Football
Calves stretched? Hamstrings loosened up? Ok, now how about your eyes? Read on for a guide on how to train your vision for footballing supremacy.
It may seem like the best players are simply born with great vision, but there are some who have to work at it. From youth level to senior squads, many of the world's biggest football clubs dedicate serious training time to improving the vision of their players both on and off the field.
Over at RB Leipzig, for instance, the Bundesliga giants currently wield a secret weapon in the shape of SoccerBot360, a large 360-degree projector which players stand in the middle of and pass the ball towards things that pop up on screen, testing their peripheral vision, anticipation and reaction time.
See how we put world-class footballer Trent Alexander-Arnold's vision to the test. Sports vision expert Dr. Daniel Laby created numerous challenges to see if visual training can improve Trent's performance on the pitch. Watch Trent's Vision below:
Beloved by players including US midfielder Tyler Adams, the device's impact has not been lost on the club's coaches either: "I've been working intensively with the SoccerBot360," says RB Leipzig Youth Coach Tom Stuckey. "For the first time, we have the opportunity to train the cognitive skills of players in isolation. The device provides a multitude of possibilities to trigger several stimuli, and the players go to training focused while still having fun."
Helmut Groß, a Management Consultant for RB Leipzig, meanwhile hails the equipment as "simple yet brilliant", making "players smarter" and improving "decision-making skills."
It's certainly not the first time clubs have enlisted the help of high-end gadgetry to enhance visional performance, and it won't be the last. But if you thought expensive machinery was the only way to train your vision for football then think again...
Read on for some tips on how to harness your eyesight like a pro.
1. Increase your peripheral awareness
You’ve probably heard of peripheral vision, but what exactly is it? Well, you’re looking at it – sort of. It’s the part of your vision that lies beyond your direct line of sight; the side vision of the eye, essentially – and in footballing terms – it can be the difference between being a good player and being Trent Alexander-Arnold. It allows you to perceive what’s going on in your vicinity without turning your head, and the better your peripheral awareness, the more chance you have of evading oncoming challenges or even picking out a teammate making a great run.
One popular method to improve peripheral vision is the ‘toothpick and straw’ method. Set up a central vision target (literally anything you’re able to focus on) and place a cup with a straw in it near the edge of your field of vision. Then, while focusing on your target, take a toothpick and attempt to place a toothpick directly in the straw.
Practise enough and that won’t be the only cup you get your hands on…
2. Treat your eye muscles like leg muscles
Forget the hairdryer treatment – perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson’s most undersung managerial masterstroke as boss of Manchester United was his trust in the late Gail Stephenson, an eye specialist who worked closely with the team for two decades. Former club captain Gary Neville revealed that because of Stephenson the team would do eye-muscle warmups every day, even pre-match, 'stretching' their eyeballs as they would their calves or hamstrings. “She brought in a lot of eye exercises, and alertness exercises,” Neville told the Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? podcast in 2018. “She said you stop using your eye muscles when you're injured, in a football sense."
3. Track your vision
In 2017, researchers at Liverpool John Moores University carried out a first-of-its-kind study measuring the eyesight of footballers across a range of different levels, from Premier League to university league. Using the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, they found that competitive defenders had the best 'near-far quickness’ – in other words, they were faster at changing their gaze between objects that are close and a long way off.
In fact, many of the world’s top football clubs have employed state-of-the-art eye tracker tools to both train and measure the speed at which players focus between targets. But don’t worry, you can gauge your own eye capabilities with any number of apps, including Eye Workout (iOS), Eye Trainer, and Eye Recovery Workout (Android), which not only provide exercises and tests (i.e. locking onto moving objects at increasing speed) but track your progress as well.
Conversely, if you think you’ve overdone it with screen time in any given week, there are some basic exercises you can do to give your eyes a rest. For instance, try sitting comfortably in complete darkness, focusing on the distance for 30 seconds. Hold the pressure until the residual tones fade to black, and this will in turn relax the eye muscles.
4. Keep it colourful
If there’s one position on the football pitch where you can’t afford to lose focus for even a second it’s surely as goalkeeper. Hand-eye coordination drills can do wonders for those between the sticks, including colour-based catching practise, which former Premier League champion Petr Čech has previously talked up the benefits of. “Imagine saving the ball but at the same time a card is held up,” he told The London Evening Standard in 2016. “You save the ball and shout the colour [written on the board] – you are concentrating on more things. That makes your peripheral vision better as well. Your brain is working much more than just with a simple catch."
5. Embrace the power of ping pong
Čech also revealed he would practise one-handed saves against a table-tennis robot, which shot ping pong balls at him to improve his reaction times. Of course, you don’t need to go that far. Regular table tennis has been scientifically proven to improve both an athlete’s hand-eye coordination and reaction times, and on the back of a strenuous football match or training session, ping pong is a great way to train your vision while keeping impact to a minimum.
6. Visualise your set pieces
The next time you’re lining up a shot in a dead ball situation, pick a spot and stick to it. One study has shown an increased activation of the motor cortex when a player steps up to take a penalty under pressure, while another study on free-kick taking has revealed that any more than one fixation on a target before striking the ball results in less accurate shooting. So, there you have it – focus your gaze and, with any luck, the ball will follow.
7. Play with your head up
Though it may sound simple, by far the most effective way to improve your vision during a match is to try and learn to play with your head up, even if it’s occasionally going to take you out of your comfort zone. Here are two drills designed to stop you looking at the floor and move your eye-line to the action in front of you. You’ll need to grab some cones, a sack of footballs and a training partner:
- With a half pitch set-up, dribble from the goal to the halfway line while while your partner fires ground passes at you. Their sole aim is to knock you off your stride and hit the ball from your feet. This will improve your awareness while dribbling.
- Now comes a passing drill with a difference. Arrange four cones into a small square (no more than two metres apart). You need to take one touch before you can pass, and the ball can only travel straight through the square. The aim is to catch the other person out, so keep moving. To increase the difficulty, make the square smaller.
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