Vision training for netball

Pierre Elmurr BAppSc (Orthoptics) DOBA MAppSc (ExerSportsSc) Sports Vision Scientist Primary Eye Care & NSW Institute of Sport

Relationship of vision & skilled movement (Welford 1960 model

Perceptual mechanism divided into the HARDWARE & SOFTWARE Decision mechanism Effector mechanism

Perceptual Mechanism (Starkes & Deakin 1984

HARDWARE - the reception of visual information; affected by the ocular characteristics of the athletes visual system

SOFTWARE - Perception of visual information; influenced by strategies an athlete develops & includes information processing, use of advanced cues, ball flight cues, gaze behavior and the use of anticipatory skills

Hardware examination

Identifies uncorrected refractive errors, contrast sensitivity and Binocular anomalies that could influence software decision making

Netball Specifications

Post height: 3.05m (2.4m modified netball) Ring: 380mm internal diameter 15mm steel rod No rules that govern colour only size and weight

VISION TRAINING
"Vision training for sport is the application of specific exercises conducted over a period of time that leads to neural restructuring of cortex and brainstem pathways allowing a person to maximise efficiency while performing visual perceptual tasks leading to enhanced visual motor performance

ASSUMPTIONS

Specificity of the vision training programs Skill level of the athlete No hardware eye problem

Visual-motor training

Combining hardware & software processing produces a motor response Eye-hand coordination Eye-foot coordination Coincidence anticipation Peripheral awareness reaction time Total reaction time

Motor Skill

Defined as skills in which physical movement is required to accomplish a goal of a task. Classified into 3 groups 1. Precision of the movement: Gross (walking, jumping) vs fine motor skill (writing, drawing) 2. Defining beginning & end point of a skill : Discrete (hitting a button on a keyboard vs continuous motor skill (swimming, running) 3. Stability of the environment : Closed (bowling) vs open motor skill (tennis rally)

Motor performance measures

Response output: Measures time, error and magnitude of a response Response production: Measures include EMG, EEG measures describing limbs, joints, muscles & brain activity during movement The most common measure of initiation of movement is reaction time Response Time is the total time interval involving both reaction time & movement time

Motor performance measures

3 common types of RT: Simple RT: Only one signal and one response required (visual stimuli 180-200ms, auditory 140-160 ms) Go/No- RT: Respond to one stimuli and not respond to another stimuli Choice RT: A distinct response for each possible stimuli

Learning

Perceptual learning ability to improve on a specific sensory/perceptual task with practice

Motor learning process that improves motor performance through practice Other forms of learning visualization, anticipation, visual attention, range of cognitive strategies

Motor learning

Motor learning the changes associated with practice or experience leading to improvements in motor performance (observable production of a motor skill) SVT is the motor learning tool and improvements in motor performance is a decrease in reaction time on the SVT board and on field improvements in hand speed Level of motor performance is susceptible to fluctuations in temporary factors such as motivation, arousal, fatigue

The perfect netballer!

Fast, extremely agile, have quick hands, can jump high, fake pass, use a variety of moves and shoot accurately. Ability at sticking tight on their defender and putting extreme pressure on the opposition down the court

Five important skills for netball

Gaze control Peripheral awareness Visual search strategies Visual coordination Visual memory

Gaze control

Gaze control is defined as the process of directing gaze to objects within a scene in real time. A fixation occurs when the gaze is held on an object or location within 3 degrees of the visual angle for 100 milliseconds or longer

What do athletes see?

How gaze is controlled in sport falls into 2 methods of research: Visual search: the eye movements of athletes are recorded as they view videotapes, photographs, computer simulations, or other simulated content from their sport Vision-in-action: Uses the gaze of the participant recorded while they perform in real world sport settings

GOAL SHOOTING

Get ready to shoot. Stand with the ball inside the shooting 'D'semi circle; align your body to the netball post. place your feet shoulder width apart for balance
Hold the netball with one hand supporting it with the other hand Stretch your arms above your head Bend your knees and elbows, and as you straighten, release the ball and push it upwards, and give some backspin to make sure it goes in the net, not over it

