Sport Vision Services

 

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Your vision plays a huge part in your sport. Timing, aiming, balance and consistency are all affected by vision. Many aspects of vision are trainable. Elite athletes often see better than 20/20. A player who can focus quicker, has better depth perception and peripheral awareness will have a leading edge over his opponent. The difference between 1 and 2 is hundredths of an inch or fractions of a second. Sports Vision Services will get the best of your vision so you get the best out of your performance.

 

What is Sport Vision

Having 20/20 vision means that you should be able to see the ball well, but what if your opponent sees the ball before you? What if your opponent can follow the ball better than you? You’re immediately on the back foot and they have that all important edge.

 

Most people judge their vision by how clearly they see.
However, vision is much more complex; there are many processes contributing to vision, clarity of sight being just one.

 

We must also consider speed and accuracy of focus, depth perception, peripheral awareness, stability of eye dominance, how efficiently the 2 eyes work together as a team and much more.

 

Elite athletes understand the need to train and keep the body in peak fitness. With vision being the dominant sense in most sport, we must maximise all aspects of vision to maximise sporting performance.

 

Vision and Sporting Performance

 

Vision involves many subtle and sophisticated links between the brain, muscles and the eyes; the way the eyes work and how this information is processed and fedback to the body will have an effect on;

 

• Balance
• Timing and Anticipation
• Reaction times and Aiming Accuracy
• Hand-Eye-Foot co-ordination
• Maintenance of high levels of concentration.

 

Inefficient Visual Systems will be affected by;

 

• Dehydration
• Stress
• Tiredness

 

As stress increases, the sympathetic nervous system becomes more dominant resulting in reduced peripheral awareness.


Dehydration and tiredness affects how the eye muscles work. This will lead to focus, binocular vision, depth perception, pursuit and convergence problems.

 

Component parts of vision
affecting sporting performance

 

Clarity of Sight (Visual Acuity)
What you see and how clear it (stationary target) is.
Many athletes are able to see well beyond the bottom line of a standard optician’s chart (20/20 vision).

 

Dynamic Visual Acuity
Clarity of a moving target.

 

Accommodative Function
How accurately you focus on what you are looking at, how well you maintain this focus and how quickly you can change your focus as the target moves.

 

Binocular Vision
How well the eyes work together as a team and how well they continue to work when the system is stressed. Has an effect on performance consistency, spatial location of the ball/target.

 

Ocular Movement Skills
How accurately the eyes move. Includes pursuit tracking and convergence (eyes moving inward as a ball approaches). Inefficiencies will lead to mistiming (early or late). ‘Keep your eye on the ball’.

 

Glare Sensitivity
Ability to cope with glare (low sun/stadium lights). Glare sensitivity is often caused by (correctable) problems with the focussing or binocular vision systems.

 

Depth Perception
3D judgement, spatial sensitivity. Dramatically affected by binocular vision inefficiencies.

 

Eye Dominance
Unstable eye dominance will affect balance and aiming. Its relationship to body dominance will have a dramatic effect on how well a player will perform.


Certain eye-body dominances will give an advantage to many sports.

 

Visual Field and Peripheral Awareness.
The vision around you and how you integrate information in it with your central vision.

 

Fusional Reserves
Eye Muscle strength and flexibility.

 

Colour Vision and Contrast Sensitivity
Ability to see subtle differences in colour and grey tones in a range of lighting levels.

 

Visual Centring
Relating where you are in your visual space and relating this with other objects.

 

Vision Assessment

 

A Sport Vision Assessment is very different to a standard sight test or eye examination.

 

It is essential to consult a suitably qualified sport-vision practitioner. There is a fine balance between central vision, peripheral vision and 3D processing. Most optometrists and opticians will not have had the additional sport-vision specific training recommended*. In the wrong hands the results could even be detrimental to your performance.

 

*Patrick and Menzies Sports Vision Centre is a member of the Association of Sports Vision Practitioners, following the code of conduct set by Sports Vision UK. This is the leading Sports Vision body in the world and is supported by the industry. Patrick and Menzies Sports Vision Centre is also registered with the British Olympic Association.

 

Vision Performance Assessment
A full performance assessment will discuss any parts of your game you find difficult or frustrating. This is followed by a number of tests that assess all aspects of vision as detailed in the components of vision section. The results are discussed and advice given. Correction (contact lenses/sport spex/glare tints) and vision training may be prescribed. Full reports are provided for the athlete and coach if required.

 

Vision Screening
The Sports Vision Centre can come to you. An established screening set up means that coaches often prefer an initial screening assessment at the team’s training ground/club premises. Full feedback and any recommendations are given to the participating players and the coaches.

 

STOP PRESS NEWS
There are a limited number of sponsored screening sessions available for 2008.


Is your team reaching potential?
Make the most of the complimentary industry supported advice and Contact Us now for information.

 

Vision Training

 

The Sports Vision Centre provides tailor-made one-on-one vision training.

We are happy (and recommend) discussing Training Programmes with the coach/sport scientist/physio so that vision training can be bolted onto the athlete’s normal training routine.

 

Training is generally undertaken off-season as there may be changes in perceptual processing which can take time to adjust to.

 

Computer-based training software is available and is an option for some athletes. However, sport is a 3-dimensional activity and best results are from individualised 3-dimensional training programs.

 

Qualifications

 

Gavin Rebello  BSc(Hons) Dip SV MCOptom
Clinical Director Sports Vision Services
Partner Patrick and Menzies Independent Optometrists

 

Diploma in Sports Vision (with distinction)
         1st prize nationally for dissertation
         2nd prize nationally for overall exams

 

Chairman of Sports Vision UK 2006-current

 

Accredited member of British Association of Behavioural Optometrists
Extensive studies specialising in vision training, visual efficiency, peripheral awareness, central-peripheral integration, binocular vision

 

Higher Certificate (City University) in Binocular Vision and Development (paediatrics)

 

Qualified Optometrist        
         (Cardiff University)
         Registered with General Optical Council
         Member of the College of Optometrists

 

Member of the British Contact Lens Association
Full indemnity insurance (AOP)

 

Contact Us

 

To contact Sports Vision Services to organise a free no obligation meeting please call Gavin Rebello  BSc(Hons) Dip SV MCOptom, Clinical Director Sports Vision Services via Patrick and Menzies Independent OptometristsBraintree, 84 High Street, Braintree, Essex CM7 1JP Tel: 01376 320419or alternatively email us at gavin.rebello@sports-vision.co.uk

 

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