An overview of important vision skills for Golf

Golf

Golf is a sport which requires extremely high levels of concentration and precision. Whether for long-range swings to send the ball across the green to the shorter putts as you get closer to the hole, there are many vision skills vital to success. If improved, they can be the difference maker at the competitive level.

Core Visual Skills For Golf

While there are a number of vision skills that are important for golfers, some are more crucial to performance than others.

Core vision skills for golfers include:

Visualization: Visualization enables you to see yourself successfully performing a task, while simultaneously focusing on accomplishing it. Especially in golf, which is a sport that requires intense concentration, visualization is a vital skill.
Visual fixation: This skill enables one to focus on an object for an extended period of time. Enhancing this skill will give a golfer increased ability to concentrate on the ball and the target, enabling a better swing.
Hand-eye coordination: A lot goes into making the perfect swing. Hitting the ball properly, and making sure it flies in the right direction with the right amount of force, requires extreme levels of precision, as does putting the ball. Improving hand-eye coordination can be the difference between a good swing and a great swing.
Depth perception: In order to know which club to use, and in order to hit the ball just right, a golfer must be able to accurately judge the distance between the ball and the target, as well as factoring in the conditions of the green.

Secondary Visual Skills For Golf

Secondary visual skills for golfers aren’t necessarily any less important than core visual skills, though they are not quite as central to what is needed for a racer to be successful.

Secondary visual skills for golfers include:

Eye tracking: This allows one to keep their eye on the ball as it flies or rolls across the green.
Eye focusing: Improved focusing gives increased ability to quickly switch between focusing on near and far objects. Especially for putting, this is an incredibly important skill to improve.
Contrast sensitivity: This skill lets one detect subtle differences in color that might not be apparent to others. On the golfing green, improved contrast sensitivity can help a golfer get a better sense of the green, such as whether the grass is wet or dry, and adjust his approach appropriately.

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Dr. McBryar runs a specialty optometry practice, Amplify EyeCare Chattanooga, located in Hixson, Tennessee. Dr. McBryar specializes in the fields of developmental optometry, working with children and special needs to realize their full potential.

She has many achievements in her field:

Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry (ABO)
Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD)
Candidate for Fellowship in the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA)