Abstract
M.Phil.
The sport of rhythmic gymnastics combines vision with eye-hand/body coordination and
balance in a dynamic setting. Sports vision may give rhythmic gymnasts the visual edge
they need for top performance. The sample of 62 rhythmic gymnasts was randomly
divided into two comparable groups of 32 gymnasts (experimental group) and 30
gymnasts (control group) each.
The goals of this study were to identify the visual skills important to rhythmic gymnasts,
to explore whether these skills could be improved by means of an intervention
programme and to investigate whether improved skills would lead to improved
performance. The software skills of the visual system and fusion flexibility were
identified as being important and were trained by the intervention programme. Only these
skills were then re-tested. Questionnaires regarding the programme were handed out to
the experimental group.
The results are separated into three sections. Section A deals with the hardware skills of
the visual system and section B with the software skills. Section C a questionnaire filled
in by the experimental group.
The discussion is also separated into the three sections. Section A explains the data found
in the results of the hardware measurements. It also explains the results in terms of the
norms determined by Buys30 in 2002. In Section B the results of the software skills are
discussed for pre- and post measurements, and are compared between the experimental
and control groups. The comparison between the levels of gymnasts and the norms of the
skills as determined by Buys.30 are also discussed. Section C explains the answers found
for the questionnaire filled in by the gymnasts who formed part of the experimental
group.