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Lesson 10

Sports Vision

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Lesson 10

Outline

• Visual skills related to different sports

• Evaluation of visual skills related to sport

• Visual training in sport

• Examples of lighting design in sport

• Discussion

Supplementary reading and learning

Free activity no. 6

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Lesson 10

Bibliography & Links • Basic:

ERICKSON, G.E.: Sports vision: vision care for the

enhancement of sports performance. Oxford: Butterworth-

Heinemann, 2007.

WILSON, T.A. & FALKEL, J.: SportsVision: training for better

performance. Boston: Human Kinetics Publishers, 2004.

WILLIAMS, A.M., DAVIDS, K., & WILLIAMS, J.G.: Visual

Perception and Action in Sport. London: E & FN Spon, 2000.

LORAN, F.C. & MacEWEN, C.J.: Sports vision. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1997.

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Lesson 10

Bibliography & Links • Complementary:

RODRÍGUEZ, S., GALLEGO, I. & ZARCO, D.: Visión y deporte.

Barcelona: Editorial Glosa, 2010.

UNDERWOOD, G.: Cognitive processes in eye guidance,

Oxford University Press, 2005.

VICKERS, J: Perception, Cognition and Decision Training: a

quiet eye in action. New York: Human Kinetics, 2007.

SILVERSTONE, B.: The lighthouse handbook on vision

impairment and vision rehabilitation. New YorK: Oxford

University Press, 2000.

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Lesson 10

Bibliography & Links • Complementary links:

AOO website:

European Academy of Sports Vision

Optometric services for visual training from companies

Magazines, Journals in Optometry (Ver y Oir, Gaceta Óptica,

etc.), Ophthalmology, Sports Science, Visual Perception, etc.

Doctoral Thesis, patents, etc.

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Lesson 10

• Evaluation, compensation and training visual skills as

well as visual protection and prevention system

against ocular trauma, in order to enhance sport

performance

Introduction: vision & sport

Activity

Task User

(Eye)

Tool

(Display, car, etc)

ENVIRONMENT

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Lesson 10

• The on-road driving tasks:

Basic control (e.g., steering)

General driving (surveillance)

Traffic conditions (e.g., passing)

Roadway characteristics (e.g., intersections)

Environment (e.g., weather)

The vehicle (e.g., car emergencies)

• The off-road driving tasks

Pre-trip planning

Vehicle maintenance

Legal responsibilities

Introduction: vision & driving

Perception &

information processing

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Lesson 10

• Perception + information processing + decision/action:

Drivers and capable to adapting to driving situations in three

main ways:

• Strategic: decide or not drive in certain conditions (night, bad

weather, etc) for avoiding accidents

• Tactical: speed selection under particular conditions

• Operational: increased attention at intersections, or using specific

search patterns to look for traffic signs or radars

• Other breakdown for driving task itself:

Control: vehicle-driver interaction (braking, displays, etc)

Guidance: safe path and speed (roadway, signs, etc)

Navigation: planning and execution a trip (maps, guide signs)

Introduction: vision & driving

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Lesson 10

• Compensation and correction

Skeft (1920): visual skills are learned, so they can be trained

and improved

1978: Sports Vision Section of the AOO

1989: European Academy of Sports Vision

1990: High Performance Center of St. Cugat del Vallés

2007: Release of the Spanish book “Visión y deporte”

• External factors: fatigue and lighting

Introduction: history

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Lesson 10

• Theoretical profile of visual abilities ↔ sport

• Integration of all sensory information: Welford’s model

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Welford’s model (1968):

Perceptual mechanism: to ensure that the sensory receptors

for visual information are functioning adequately

• Resolution, depth judgment, eye movements, peripheral vision

Decision mechanism: contextual interpretation for searching

the maximum performance

Effector mechanism: appropriate motor response signals

• Feedback: training, etc.

• Short term (STM)

• Long term (LTM)

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Sports Vision Pyramid:

Visual skills related to sports

Visualization

Visual

Attention

Anticipation

Timing

Go / No-Go (Decision Making & Impulse Control)

Span of Perception

Peripheral Eye-Hand Speed

Central Eye-Hand Reaction & Response Speeds

Dynamic VA – C/A facility – Stereopsis

Ocular Health – Aberrations – Binocularity – VA – CSF

Visual software (higher level):

maintain visual attention while

undergoing maximal stress

and fatigue

Visual hardware

(lower level):

Increasing processing

speed and function

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Lesson 10

• Visual hardware skills/functions:

Ocular Health, Refractive status (ocular aberrations)

Binocularity (C/A balance), Static VA, CSF, Dynamic VA

C/A facility: clear and haplopic target at changing distances

Central eye-hand reaction and response speeds:

• It is the athlete’s ability to synchronize finger, hand and arm

movements with visual information from a dynamic sporting

environment that happens directly in front of an athlete

Peripheral eye-hand speed:

• It is the athlete’s ability to synchronize finger, hand and arm

movements with constantly changing visual information from a

dynamic sporting environment

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Visual software skills/functions (I):

Go / No-Go (decision making & impulse control):

• Decision making is the mental process that results from a

reaction to a situation. The quicker you react to a situation, the

faster you will be able to make a decision.

