Eye-Teaming
The ability of the two eyes to work together equally, accurately, and comfortably. Inability to do this affects nearly all the other skills, especially depth perception and visual comfort in academics.
Tracking
Eye movements needed to quickly and accurately gather visual information. Problems with tracking can lead to loss of place, leaving things out, silly mistakes, and reduced comprehension in school. Problems with tracking is the most common visual issue seen in children and adults with reading/learning issues. In sports poor tracking affects the ability to keep one's eyes on the ball or target and moving eyes from target to target.
There are 2 types of tracking:
Pursuits – Smooth eye movements for following a moving target.
Saccades – Rapid eye movements for going from target to target.
Depth Perception
The ability of the eyes to locate an object in space, determine its speed, distance, and trajectory. This includes taking good routes, timing, and hitting targets.
Focusing Strength & Flexibility
The ability to maintain clear focus for sustained periods of time, and shift focus from objects near and far, quickly and accurately.
Peripheral Awareness
The ability to remain aware of your surroundings (teammates, opponents, boundary lines) while focusing on something (ball, opponent, teammate). Good peripheral awareness is especially helpful for preventing concussions by avoiding unforeseen contact in team sports.
Reaction Time
This skill has three steps: See > Decide > React. The first two steps are at the visual and brain processing levels. Athletes who are quickest to see and decide what to do are the fastest to physically react in the right way.
Decision-Making
Eye-Hand Coordination
The eyes lead the body, so the body will go where the eyes tell it to go. With strong visual skills athletes are able to move accurately and catch more balls, throw/kick/shoot/hit with more success, and have better body control.