IMG Academy Uses Vision Training As Part Of NFL Prep
2/28/13 9:37 AM
247Sports
FREE Membership 247Sports
The Inside Scoop on your favorite team
Start Your Free Month
Fastest-growing n
Trusted source fo
recruiting news
First-class mobile
Sign In or Create Free Account
Vision Training Part Of NFL Prep
Steve Wiltfong
22 hours ago
Comments:
0
Add a comment
The NFL Combine just wrapped up and the IMG Academy NFL Combine Training Program left no stone
unturned in making sure their clients were ready for the biggest job interview of their young lives.
Speed and movement training along with position work are two things
that the football players work on daily while at the Bradenton, Fla.
campus in preparation for the NFL Draft.
There is also the fighter pilot training.
No, IMG Academy isn’t putting projected first rounders such as Bjoern
Werner (Florida State), Eric Reid (LSU), Tyler Eifert (Notre Dame) and
Justin Hunter (Tennessee) into million-dollar jets and flying them across
the Sunshine State sky, but they are doing similar things the Air Force
uses for vision training.
David da Silva heads the program at IMG Academy. The athletes spend
once a week with him for 30 minutes going through four to five different
exercises. A football player with better memory that can see clearer,
react faster and process information at a much quicker rate is a better
player on Sundays.
TE Gavin Escobar of San
Diego State uses the
DynaVision board
“In terms of our athletes, we’ve been able to help them a lot,” da Silva
said. “Vision training is a lot of different things. Many that have done our
program have said with their peripheral vision, they’re seeing things out
of corner of their eyes better. When walking down the street, they’re
http://247sports.com/Article/IMG-Academy-Uses-Vision-Training-As-Part-Of-NFL-Prep-118794
Page 1 of 4
IMG Academy Uses Vision Training As Part Of NFL Prep
2/28/13 9:37 AM
seeing things better. Just in terms of seeing the ball clearer, being able
to see sharpness and being able to see it in slow motion. “
Football players aren’t the only ones that use the vision training program at IMG.
“Whether it’s a tennis player, a soccer player, a goal keeper or quarterback, it makes them better decisionmakers and helps them better see their target. I’ve heard from our students that the vision training has
helped them be able to read faster, it’s helped with long-term concentration and focus. One of the things
coaches have noticed is a difference in memory, reaction and timing. Vision training is about decisions
and sharpness and our students feedback is they notice things sharper and they are able to do more with
less time because they are reacting faster.”
THE PROGRAM
OL Garrett Gilkey of Chadron State undergoes a vision test
It’s called progressive overload by da Silva. He wants to overload the brain and have it quickly adapt.
“Kind of a whirlwind activity,” he laughed.
After World War II, the U.S. Air Force began putting its pilots through vision training to help them be able
to process all kinds of information quicker.
“We’ve been fortunate to be one of the few programs that have very similar if not the same program they
use,” da Silva said.
Some of the things the athletes use during their vision training exercises include a Dynavision D2 board
set up with lights that requires a player to slap the lights as they flash. The computer times the athletes
reactions and analyzes whether they were faster on their right or left side, or looking up versus looking
down.
“This board is quite large and they have to trust their peripheral vision to see these lights all across the
board,” da Silva said. “The further apart they are, the harder it is to see the light. We’re working on the
coordination as well as the peripheral.”
http://247sports.com/Article/IMG-Academy-Uses-Vision-Training-As-Part-Of-NFL-Prep-118794
Page 2 of 4
IMG Academy Uses Vision Training As Part Of NFL Prep
2/28/13 9:37 AM
The NeuroTracker is another favorite. The athletes are unleashed through two or three sessions that help
them with their concentration. There are eight targets and balls light up and the player has to move around
the cube as they brighten. They bounce and move in various speeds. Kind of like a linebacker or safety
having to evaluate a play happening in front of them.
“We found good results from our athletes to stay focused and pick up the right targets and identify football
movements and the right target to see,” da Silva said.
There is also the goggles with LCD lenses you’ll see being worn around the practice field. They flash, they
obscure vision, and the players have to perform agility drills and make decisions, such as a quarterback
throwing the football or a receiver trying to catch it, with the glasses on. It’s a simulation for signal-callers
throwing with havoc all around them, or a pass catcher trying to haul in a pass with obscured vision during
the ball’s flight.
Then there’s the tachistoscope. In da Silva’s words, the challenge is to identify and write down numbers
that flash on the screen. Those numbers (anywhere from one to six) flash between .13 and .49 of a
second, meaning if a player blinks, he could miss the whole thing. They come in different backgrounds
and different colors.
“A lot of the guys, it depends on their position, but most of the guys do basic key visual skills,” da Silva
said. “With the amount of training each athlete has done between two to six sessions, it hasn’t made them
improve in large amounts but in small amounts. Like weight training, you want to do vision training long
term and see gradual improvement.”
There have been many standouts in this draft group.
“Everyone has improved,” da Silva began.
“I would say Justin Hunter has been really good on the Dynavision board. Very fast hands and able to
process information very quickly. We have another exercise where they have to track moving targets and
a lot of receivers have been able to do that very well. Justin and DeAndre Hopkins (Clemson), they’ve
been able to practice on the field with the strobe goggles and have benefitted from that.”
“Manti (Te'o) has been very good. He’s improved very well on the NeuroTracker. Gavin Escobar (San
Diego State tight end) has done well in the concentration factor and J.C. Tretter (Cornell) has done well.
Garret Gilkey (Chadron State), he’s been quite consistent in training. Nick Williams (Samford) has been
doing very well too.”
THE BELIEVERS
When the players arrived at the IMG Academy in late December in preparation for the NFL Draft, the
vision program is one of the more foreign things to them.
However going through it has been fun and helpful.
“Touching stuff on the [DynaVision] board, I didn’t really know that had anything to do with your
coordination in football, but it really does when you look at it,” Hopkins said.
“Vision Training surprised me,” former SMU defensive end Margus Hunt said. “I really didn’t know what it
was. Vision in football is a huge thing. You have to react really fast on any given play, make a change on
the fly. You have to have great eyesight and have good peripheral vision.”
http://247sports.com/Article/IMG-Academy-Uses-Vision-Training-As-Part-Of-NFL-Prep-118794
Page 3 of 4
IMG Academy Uses Vision Training As Part Of NFL Prep
2/28/13 9:37 AM
Learn more about the vision training program and rest of the Athletic and Personal Development program
at IMG Academy here.
To continue reading, become a member!
30-Day Free Trial
Access to all Insider Information
Read every premium article on 247Sports and across the 247Sports Network.
Access to Message Boards
Full access to scoop and board posts from the most informed 247Sports staff.
Comprehensive Recruiting Coverage
Fastest-growing network, Trusted source for college and recruiting news, up-to-theminute news with the most comprehensive player database.
247Sports Mobile
Don’t forget to sign in with your VIP membership on 247Sports mobile. Get the power of the
247Sports network anytime, anywhere.
Go to http://247Sports.com on your phone or mobile device today.
http://247sports.com/Article/IMG-Academy-Uses-Vision-Training-As-Part-Of-NFL-Prep-118794
Page 4 of 4