The ability to quickly locate objects within the visual field has a significant influence on athletic performance. Saccades are conjugate eye movements responsible for the rapid shift that brings a new part of the visual field into foveal vision. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sport expertise and intense physical effort on saccade dynamics during a free‐viewing visual search task in skilled soccer players. Two groups of male subjects participated in this study: 18 soccer players and 18 non‐athletes as the control group. Two sessions of visual search tasks without a sport‐specific design were employed. Eye movements during the visual search tasks were recorded binocularly. Between pre‐ and post‐test sessions, athletes performed a maximal incremental treadmill test. Cardiorespiratory parameters were measured continuously. Capillary lactate samples were collected. Pre‐test findings indicated that athletes, in comparison to non‐athletes, achieve higher values of the following characteristics of saccades (1) average acceleration, (2) acceleration peak, (3) deceleration peak, and (4) average velocity. An increase in post‐test saccade duration and a decrease in post‐test saccade velocity was observed in athletes due to the strenuous physical effort in relation to the pre‐test state. Athletes may transfer high saccadic function efficiency to non‐specific visual stimuli. The findings partially confirm that physical exertion can reduce oculomotor efficiency in athletes.

Although previous studies have reported an association between physical activity (PA) and myopia in school-aged children, little is known about the link between myopia and children’s functional status. The purpose of this study was to investigate dynamic balance control in relation to the daily PA levels of myopic schoolchildren aged 9–11 years (n = 52) versus a non-myopic control group (n = 53). A single leg stance test performed on the instability platform of the Biodex Balance System was used to assess balance control. The overall stability index (OSI), anterior-posterior stability index (APSI) and medial-lateral stability index (MLSI) were analyzed. PA levels were calculated using the World Health Organization European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative family record form. Myopes and non-myopes were separated into three subgroups based on PA level (low, moderate and high). Myopia significantly affected OSI (F = 40.46, p < 0.001), APSI (F = 33.93, p < 0.001) and MLSI (F = 49.51, p < 0.001). There were significant differences (p < 0.001) between myopic and non-myopic children with low and moderate levels of PA, whilst there were no differences between compared children with high levels of PA. High PA levels had a positive impact on balance control in myopes. Our results showed that PA levels moderate the relationship between myopia and children’s functional status.

Glaucoma affects a wide spectrum of daily essential activities in older adults. This study examined whether older adults with moderate and advanced stages of glaucoma exhibit differences in visuomotor task performance compared with age- and gender-matched ophthalmologically healthy control subjects and estimated the effects of physical activity (PA) levels, age, and severity of visual impairment on patients’ visuomotor task performance. Sixty older adults with moderate glaucoma, advanced glaucoma, and normal sight participated in the study. Visuomotor processing was assessed using laboratory-based simple and complex visuomotor reaction tasks. Monocular Humphrey Visual Field and binocular Humphrey Esterman Visual Field tests were used to estimate visual field defect severity. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess PA levels. Participants with glaucoma had poorer scores in visuomotor tasks compared to participants with normal sight. Glaucoma patients’ PA levels, age, and binocular visual field defect explained 54% of the variation in complex reaction time. Low PA levels were identified as a risk factor for visuomotor processing decline. Compensatory mechanisms to improve the efficiency of visual field scanning in patients with more severe visual field defects may exist.

Background: Recent research suggests that an athlete’s gaze behavior plays a significant role in expert sport performance. However, there is a lack of studies investigating sex differences in gaze behavior during technical and tactical actions. Objectives: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the eye movements of elite female and male handball goalkeepers during penalty throws. Methods: In total, 40 handball goalkeepers participated in the study (female: n = 20; male: n = 20). Eye movements were recorded during a series of five penalty throws in real-time conditions. The number of fixations and dwell time, including quiet eye, for selected areas of interest were recorded using a mobile eye-tracking system. Results: Significant differences were found in quiet-eye duration between effective and ineffective goalkeeper interventions (females: mean difference (MD) = 92.26; p = 0.005; males: MD = 122.83; p < 0.001). Significant differences in gaze behavior between female and male handball goalkeepers were observed, specifically in the number of fixations and fixation duration on the selected areas of interest (AOIs). Male goalkeepers primarily observed the throwing upper arm AOI, the throwing forearm (MD = 15.522; p < 0.001), the throwing arm AOI (MD = 6.83; p < 0.001), and the ball (MD = 7.459; z = 3.47; p < 0.001), whereas female goalkeepers mainly observed the torso AOI (MD = 14.264; p < 0.001) and the head AOI (MD = 11.91; p < 0.001) of the throwing player. Conclusions: The results suggest that female goalkeepers’ gaze behavior is based on a relatively constant observation of body areas to recall task-specific information from memory, whilst male goalkeepers mainly observe moving objects in spatio-temporal areas. From a practical perspective, these results can be used to develop perceptual training programs tailored to athletes’ sex.