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Going for the Gold With the Valencias and the Reflexion Edge

Finding ways to support outstanding athletic performance can be challenging. At Reflexion, we designed the Edge and the Flex to provide real help in developing the cognitive and perception skills needed by top athletes. The Reflexion team recently had the chance to visit with the Valencia family in Morgan Hill, California to learn how the Edge is helping Nyla and Aden Valencia pursue their athletic goals more effectively.We caught up with Joel Valencia at his home to discuss his approach to parenting and training the two elite athletes in his family. Aden and Nyla both won titles in the U.S.A. Wrestling High School National Showcase in March 2021. This led directly to invitations to serve as warmup partners to competitors who were vying for their own spots in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Nyla is a two-time national champion and a silver medalist at the Pan American Games, while Aden is a U15 world champion in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. Joel serves as one of their trainers and has put the neuro-training capabilities of the Edge to work in helping both young athletes to achieve their full potential.Wrestling requires both physical strength and cognitive skills to reach the highest levels of competition. Joel explained that, along with the strength training and other physical conditioning equipment available to Nyla and Aden, the Reflexion Edge provides the reaction training necessary to respond quickly during wrestling competitions. By using the Edge in the home training setting, both Aden and Nyla can improve their reaction times while enhancing their hand-eye coordination and their cognitive skills. Joel and the Valencia siblings both attribute a portion of their success to their neuro-training regimen with the Reflexion Edge.At Reflexion, we are pleased to contribute to the success of Nyla and Aden Valencia in the wrestling field. We offer advanced neuro-training solutions that include the Edge and the Flex. These systems can help athletes achieve the best performance and are ideally suited for building cognitive strength during the physical training process.To learn more about how Reflexion can make great athletes even better, visit us online or call us at 402-525-3789. You can also reach us at [email protected] to request more information. The Reflexion team is here to help you achieve the best results for all your athletic endeavors.

 

 

Life Long Wellness and Reflexion: A Winning Combination for Athletes and Patients Alike

At Reflexion, we appreciate our customers and the ways in which they use our Flex and Edge products to promote improved cognitive skills. We recently had the opportunity to touch base with the team at Life Long Wellness, a valued client of Reflexion and a leading source for chiropractic, acupuncture, and Reflexion neuro-training services in the Salt Lake City area.Life Long Wellness takes a holistic approach to wellness and physical health. With two of our Flex systems and an Edge system in place for clients, the team at Life Long Wellness can create real synergy by combining acupuncture, massage, chiropractic treatments, and nutritional services with the neuro-training made possible by Reflexion systems. This can allow patients of Life Long Wellness to enjoy the benefits of holistic care in a professional setting.Life Long Wellness incorporates technological solutions like the Flex and Edge systems alongside the ancient and proven techniques of acupuncture, chiropractic and massage therapies. The facility is located just 15 minutes north of Salt Lake City in Kaysville, Utah, and is owned and operated by Dr. Jason Atkinson, a licensed chiropractic physician, and board-certified acupuncturist. Life Long Wellness caters to the extreme sports enthusiast as well as everyday individuals seeking help in maintaining fitness and wellness.Many of the patients at Life Long Wellness are looking for an integrated solution that treats both the mind and the body. The Reflexion systems in place at the facility are used to augment chiropractic and acupuncture treatments to assist in faster healing and to improve the cognitive skills that contribute to physical healing. In particular, the Flex system by Reflexion is used by staff members to assess cognitive skills of new patients. This allows Life Long Wellness to tailor a treatment and fitness plan specifically for each patient they see. By engaging the mind with Flex and Edge, the team at Life Long Wellness can boost the power of the human brain and central nervous system to promote the body’s own ability to heal itself.Reflexion specializes in providing technologically advanced neuro-training equipment that can help health care providers and fitness trainers to engage their clients more fully. To learn more about the Reflexion Edge or Flex systems, contact us today at 402-525-3789. You can also reach us by email at [email protected] or through our website. At Reflexion, we are committed to helping people achieve their highest potential with neuro-training solutions that promote better physical and cognitive health.

