Dr Sherylle Calder (Visual Performance Coach, Sport Scientist & Founder / CEO of EyeGym)
Apr 28, 2024
In episode 16 Host Andy McDonald speaks to Dr Sherylle Calder to receive a unique insight into her expertise assessing & coaching visual performance skills. Dr Calder has worked with both England & South Africa towards Rugby World Cup victory, The All Blacks, The Miami Dolphins, Formula-1 driver Valtteri Bottas and Golfer Ernie Els to name a few! In this episode we’ll discuss Dr Calder’s approach to enhancing on field or competitive ability through visual skills, the online EyeGym Program and more.
On this episode with Dr Calder we discuss:
- Her athletic roots ground playing field hockey in isolation – not competing against athletes around the world.
- Developing skills and drills out of isolated practise and discovering that other athletes around the world do not ‘see’ what Dr Calder could see during games.
- Academic Research at University of Cape Town.
- Testing exercise interventions to enhance visual performance.
- Completing PHD at the first sports science Institution in Cape Town South Africa
- Professional beginnings with Surrey and Pakistan Cricket, The All Blacks, England Rugby and Australian Cricket.
- How Dr Calder approached formalising her experiential practise into a research project.
- How does she approach or package her offering to teams.
- Assessing or breaking down visual performance
- Visual Recognition – The ability to see something early and have time to execute
- The ability to Judge – Spatial awareness awareness of environment
- Visual Awareness – The ability to feel what is around you, peripheral awareness and how quickly we can respond to stimulus around us.
- Plus more (reaction time, choice reaction time and more)
- Examples of how she trains visual performance following an assessment.
- History leaves clues, our abilities and deficits can be related to our sport or activity upbringing.
- The benefits of not specialising in sports during youth from a visual performance standpoint.
- The online EyeGym program and KPI’s for appraising visual interventions
- Dosing, frequency and training the visual system at an intensity that exceeds competition
