Eagle-eyed goalies

Philadelphia Inquirer

4/11/1982

Say what you want about the Flyers. but hockey players, as a rule, have better eyesight than other athletes.

“They have much better vision than any other athlete.” said Dr. Arthur Seiderman co-director ofSports Vision Center at Veterans Stadium. “I can’t think of a harder position, visually, than a hockey goalie. He’s got the hardest job in sport.

“Screens are constantly being set up to blur his field of vision. Unlike a baseball hitter or a tennis player, the goalie rarely sees the puck continually from the time it leaves the stick. And that puck is traveling up to 180 miles an hour.”

They have tested the Flyers and the United States’ National Field Hockey team among others.