football

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	FOOTBALL

ZINEDINE ZIDANE HEADBUTTS MARCO MATERAZZI

In the World Cup Final 2006

ZIDANE SEES RED

For headbutting (or chestbutting) Materazzi in the World Cup Final 2006

CANNAVARO LIFTS WORLD CUP FOR ITALY IN 2006

ENGLAND'S BESPECTACLED MANAGER

WAYNE ROONEY PUTTING THE BOOT IN TO RONALDO

Stamping on Ronaldo in the World Cup Quarter Final 2006

SVEN WAVES GOODBYE

EDGAR DAVIDS IN HIS SPORTS EYEWEAR

EDGAR DAVIDS WEARING A DARKER FRAME

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FOOTBALL

TRAINING

Michael Owen and David Beckham are both gifted football players but they have had to work hard to become as good as they are now. Football, like most sports, requires skill and practise to play well. In much the same way that footballers use exercises for stretching, strengthening and cardiovascular conditioning, for a good sight of the ball and the field they should also be performing exercises for the eyes. In particular, it is important to have good foot-eye co-ordination and peripheral awareness.

EYE TRAINING

Try out a simple eye training exercise on line or download it by clicking on football training.

EYE PROTECTION

Are your eyes at risk? There are more eye injuries from football than any other single sport.

A report in Archives of Ophthalmology (May 2003) reports on eye injuries from football and concludes that damage t the eye can occur at all levels of skill and at the time may be undetectable by the player.

David Beckham's eye was obviously at risk when a football boot was kicked by Sir Alex Ferguson. It wasn't reported whether Sir Alex was wearing the boot at the time.

WHAT IS A SPORTS VISION ASSESSMENT?

A SPORTS VISION ASSESSMENT is a process in which various visual skills and abilities are measured and then compared with the average person. If you have any deficiencies these can be highlighted and recommendations made to improve the overall situation in a SPORTS VISION REPORT. Click on the email address below to put any questions you have or to make an appointment.

BLIND FOOTBALL

Blind football requires four blind outfield players and one normally-sighted goalkeeper. A special ball is used in blind football containing three pockets of small metal bells which rattle when making contact with the concrete surface of the 40 by 20 metres pitch. Blind players wear white masks over the eyes to avoid any residual vision being used and instructions are shouted at the players by an appointed coach.

ASPECTS OF VISION FOR FOOTBALL

These are the visual abilities which are particularly important if players are to excel at football.

ACCURACY OF VISION

Accuracy of vision or how well you can see the position of the ball, the flight of the ball and its intended destination. The quality of your vision can be measured by determining the smallest object seen is (static visual acuity) how well moving targets are seen (dynamic vision). Any short or long-sightedness may need to be corrected.

DEPTH PERCEPTION

Depth perception is the appreciatio f depth and helps you judge how far you need to kick the ball or the relative positions of other players on the field. Your assessment can be accurate only if both eyes are controlled precisely by the eye muscles and accurate measurements can now be taken using sophisticated computer software in the Practice.

FOOT-EYE CO-ORDINATION

Foot-eye co-ordination is essential to help you kick the ball exactly as intended. The head is rarely still and the brain has to inform the eyes about the current positioning of the head so that the eyes can compensate.

EYE MOVEMENT

Eye movement speed and accuracy helps you gauge exactly the relative locations of the ball as it flies through the air and its likely destination if you are to make a well-judged contact either with head or boot. The following of a football requires slow and smooth (pursuit) eye movements, more useful to a goalkeeper than an outfield payer, while moving the eyes from one object to an other (saccadic movement) is a much faster ability (about 500 degrees per second).

PERIPHERAL VISION

Peripheral vision is necessary for you to be aware of other players whether in your team or the opposition's, as you are about to pass the ball.

When at West Ham and only 13 years old, Bobby Moore received coaching from Malcolm Allison who insisted that Moore should know at every instant of a match what he should do if the ball suddenly came to him. This was directly related to an awareness of the position of other players on the pitch and Ron Greenwood during a practice match would blow his whistle and Moore would be the only one to know exactly where all the players were. So good was Bobby Moore's peripheral awareness that Jock Stein, the legendary manager of Celtic, used to say about Moore that he would see things half-an-hour before anybody else.

CONTRAST SENSITIVITY

Contrast sensitivity is the ability to see clearly in dull conditions or being able to pick out players or the goal posts in poor visibility.

OTHER FACTORS

Eye-hand reaction time is particularly important for goalkeepers. It has been demonstrated that top goalkeepers do not watch the opponent's foot or even the ball but they watch the attacker's knee.

Glare recovery is the ability of the eye to see well after viewing a bright light source such as the sun or when the floodlights are in use at night matches.

The accommodative facility is important when trying to focus on a ball before heading it and being aware of where the ball should be directed.