As a teenager, Gavin Rebello became a frustrated sportsman because he kept losing the flight of the ball even though opticians told him he had 20/20 vision.
He qualified as an optometrist from Cardiff University and then gained a distinction in the optometry-based sports vision diploma, launching sports-vision.co.uk in 2005.
He specialises in ‘what and how the eye sees’ with the specific aim to give sports people a winning edge. He helps them see the ball quicker than their opponents, improve their aiming skills and on-field awareness so passing and reaction times are better and more consistent. Sport starts with what the eyes are seeing and Gavin helps players be the best they can be.
He has worked with elite athletes across a range of sports at club, national, international and Olympic levels.
Gavin and Zoe met whilst attending a sports vision training program at Harvard University with Gavin becoming the sports contact lens and eye mechanics consultant for Zoe’s company Performance Vision Ltd.
Together Zoe and Gavin are the vision experts for Harlequins Rugby, among others.
At the SMART Way Forward CPD Business and Coaching Conference 2013 (Midlands/North), Gavin Rebello will be delivering the following Sports Coaching Workshop with Dr Zoe Wimshurst:
12.20pm – 1.20pm
An insight into your eyesight (keeping your eyes on the ball)
Whether you are an elite athlete, amateur or simply enjoy sport to keep fit and socialise, your eyes have a big say on how well you play. Having 20/20 vision means that you should be able to see the ball well, but what if your opponent sees the ball before you? What if your opponent can follow the ball better than you? You’re immediately on the back foot and they have that all important edge.
A fitter and well trained athlete will generally play better because their eyes have faster focus, which in turn means that they have quicker reaction times. Most people judge their vision by how clearly they see. However, vision is much more complex than this. There are many processes contributing to vision, clarity of sight is merely just one of them.
Other areas to consider could be things like speed and accuracy of focus, depth perception, peripheral awareness, stability of eye dominance, how efficiently the two eyes work together as a team, etc… to name but a few.
Elite athletes understand that they need to keep their bodies at a peak level of fitness in order to perform successfully under pressure at the highest level. With vision being the dominant sense in most sports, it is vital that sports men and women maximise all aspects of their vision to ensure a championship sporting performance.
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