Visual Performance Observation

INTRODUCTION Injury prevention is an essential aspect in the services athletic trainers can provide their patients. Strengthening muscles, improving balance and coordination, and increasing flexibility are all measurable outcomes that can be achieved by the athlete. Despite these efforts to prevent injury, assessing and predicting injury in athletic populations is not an easy task, as several variables need to be taken into account in order to obtain an accurate prediction. One such variable is the athlete’s reaction time, as it is incredibly important to all manner of athletes. These individuals often have to execute spur of the moment decisions to quickly avoid a defender, hit or catch a ball, and successfully react to additional visual, …show more content…
There were 125 subjects, 56 of which were men and 69 women. These 125 individuals participated in Phase I of the study. Phase I consisted assessments given by Nike Sensory Station. These assessments included Perception Span, Eye-Hand Coordination, Go/No Go, and Reaction Time. Each session was completed in about 20 minutes. Perception Span measured the speed and span of recognition and Eye-Hand Coordination measured reaction time. Go/No Go also measured reaction time while the Reaction Time assessment measured central eye-hand reaction and response time. After analysis and subject feedback, the researchers made modifications to the equipment, instructions and protocols in order to improve the reliability of the tests. In Phase II, 36 subjects (20 men, 16 women) who had not participated in Phase I were recruited. Phase II consisted of the same assessments used in Phase I. The results were analyzed primarily using ANOVA and Student’s-paired t-tests. Results exhibited no significant change in performance over time on assessments of Visual Clarity, Contrast Sensitivity, Depth Perception, Target Capture, Perception Span, and Reaction