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Sports performance is multifactorial. Whilst strength,
speed, experience, and coaching all play integral roles
in overall sports performance, the utilisation of vision
to best prepare and respond to on-field situations remains
the individual's best source of information in order
to achieve the desired motor response.
Vision
is a sense that we all take for granted. Often individuals
are unaware of any deficit in their visual skills. If
deficits are left uncorrected the individual will learn
to make compensations to correct these deficits. However
under fatigue or pressure compensations are often lost
and visuo-motor errors result.
In sport
these visuo-motor and sensory motor errors can range
from delayed reaction times, poor timing, poor decision-making,
poor positional play, handling errors and kicks that
are longer or shorter than intended. Often this is masked
as inconsistent play both in a game and from game to
game.
Under
normal training conditions errors are not duplicated,
as the pressure of the match does not exist resulting
in inconsistent match performance. It is important then
that all players are "visually fit" to ensure
that compensations are not being made which are subsequently
lost when fatigued or under pressure.
Gerry
& Johnson Optometrists have undertaken vision screenings
of teams ranging from U16 representative sides in the
AFLQ, the AIS/AFL Academy as well as senior AFL teams.
Amazingly each team has had failure rates of 25 - 33%.
Very few of these players were aware that they did have
visual errors. Of these almost 90% have had difficulties
with either their depth perception of their speed of
focussing. We also do ongoing work with elite
athletes in the sports of netball, tennis, golf, rugby
league, rugby union and cricket. Sports vision care
can assist anyone with an interest in sport, whatever
your chosen game and level of participation.
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