Ball toss eye tracking means standing still, tossing a light ball gently upward and catching it, while your eyes follow it all the way up and back down. It is a vestibular rehab exercise, used for some inner ear and balance problems, that asks your eyes to stay on a moving target while you keep steady on your feet. Some mild dizziness is expected. Start it only once a doctor or vestibular physio has diagnosed the cause of your dizziness.

How to do the ball toss eye tracking

Stand with a kitchen counter or sturdy chair close enough to grab without stepping. Place your feet about hip width apart, as in the video, or up to shoulder width if that feels steadier.
Hold a light ball in both hands at waist height, a little to one side, and look at it until it is in clear focus.
Toss it gently straight up to just above head height and follow it with your eyes as it rises.
Keep watching it as it drops and catch it in both hands. Let your head tip up and down a little with the ball, as in the video, and keep your feet still. If the ball blurs, toss lower and slower. Blurred or double vision that stays once you stop is a stop sign, not part of the exercise.
Pause for a breath, then toss again. Build up the number of tosses first, and only later make them quicker, as the voice guide suggests.

What you should feel

Your eyes work to keep the ball in focus, and a mild swimmy or dizzy feeling is common. It should ease within a few minutes of stopping. Down below, your feet and ankles keep making small corrections to hold you steady.

Common mistakes

Tossing the ball so high or so far forward that you have to step to catch it.
Losing sight of the ball on the way down and grabbing for it.
Going faster before slow tosses feel comfortable.
Practicing in the middle of the room with nothing to hold.

How often

Many programs start with 10 to 20 slow, low tosses, repeated 2 to 3 times with a rest in between, a few times a day, and add speed only once that feels easy. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

The dizziness becomes severe or stronger than your physio said to expect, you are being sick, or you feel faint. Stop, sit or lie still and get medical advice the same day before you do these exercises again. If you faint, it is no better after 10 minutes of keeping still, you suddenly lose hearing in one or both ears, or you are far more unsteady on your feet than usual, call emergency services.
Things look double, your vision suddenly blurs or goes, your speech slurs or becomes muddled, swallowing becomes hard, your face or lips go numb, one side of your face droops or one side of your body goes weak or numb, you suddenly become so dizzy or unsteady that you fall or cannot stand or walk, your legs suddenly give way but you do not black out (a drop attack), or you get a sudden severe headache. Stop and call emergency services, even if it goes away.
You lose your balance and have to grab the support or take a step to stay upright.
A headache or neck pain that builds as you go.

From the clinic

Start these exercises only after a doctor or vestibular physio has found the cause of your dizziness. New dizziness, or dizziness that has changed, needs checking first. Mild dizziness that eases off within a few minutes of stopping is expected with this kind of work. Stay within the number of tosses and the speed your physio sets. If the dizziness turns severe or will not settle, stop, keep still and act on the stop signs on this page.

Move loose rugs and clutter out of the way, and stand where a counter or the corner of a room is right beside you. Had a fall in the last year, get unsteady easily, or on tablets that leave you drowsy? Do the tosses sitting in a sturdy chair until your physio says you are ready to stand. Once you stand, rest one hand on the support between tosses, and practice only when another adult is in the house. Your physio can tell you whether a falls check makes sense for you.

A sudden loss of balance is different. Call emergency services straight away for any sign of a stroke, even if it goes away: sudden dizziness with unsteadiness or falling over, a face that droops on one side, an arm you cannot lift or keep up, slurred or muddled speech, weakness or numbness on one side of your body or face, sudden blurred vision, double vision or loss of sight, or a sudden severe headache.

Once this feels easy, your physio may ask for more tosses or a quicker rhythm, or move you on to other head and eye work such as walking with head turns.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-26.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Ball toss eye tracking