Span of perception:

• Visual memory is the ability to recall information when prompted

by a visual cue. It gives the athlete the ability to rapidly recognize

patterns, and to make quick and accurate decisions.

Anticipation & Timing:

• Eye tracking helps you follow objects without much head motion

to maintain better balance and react to the situation more quickly.

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Visual software skills/functions (II):

Visual attention:

• Visual Concentration is the ability to screen out distractions to

stay focused on the ball or the target

Visualization:

• Visualization is seeing an image or movie in your mind. The more

vividly you visualize an event, the more real it will seem, and the

more effective you will be at re-programming your brain.

Examples in YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpH0dXqUp_8

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHPIk0LFU_c

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnrd4YeGGhI

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• General visual characteristics of the sport activity:

Static vs. Nonstatic

Sustaining demands

• Intense demands for brief periods

Nondynamic vs. dynamic

Contrast levels

Target size

Boundaries

Visual space ranges

Figure/Ground color, texture, shade

Visual time

Visual skills related to sports

• Distance vs. near

• Directional localization

• Depth discrimination

• Spatial discrimination

• Gaze angles

• Body position and balance

• Stress

• cognitive

• cardiovascular

• Visual attention demands

• central vs. peripheral

Vs. split attention

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Lesson 10

• What sport has the

maximum punctuation profile?

• Why?

• And the minimum profile?

• Why?

• Would you suggest more

visual functions in any sports?

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Lesson 10

• Other issues related to the optical compensation:

Glasses vs. contact lenses

Ocular injuries and protection

• ASTM normatives

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Other issues related to the optical compensation:

Visual skills related to sports

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Lesson 10

• Is it enough to assess the visual skills related to sports

using conventional optometric tests?

Yes, for general skills

Examples:

Evaluation of visual skills in sport

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Lesson 10

• Quantitative analysis:

How is it evaluated every visual function with equivalent

scales?

Evaluation of visual skills in sport

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Lesson 10

• Improving poor or inconsistent visual skills:

limiting the competitive potential or responsible for

inconsistent actions (Paralympics)

• Improving visual motor functions which are not fast,

accurate, precise and automatic

• Improving cognitive visual functions that are critical

for decision-making during the competition:

visualization capability

targeting ability

visual attention

Visual training in sport

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Lesson 10

• General Protocol:

all optical prescription required off season

increasing difficulty: basic visual skills integrated

It is not always the panacea

perceptual speed and recognition: tachistoscope, etc.

Vision Analyzers??

Analysis of visual tasks: basic and specific

• ergonomic features of the play ground

• The subject (athlete): motivation and information

– Initiation

– Training

– Competition

Visual training in sport

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Lesson 10

• General principles of the visual training:

visual demands: distant vision always compensated

visual ability: isolated integrated

visual skill: basic complex

simultaneous distractions / demands and cognitive processes

fast movements and reactions

non primary gazes or equilibrium positions

fatigue effect: phorias , visual field , VA , reaction time

• Optometric protocols from Erickson’s book

Visual training in sport

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Lesson 10

• Objectives:

Owners: good lighting and low cost

Athletes, officials and spectators agencies: optimum

performance in color, without glare

TV: color needs and uniformity

• Factors:

Type of sport

Field Dimensions, open or closed

Services to the spectators

Chance of lighting situation

Ceiling height and configuration

Presence and location of stands, and roads or built-up areas

Lighting design in sport

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Lesson 10

• Illuminance levels recommended for some sports:

UNE-EN 12193:1999

Lighting design in sport

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Lesson 10

Supplementary reading and learning

• Download the next document:

Which issues explained here are not included in this lesson no. 10?

Do you agree with the future role of optometrists in sports vision?

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Lesson 10

Free activity nº 6 • Relative Weight: 0 %

• Individual Task:

Download the patent US 7963869 B2 (21st June 2011)

“Chromatic architecture for sports equipment” by Nike, Inc.

Which is the main purpose of this patent?

Do you understand well all technical background?

What are the claims?