Keep practicing
Focus on the ring, in particular the back of the ring

Gaze Control

In gaze studies in sport, all gaze (fixations, pursuit tracking, saccades, blinks) found in a task to a location, one gaze has emerged called the quiet eye as a significant contributing factor to higher levels of sports performance (Vickers, 1996a) The Quiet eye is defined as a period of time when the fixation is stable on spatial information critical to effective and consistent motor performance

Gaze Control

Hold your gaze on one spot on the hoop (front, middle or back rim) for about 1.5 seconds Regardless of location (all three are effective), you must fixate on one spot only

Gaze Control
Insulation from choking
Gaze control can help the athlete from choking under pressure 2 theories of choking Too much self-focus causing normal automatic actions to become too conscious & deliberate Too much external distraction causing athletes attention to be diverted from the task Directing energy to gaze control during pressure situations insulates players from choking

SHOOTING INFORMATION
Try to simulate a real netball match during your shooting practice (4 times a week) Tips Mix up the position where youre shooting from - try not to stand in the same spot and shoot 20 shots from the same spot Mix up the timing of the shot practice faking the defender off the shot Team up whether its a shooter or mid-courter to help out. Practice driving hard onto the ball, receiving the pass and shooting the ball successfully in the ring. Incorporate shooter moves such as rolls, dodges, double dodges and front cuts Practice shooting when youre physically exhausted

Leanne Hughes is a former international netballer who was written the Up and In netball shooting

SHOOTING INFORMATION

Shoot with at least 75% accuracy Aim for at least 8 attempts per quarter Variables to consider when looking at shooting stats, which may effect the number of attempts you make each match: There are two shooters in the circle, are you both sharing the shooting role evenly? The strength of the opposition , hence the low number of attempts The pace of the game - Is it a high scoring/low scoring match, filled with turnovers? You want BOTH quantity & quality: Shooting 24/36 goals is MUCH better than shooting 12/12

Peripheral awareness

There are physiological limitations to humans peripheral vision. binocular field is made up of overlapping monocular fields extending to about 200 degrees horizontally and 130 degrees vertically Peripheral awareness training does not make an athletes peripheral vision larger but merely improves the awareness of the surrounding environment

Peripheral awareness

Offensive and defensive players use peripheral awareness to track opponents, teammates, passing strategies and developing plays Colour recognition of jersey is critical when developing drills Peripheral awareness is used in:

Directional changes Recognition & reaction

Peripheral awareness drill

Multi-coloured jerseys
Equipment: Netball Duration: 3 to 5 minutes Description: 1. Use an area size of the regular playing field 2. Divide players into 3 different groups of colours 3. Start with one netball 4. Players only pass to 1 colour & can only receive from 1 colour. Eg red passes to blue, blue passes to yellow and yellow passes to red 5. Add 2nd & 3rd netball to the drill to increase difficultly

Visual search strategies

Elite athletes know where to look for the most important visual cues & information

Anticipation
Experienced players fixated on peripheral aspects of the play (position and movement of other players). Inexperienced players fixated on the ball and player passing the ball Increase in frequency of fixations an advantage for anticipating pass destination during open play

Visual coordination
Eye foot coordination Eye-hand coordination

Visual memory

Skilled players can recall & recognize patterns of play more effectively then less skilled players Expert players use their knowledge of situational probabilities (expectation) to anticipate future events
E.g online game www.tomsgames.com SUDOKU - Improves logical thinking skills, decisionmaking, and brain-processing speed

Decision making process of netball players

Exercises used to develop anticipation, imagination & awareness in netball should always have 3 objectives in mind:

1. To develop composure in possession with the ball 2. Anticipating situations ahead of time

3. To decrease the time needed to move the ball by having total awareness of the positions of all players

Decision making process of netball players

Coaches reinforcing these objectives can help players progress through the 8 step decision making process

Step 1: Observing how & where the ball is coming from

Step 2: Knowing where teammates are on the field Step 3: Knowing where the opposition are on the field Step 4: Deciding what to do with the ball Step 5: Knowing your options by observing where the ball is to be moved Step 6: Deciding when the ball goes Step 7: Deciding how the ball goes Step 8: Deciding why the ball goes (the tactical objective )

SUMMARY/TIPS

Hardware examination if you feel its necessary

Identify specific weaknesses, set preseason goals General & specific visual motor training twice a week on field Off field training (SVT & online games) Specific training for GA GS Sportplan.com

THANK YOU!
pelmurr@sportsvision.com.au