How to maximize the effectiveness of looking over one’s shoulder in soccer and field sports

I had a great conversation with a former pro soccer player and a local youth club director about the activation of periphery. He was explaining to me how he encourages his players to constantly look over their shoulders and remember what they see.  

Checking one’s shoulders is a common and important technique that is trained with the objective of making the athlete aware of his surroundings, and to react correctly to any situation in the game. 

Now, how can players ensure that this habit yields the desired outcome? Checking one’s shoulder certainly helps (vs not doing so), but on its own it does not guarantee that the player will see the game well.

How come? If the player’s field of vision is narrow, what she sees over her shoulder is only a fraction of the game. Said more bluntly, if a player cannot see, it does not matter how much she looks (over her shoulder or otherwise), she will still only see what her limited vision field allows.

The maximum angle of view a player can possess is about 220°. Players with untrained vision often operate within a range of 170° and 190°, leaving 30°-50° of space unregistered, shortening their visual capability by more than 20%. The reason behind it is simply the lifestyle most of us embrace, which is full of screen time, and single focus activities that require looking forward, and put very little emphasis on full vision engagement. 

Our eyes are equipped with two types of visual receptors, cones and rods, both located in the inside back wall of the eye called the retina. To put it simply, the cones are concentrated in the center of the retina and allow the person to see static images, detail, shapes and colors in the highest possible clarity. The rods can be found predominantly in the corners of the eyes (in the eye’s periphery), and their role is to see movement and to see in the dark. It is the peripheral vision that allows a player to see the field broadly, and to see their game fully. Excellent peripheral vision is only possible if the visual rods are fully activated, and if the neural connection between the rods and the visual cortex in the brain functions efficiently. Only then can the eyes register what is going on behind the player’s back, and only then can the player analyze the full situation.

The good news is that eyesight is a skill. Like many other sports related skills, it can be trained, requiring no more than practice of simple, fun and highly effective techniques. There are several programs out there that promise to train peripheral vision, so you can choose what speaks to you. 

I believe that the most effective way to engage the periphery is in an environment in which the eyes get naturally used, without digital simulation or hi-tech devices. For sports, it means doing so on the field and in game-like situations. Why? Training in the real world develops visual skills in a manner that can very easily translate into game situations. Perhaps that’s why Overbound regimens deliver results from the very first session, guaranteed. If you dare, click here to learn how it all works, and to listen to players who have gone through their peripheral vision expansion already.

I wish you to see well and to feel victorious!

IC