A Holistic Approach to Fitness From Reflexion and Mindful Barbell

The Reflexion team recently met with Jonathan Speakman, the owner of Mindful Barbell in Santa Barbara, California. Mindful Barbell is the first facility in Santa Barbara to integrate Reflexion’s neuro-training tools and technology into its training regimen. We were happy to meet with Jon to see how he is implementing the Flex to build mental strength alongside physical strength in the training environment for his clientele.

By taking a holistic approach to all aspects of physical and mental strength, Jon and the Mindful Barbell team can produce outstanding results for older clients. The Reflexion Flex is an easy and engaging way to train cognitive processes and develop hand-eye coordination and decision-making skills. Mindful Barbell uses the Reflexion Flex as part of its overall personal training program for older clients to help them stay physically and mentally healthy.The integration of mind and body into the training process can make a big difference in the results achieved by older adults. The drills included with the Flex system are designed specifically to improve skills necessary for outstanding achievement in the athletic field. Jon uses Reflexion’s neuro-training systems to help clients in the prime of their lives to stop thinking consciously and start reacting, which can allow them to build cognitive strength at the same time they are improving their physical strength. The Flex can help older adults to maintain their cognitive health while staying active and fit.During our visit with Jon, we had the chance to meet with some of his satisfied clients at Mindful Barbell. They reported that one of the greatest advantages of the Flex system is that it is fun to use. This results in much greater engagement and improved experiences for Jon’s clients, which translates directly into increased strength both of mind and of body. For older clients, this can be a valuable tool in improving and preserving their fitness and cognitive skills.

At Reflexion, our goal is to provide the best tools and products for our clients. We serve personal trainers like Jon at Mindful Barbell as well as individuals interested in staying mentally fit at home. To learn more about the Flex and how it can help keep minds sharp and agile during the physical training process, call Reflexion today at 402-525-3789 or email us at [email protected]. We are here to provide practical holistic options for your own training regimen or that of your clients.

ISVA Conference

In mid-February the Reflexion team took a trip out to Orlando for the International Sports Vision Association’s annual conference. Even though we were a stone’s throw away from the big resort parks, it was all business for a company that deals with serious fun and games.

The conference venue was quite lively with different workshops focused on the specific vision training needs for different sports, followed by talks reviewing the vision training and concussion rehabilitation worlds. Leading scientists such as Dr. Greg Appelbaum of UCSD presented on the successes and failures of academic research so far, and how to ensure quality research in the future.


Our booth in the exhibitor hall saw overflowing traffic, with both attendees and fellow exhibitors stopping by to try to set and break records for different drills on the Edge. We had lots of interesting and enlightening conversations with clinicians, trainers, and all sorts of different professionals that visited us.Overall, it was a great time getting to hear from the minds of the leaders in the sports vision industry, meeting old customers face-to-face for the first time, making friends with new customers, and simply making new friends. We’re definitely looking forward to

 

Dr. Dan Laby: Evolving Sports Technologies in Neuro-Training | Importance of Simple Reaction Time

The Value of Improving Your Sports Vision – With Dr. Dan Laby

Dan Laby, M.D. is a professor and ophthalmologist who has dedicated a significant portion of his career to studying how sports vision training can benefit athletes. Dr. Laby was introduced to sports vision due to his background in pediatric ophthalmology because even though kids may have good vision out of their eyes individually, they must learn to use both eyes together to have good depth perception and visual development. Athletes utilize specific visual functions that allow them to perform a coordinated motor action, which has inspired the development of the sports vision specialty – of which Laby is a pioneer.

Dr. Laby explores this innovative field with the classic evidence-based approach to research. He recently worked alongside Greg Applebaum PhD., another expert in the sports vision field, to perform a meta-analysis on the current research in the sports vision specialty and develop a framework for these studies that are evidence-based and peer-reviewed with the goal of establishing reliable results.

The main problems they saw were:

  1. The studies were anecdotal, focusing on one or two cases that cannot be extrapolated to represent a larger population of athletes.
  2. The studies were riddled with bias due to the design lacking controlled variables, such as real vs. placebo treatment.

