ABSTRACT
Good visual skills, particularly quick reaction time and being aware of peripheral movement, are important skills in Rugby League. Previous studies in other areas have shown conflicting results with some authors reporting an improvement in visual reaction time (RT) with increased levels of aerobic fitness but others suggesting that RT cannot be enhanced by training. The latter group suggest that training causes changes in cognitive processing rather than any change in RT or other basic visual characteristics (for example, see Abernethy and Wood, 1992). Era et al. (1986) argue for an improvement in RT with exercise and attribute this to an increase in cerebral blood flow and oxygenation. Another study found that university professors who were classified as having high levels of physical activity performed better on simple and choice RT tasks than other professors who had low levels of physical activity (Lupinacci et al., 1993). Sherwood and Selder (1979) also showed that people who ran greater than 42 miles per week did not show the same decrement in RT with age as those who remained sedentary. However, implementation of a six-week walking programme in elderly subjects failed to enhance RT over a non-exercising control group of similar age (Roberts, 1990). This lack of effect of walking on RT was attributed to a failure to investigate previous exercise history but may be more likely due to an inability to significantly change RT. Abernethy and Wood (1992) showed that a four-week visual training programme did not improve general visual performance or sport specific motor performance. Improvements in choice and peripheral RT and accommodation were attributed to familiarity with the test as results were not significantly better than those of a control group (Abernethy and Wood, 1992).
