STROBOSCOPIC VISION TRAINING A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

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Randy Fuerst
Hannah Lynch
Kevin Kohmescher

Abstract

The use of liquid crystal stroboscopic sports vision training dates back to our introduction in 1995. With vision being the predominant sensory modality driving a motor response—whether hitting a baseball, shooting a basketball, a goalie stopping an incoming puck hurtling towards him—coaches, sports psychologists, researchers, and sports vision doctors have worked to develop strategies to improve performance. What can be measured for the entire neuro-visual processing? Can you improve this processing? If so, what are the most effective regimens? How long does it last? What is it that the athlete visually discriminates on for meaning and expertise? Saccadic eye movements are the most common visual skill for acquiring a target. When making these eye movements, the brain ‘masks’ the visual world for a few milliseconds until the eye come to a stop. This is known as saccadic omission and suppression. Are there effective strategies to minimize the effect and speed up the saccadic eye movements? Can we improve fixation accuracy? Decrease latencies? Improve target acquisition, sometimes referred to as dynamic visual acuity? A body of research quickly uncovers what stroboscopic vision training (SVT) can and cannot impact. Both anecdotal and statistically significant research studies shed light on SVT enhancing central visual processing, visual concentration, and athletic performance tied to the subskills impacted by SVT.

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