparation, and progress is measured at re-evaluation ($299, booked separately). Sessions are run by Dr. LaPlaca or an A.R.E.S. Certified Trainer, depending on the program.
Pay online after booking.
Baseball and softball
How does vision training help baseball and softball hitters?
Vision training for baseball and softball hitters practices the visual and decision skills that come before the swing: picking up the ball early, judging its speed and location, and deciding to swing or take. At Ares Elite Sports Vision in Carmel, Indiana, it starts with a 75-minute evaluation ($449) run by Dr. Joseph LaPlaca, OD, and training is built from the hitter’s own numbers.
It does not replace hitting practice or a hitting coach, and the evaluation is not a medical eye exam.
Hitting starts with seeing. Before the swing begins, the hitter has to find the ball out of the pitcher’s hand, read its speed and location, and commit to a swing or a take. Vision training practices those steps under time pressure, with drills chosen from what the sports vision evaluation measured.
Athletes get better at the visual and reaction tasks they practice. How much of that carries over into batting results in games is still being studied, so Ares does not promise a result: it measures each hitter’s own change at re-evaluation ($299, booked separately). Does sports vision training work?
How much time does a hitter have to see a pitch?
At 90 mph, about four-tenths of a second. A 90 mph fastball covers about 132 feet every second, and pitchers release the ball several feet in front of the pitching rubber, which is 60 feet 6 inches from home plate. The swing itself takes up part of that time.
A hitter therefore cannot wait to see where the ball ends up: the pitch has to be picked up early and the decision made while the ball is still in flight. Fastpitch softball is pitched from a shorter distance, so the time is short there too, even at lower pitch speeds.
What does the evaluation measure for a hitter?
The evaluation does not measure a swing. It measures the visual and decision steps that come before it, on physical hardware in Carmel:
- Clarity on moving targets and contrast sensitivity: seeing a moving ball clearly against its background.
- Eye teaming and depth perception: the two eyes working together to judge distance.
- Saccadic targeting speed: how fast the eyes jump to a new target and land on it.
- Raw and choice reaction time: how long a response takes, and how much longer it takes when there is a choice to make, as in swing or take.
- Decision speed under strobe occlusion and physical load: deciding with less to see, and when tired.
Training then targets the steps that are slow. Every test in the evaluation
What drills help a hitter see the ball better?
Coaches use drills that make the hitter pick up the ball early and decide fast, for example:
- Calling out a number or color marked on the ball as it comes in, with or without a swing.
- Tracking pitches in the bullpen without swinging, and calling ball or strike, or the pitch type, before the catch.
These drills give a hitter practice at picking up the ball early and deciding fast. They do not show which step is slow for a particular hitter; the evaluation does, so practice time goes to the part that needs it.
What is pitch recognition, and can it be trained?
Pitch recognition is identifying a pitch’s type, speed and location early in its flight, in time to decide whether to swing. It is a hitting skill: hitters practice it with live at-bats, machine work and video with their hitting coach.
Ares does not teach pitch types. It measures and trains the visual and decision speed underneath recognition: how quickly the eyes find a moving target, how clearly they see it, and how fast a choice between options is made. More on choice decision time
Baseball and softball vision questions
Does eye dominance matter in baseball?
It is worth knowing which eye is dominant: any eye doctor can check it with a simple test. Whether to change a stance because of it is a decision for the hitter and the hitting coach.
Most people have a dominant eye: the one whose view the brain favors when the two eyes’ views differ. A hitter is cross-dominant when the dominant eye is on the opposite side from the dominant hand, for example a right-handed hitter with a dominant left eye. Research has not settled whether cross-dominance helps or hurts hitting.
Do strobe glasses help baseball hitters?
Athletes get better at the visual tasks they practice with strobe eyewear; whether that carries over into batting results in games is still being studied.
Strobe glasses flicker between clear and dark, so the hitter sees the ball in snapshots and has to fill in the gaps. At Ares, strobe occlusion is part of the evaluation and one training tool among several, chosen from the athlete’s own numbers.
Is vision training different for softball hitters?
The visual demands are the same: pick up the ball early, judge its speed and location, and decide fast. Fastpitch softball is pitched underhand from a shorter distance than baseball, so the ball arrives from a lower release point and the time to decide stays short. The evaluation and the training plan are built from each athlete’s own numbers, whichever sport they play.
Should a hitter have an eye exam before vision training?
If a hitter has trouble seeing the ball clearly, start with a regular eye exam: blur that needs a prescription is corrected with glasses or contact lenses, and vision training is not a substitute for them. The Ares evaluation measures visual and reaction performance under sport demands; it is not a medical eye examination and does not replace regular eye care.
What if my sport is not listed?
The evaluation measures the same visual-cognitive systems in every athlete. Evaluations start at age 10 and training at age 12. Youth athletes and age
Pay online after booking.