the Edge trainer

and shooting
performance

Strengthening the Core Six Visual Skills provides the athlete with the foundational visual input needed to make critical decisions and motor responses at the highest level.

vision training

for shooting sports

With only milliseconds to accurately locate a target leaving the trap, shooters need to anticipate, judge and react in the blink of an eye. With a large field of view, shooters must be able to quickly track a target or move from one target to another without losing focus.

the core six

visual skills

Understanding a shooter’s proficiency in the six core visual skills allows shooters, coaches, and scouts to identify and correct visual weaknesses and enhance the shooter’s performance on the range.

shooting accuracuy

timng

movement pattern recognition

anticipation

Convergence

Improves the ability for shooters to move from target to target in short spurts.

Divergence

Enhances a shooter’s ability to change eyesight from scope out into the distance.

Depth

Improves the ability to locate a moving target and accurately assess its movement pattern.

Alignment

With proper alignment, shooters can line up a target properly within a scope.

recognition

Improves the ability to quickly and strategically read and react to several targets.

TRACKING

Helps shooters quickly identify targets without losing focus.

taking a look

at shooting competitions

Depending on the type of shooting competition a shooter competes in, the visual skills required for optimal performance vary. Being able to assess and train your Core 6 visual skills will help shooters improve and enhance their shooting skills during these various competitions.

clay shooting

During sporting clay competitions, competitors are presented with a wide variety of targets that duplicate the flight path of game birds, which makes it essential for competitors to have great divergence. Divergence allows the competitor to focus on and locate the target at a distance. Having a strong sense of depth perception also allows the competitor to accurately assess where the target is actually located. Targets may be thrown in a wide variety of patterns such as singles, simultaneous pairs, following pairs, or report pairs, which makes recognition and tracking skills critical for competitors to train. Recognition allows the shooter to respond to visual cues and patterns to process the sequence of the targets, while tracking allows the shooter to quickly identify the target while taking in the whole field of view.

trap shooting

Divergence is arguably the most important visual skill for participants during Trap Shooting competitions, as targets are thrown from a trap house located in front of the shooter. The trap rotates in a random sequence, presenting the shooter with a variety of shots going further away from them, this makes divergence critical as they locate the target in the distance, as well as tracking to accurately locate the target as it rotates. Traps also tend to angle right, left, or stay straightaway which makes tracking and important visual skill to quickly identify the target in the field of view. With trap shooters rotating throughout the five stations, they must also be aware of their alignment and depth perception to accurately locate the target in the air, rather than before or after the target.

skeet shooting

During Skeet Shooting competitions, the traps throw targets at fixed angles including high-house targets and low-house targets. These targets are shot from opposite sides, making tracking and recognition crucial for quickly identifying the correct target when your visual cues are seen. The ability to accurately assess depth perception makes it easier to identify skeet targets as they are thrown. Depending on which position or station you are responsible for, skeet shooters must be able to use both convergence and divergence to focus on targets both near and far as each of the eight stations offers different angles and distances.

practical shooting

Practical shooting or speed shooting relies on both speed and accuracy, which makes recognition important for picking up on cues of when to draw, aim, and shoot. Tracking must also be used as you are often changing fields of view to quickly identify targets. During multi-firearm practical shooting competitions, shooters must cycle through a combination of different firearm styles making alignment skills critical as each different firearm will have a different scope and line of view. This change in multiple sights makes alignment important to accurately locate the target, rather than before or after the target.

breaking down

the edge score

The Edge Score is a comprehensive score given to each athlete based on their most recent evaluation. The score takes all visual skills into account – including convergence, divergence, depth perception, alignment, recognition and tracking. Through analysis of an athlete’s Edge Score as well as their individual scores, we identify areas of weakness and develop an appropriate training program.

convergence

Convergence is the ability to focus on objects within close proximity and judge their movement and impact. Convergence may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Ability for shooters to move from target to target in short spurts
Ability to locate targets within close proximity or as they approach
Anticipating the speed a moving target

DIVERGENCE

Divergence is the ability to locate objects in the distance, impact an athlete’s ability to anticipate and react. Divergence may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Ability to change eyesight from scope out into the distance
Locate targets at a far distance prior to aligning within the scope
Focus on targets as they move away from shooter

DEPTH PERCEPTION

Depth perception uses both eyes to locate objects in space to judge their distance, speed, and direction. Depth perception may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Ability to locate a moving target and accurately assess its movement patterns
Maintain proper spacing within team stations

ALIGNMENT

Proper alignment creates no difference between the perceived location and the actual location of an object. Alignment may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Reaction Time
Crispness and decisiveness in movements
properly line up a target within a scope

RECOGNITION

Recognition is the ability to observe, process and recall a series of visual targets, and respond properly. Recognition may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Quickly and strategically read and react to several targets
Recognizing target and shooting patterns
Ability to follow fast moving target sequences

TRACKING

Tracking allows you to process and follow an object while always monitoring all aspects of the game. Tracking may impact a shooter in the following ways:

Quickly identify targets without losing focus
Anticipate the flight pattern
React to different flight paths and rotations

Meet The

Edge Trainer

The Edge Trainer from Vizual Edge delivers the most advanced vision training available. Backed by 30 years of research and development, the Edge Trainer’s proven system improves reaction time, positional and spatial awareness, and recognition.

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