Elevate Your Game with Sports Vision Training

Eye doctor and graduate of SUNY College of Optometry puts the focus on helping athletes of all
ages and levels improve performance through sports vision training.

New York, NY October 08, 2021 --(PR.com)-- New York Optometrist Helps Athletes of All Levels
Improve Performance

New York optometrist, Dr. Anne Reuter-Hanna says a visit to the eye doctor as a student-athlete in
college not only improved her performance in the classroom and on the playing field - it put the focus on
what would become her life’s work.

“I was a biochemistry major and a highly competitive soccer player at the University of Wisconsin. In my
fourth year, I started to get headaches. Although I had near-perfect sight, it was suggested that I go to see
the eye doctor,” recalls Midwestern native Reuter-Hanna. The doctor visit revealed she had convergence
excess, a condition where the eyes tend to aim inward during reading and close work. Her optometrist
prescribed an individualized workout routine for the eyes called vision training.

“I went through the training program, and the first thing I noticed was that my game got better, then my
academics improved, and my headaches went away. That’s when I knew I needed to do this for other
people.”

Today, State University of New York College of Optometry alumna Reuter-Hanna ’08 runs a successful
optometry practice in Oyster Bay, New York, specializing in neuro-cognitive and athletic vision
performance for athletes of all ages and skill levels, with an emphasis on helping amateurs become elite
players. Her work includes serving as the exclusive sports vision doctor for the John McEnroe Tennis
Academy and providing care for patients at the NYC Traumatic Brain Injury Center.

“For a long time, sports performance focused on physical fitness, nutrition and psychology. Now we’re
looking at what else we can change and understand that it all starts in the eye,” explains Dr.
Reuter-Hanna. “We see mostly with our brain - an area that can be molded, fortified and enhanced to
increase performance.”

Sports vision is a branch of optometry that offers specialized vision care services for athletes. It involves
a comprehensive examination of the athlete’s ocular health, correction, assessment of visual function,
protection, treatment of eye injuries, as well as a regimen of visual exercises to improve the visual skills
necessary to excel in various sports.

Depending on findings from an initial sports vision evaluation, contact lenses or glasses may be
prescribed for a particular sport. Eyewear may improve distance vision or provide a tint to achieve better
contrast on the field or court. Other patients may require vision devices or techniques to enhance
visual-motor skills, that’s where sports vision training comes into play.

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“The goal is to optimize the brain’s ability to react to visual signals and improve eye-hand or body-eye
coordination, balance, eye tracking, focusing, visual reaction time, dynamic visual acuity, peripheral
vision, and the ability to respond appropriately to objects in motion – often when we, ourselves, are in
motion.”

For example, most sports require a player to track a ball or puck and judge where it is in space. Without
excellent eye tracking skills and depth perception, a player is at a disadvantage. Even the most elite
players can elevate their game by honing these fundamental skills says Dr. Reuter-Hanna.

“And given that we’re all so focused and dependent on our computers and phones these days, there’s no
doubt we can all benefit from taking a screen break and strengthening the eye-brain connection through
vision training.”

About SUNY Optometry

Founded in 1971 and located in New York City, the State University of New York College of Optometry
is a leader in education, research, and patient care, offering the Doctor of Optometry degree as well as
MS and PhD degrees in vision science. The College conducts a robust program of basic, translational and
clinical research and has 65 affiliated clinical training sites as well as an on-site clinic, the University Eye
Center. SUNY Optometry is regionally accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle
States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools; its four-year professional degree program and
residency programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education of the
American Optometric Association. All classrooms, research facilities and the University Eye Center,
which is one of the largest optometric outpatient facilities in the nation, are located on 42nd Street in
midtown Manhattan. To learn more about SUNY Optometry, visit www.sunyopt.edu.

Organization contact: Adrienne Stoller, communications@sunyopt.edu, 212-938-5600

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Contact Information:
State University of NY College of Optometry
Adrienne Stoller
212-938-5600
Contact via Email
sunyopt.edu

Online Version of Press Release:

https://www.pr.com/press-release/846335

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