What is eye alignment?

Eye alignment is the ability to accurately aim the two eyes at a target, whether stationary or moving.

Most people's eyes are slightly misaligned, which is normal. Some athletes with an eye condition -- such as lazy eye, turned eye, or crossed eyes -- will have a more serious eye alignment problem requiring a doctor's intervention.

Why is eye alignment important in athletic performance?

Eye alignment affects the athlete's perception of the position of the target, as well as the speed and the distance of the target.

As a result, any misalignment can be responsible for errors in aiming, timing, as well as hand-eye or foot-eye coordination.

Eye alignment is critical in sports requiring pinpoint accuracy when taking aim at a stationary target; for example, putting, billiards, darts and shooting.

Eye alignment is also critical in sports involving a fast-moving projectile or object; for example, tennis, soccer, baseball, football, hockey, volleyball, and basketball.

In addition, misalignment of the eyes can cause the athlete to adopt poor posture and technique in order to compensate for the visual problem.

What should athletes do about their eye alignment skills?

STEP 1: Test Your Eye Alignment

Athletes can test their eye alignment with the simple use of a brock string or an eye alignment tool.

STEP 2: Correct Your Eye Alignment

Athletes can learn to align their eyes properly with the same eye alignment instruments; that is, a brock string or an eye alignment tool.

STEP 3: Condition Your Eye Muscles and Maintain Proper Alignment

With eye exercises, athletes can increase the strength of their eye muscles, correct minor deficiencies in their eye alignment, and maintain proper alignment of their eyes.

More Information About Visual Alignment

ARTICLES
VISUAL ALIGNMENT (SportsVision Magazine, 2009)	How sport-specific and position-specific visual demands influence eye alignment exercises and skills	click here
FIVE STEPS TO REALIGNMENT (Guardian UK, 2006)	A simple illustration of eye misalignment and alignment correction in golf, billiards and darts	click here
EYE DOMINANCE AND EYE ALIGNMENT (Billiard Academy, 2009)	The role of eye dominance and stroke alignment in aiming (in the case of billiards)	click here
VIDEOS
BROCK STRING DEMO (video | 2 min. 10 sec.)	Video demonstration by sports vision optometrist showing correct use of brock string	click here
IMAGINARY BROCK STRING (video | 2 min. 30 sec.)	Video demonstration showing vision training with imaginary/invisible brock string	click here
RESEARCH STUDIES
EYE AND CLUB FACE ALIGNMENT (World Scientific Congress of Golf, 2008)	Study shows most golfers have difficulty aligning their eyes to the target line, and that a strong correlation exists between eye alignment and club face alignment in putting.	click here
DRILLS AND EXERCISES
BROCK STRING TEST	How to use the brock string to understand and test your eye alignment	click here
BROCK STRING CORRECTION	How to use the brock string to correct any misalignment of your eyes	click here
BROCK STRING TRAINING	How to use the brock string to train and condition your eye muscles for consistently accurate visual alignment	click here
BROCK STRING VISUALIZATION	Two-minute vision training drill that can be done at almost any time in virtually any environment, without any equipment, to strengthen and condition your eye muscles	click here