Vision Training for Boxing

Boxing is one of the oldest competitive sports in the world, and there is a great deal of skill which goes into what it takes to be successful on a professional level. Improving any of the vision skills which play important roles in boxing can provide an athlete that crucial edge.

 

Vision Training for Boxing Optometrist
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By improving the specific visual skills needed for the position and sport an athlete plays, sports vision training can give them an edge over competition. Sport vision training can help a person develop most of the essential visual skills they need to compete at the top level.  A sport vision training program makes use of neuroplasticity to improve a person's visual skills.

Specialty Vision

Core Visual Skills

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

Core vision skills for boxers include:

Depth Perception: More goes into landing a punch or other strike than it may seem to the casual observer. Being able to quickly determine exactly how far away your opponent is during a fight is vital to landing a powerful blow.

Hand-Eye-Body-Foot Coordination: Boxing is a sport in which the entire body is constantly involved in the action, and proper coordination between all parts of the body, and the visual input received during a fight, can make all the difference.

 

Peripheral Vision and Awareness: Boxers are constantly in motion during a fight, as they try and find the right position from which to attack. Peripheral vision is a vital skill for a boxer, as he needs to keep track of how close he is to the edges of the ring, where his opponent is, and, most importantly, where strikes are coming from. Improved peripheral vision can provide extra crucial moments to react.

Visualization: Visualization is a valuable skill for many sports. For boxers, this is closely linked to the vital muscle memory attained during training, as they can easily recall the correct blocks, attacks, and combinations when needed during a fight.

Secondary Visual Skills

Secondary Visual Skills

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

Concentration: Concentration is a vital skill for a boxer, in order to maintain focus on the fight amid various distractions such as noise from the crowd, flashing lights, or actions by his opponent. Being able to concentrate and avoid distractions can prevent errors, thus making victory more likely, and help avoid injury.

Speed of Visual Processing: The ability to quickly process, and thus react to, new visual input during a fast-paced boxing match is a vital skill. Improving this ability can give a boxer a vital edge in a competitive match.

 

Alignment: 

Proper alignment creates no difference between the perceived location and the actual location of an object. 

Alignment may impact a boxer in the following ways:

  • Reaction Time
  • Crispness and decisiveness in movements
  • Properly line up a target within a scope
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Summary

Boxing is one of the oldest competitive sports in the world, and there is a great deal of skill which goes into what it takes to be successful on a professional level. Improving any of the vision skills which play important roles in boxing can provide an athlete that crucial edge. The ability to quickly process, and thus react to, new visual input during a fast-paced boxing match is a vital skill.

Visit a Sports Vision optometrist at a Specialty Vision practice near you:
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