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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Vision Training Methods for Sports Concussion Mitigation and Management
Published on: May 5, 2015
Exploring the association between visual skills and sport-specific performance in team athletes: a systematic review
Mulin Yang1, Yuqiang Guo2, Feng Yang3
1Physical Fitness Training Research Center, China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing, China.
Background:
Visual skills are increasingly recognized as key contributors to performance in team sports, yet the strength and consistency of their associations with sport-specific outcomes remain uncertain. To address this gap, the present review systematically synthesized empirical evidence examining how different domains of visual skill relate to sport-specific performance among team-sport athletes.
Methods:
PubMed, Web of Science™, MEDLINE, and SPORTDiscus databases were systematically searched from inception to October 2025 to identify studies relating visual skills to sport-specific performance in team-sport athletes. Risk of bias was conducted using a modified and validated tool for observational and correlational studies, and certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach.
Results:
Of 4,118 records identified, 22 studies (n = 1,113, male = 954, female = 159) were included, encompassing basketball, soccer, baseball, volleyball, handball, and other team sports. The relationship between multiple object tracking and sport-specific performance was large (r = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.30-0.71; p = 0.00), while visual attention (r = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16-0.53; p = 0.00), and visual search (r = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.16-0.48; p = 0.00), demonstrated moderate associations. Simple reaction time (r = -0.31; 95% CI: -0.42 to -0.19; p = 0.00) and choice reaction time (r = -0.37; 95% CI: -0.58 to -0.11; p = 0.01) showed moderate negative correlations with performance, indicating faster reaction speeds were associated with better performance. Visual working memory, eye-hand coordination, and inhibitory control exhibited small effect sizes. In contrast, depth perception, the only visual-perceptual skill analyzed, showed trivial and non-significant associations (r = 0.09; 95% CI: -0.20-0.36; p = 0.56).
Conclusion:
Visual-cognitive skills appear to show stronger links with team-sport performance, whereas basic perceptual skills contribute little. Evidence quality remains limited, and more robust, ecologically valid studies are needed to clarify causality and guide training applications.
Systematic Review Registration:
https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251171665, identifier CRD420251171665.