Athletes are always on the lookout for an advantage, whether that is the best pair of shoes, clothing, or sports equipment. Although there is a potential for credible research to support the claim that training your sports vision can improve athletic performance, the studies must be well-established before claiming this could be beneficial. 

For example, a few years ago Nike released tinted contact lenses that advertised performance improvement, but the company released the commercials before studies were completed. On this occasion, the lack of scientific backing before the product launch caused the whole project to be dissolved, even though there may be a scientific benefit to tinted contacts.

Scientific claims must be supported by evidence-based data that can ideally be extrapolated to a real-world setting, such as the way vision intervention has a connection to on-field performance. When evaluating baseball as an example, an individual’s batting performance can be measured by asking questions like:

  • How frequently does a batter walk?
  • What is their strikeout rate?
  • How frequently does a batter swing at pitches within the strike zone vs out of the strike zone?

These are referred to as plate discipline metrics, and Dr. Laby published a study with several hundred professional baseball players testing their hand-eye coordination, observing a strong relationship between some of those plate discipline metrics and the visual reaction time metrics.

Reflexion’s products are great tools to train athletes by offering portable gamified drills and activities where you can increase the difficulty of a visual or cognitive task which in turn makes the related in-game activity seem easy. There is even a feature of Reflexion Plus that allows athletes to hold themselves at a specific threshold of their peak performance in order to achieve what is known in athletic training as overloading.

All sports have different visual and motor needs required for peak performance, and Reflexion’s products allow for a practical application to superset drills with workouts to gain holistic skill training. Overall, there is the potential for applications in many fields, not just athletics.

Pyramid of Visual Function

At the bottom of the pyramid of basic visual function stands the ability of each eye to see different small size targets, low contrast targets, and targets you only have a quick look at. 

The next level is how well the brain uses both eyes together, which allows us to measure 3D depth perception, which can be of varying importance for different sports. 

The next level is the decision to act or not act based on visual information.

The highest level is coordinating a motor action based on available visual information. 

Throughout our talk with Dr. Laby, he emphasized the importance of synthesizing as much well-rounded information as possible to a situation before making a decision, such as combining the psychology of decision-making with the physiology of visual pathways. 

Neuro-training is what we have established as the roundup of visual and cognitive skills that train different levels of athletic abilities, so it makes sense that utilizing Reflexion at home can provide an at-home fitness and training benefit. 

Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, Dr. Laby reflected on the need to tailor the approach to the needs of the specific sport and athlete. Technology like Reflexion allows sports vision specialists to tailor activities to the individual athlete that allows them to improve their individual performance. 

To follow along with Dr. Laby as he continues to leave a mark on the specialty of sports vision, check out his website.

To learn more about how Reflexion can improve your sports vision, check out our website for the most up-to-date information.

For Skeptics: How Does Reflexion Improve Reaction Time?

Bryan Jovick is a former strength and conditioning coach for five NCAA Division I universities, ending his coaching career at the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Jovick now leads Reflexion’s expansion into schools and universities, and we asked him to answer one of our most common question. 

I often get asked “how does this improve reaction time?”, “how does getting better at your light board drills make athletes a better basketball player?”, or “I believe reaction time is task-specific, so how would your system work to improve performance?”

Improving things like reaction time is about 1/10 of what we are trying to accomplish here. The other cognitive abilities we assess and track progress in are peripheral vision, eye tracking, depth perception in various contrasts, eye-hand coordination, memory & pattern recognition, and ultimately, prioritization & decision making under pressure. We have an assessment that takes 3 min and provides a report card of all abilities and gives an overall score. This is their “baseline”.

From there, the possibilities are endless as far an applications are concerned. My favorite application for strength coaches is to run assessments in a fatigued state and compare those scores to their fresh baseline scores. Measuring cognitive decline in a fatigued state puts data behind the pursuit of creating fatigue-resistant athletes, who can not only perform at a high level, but who can also absorb more information in practice and process more variables in games.

To the specific question about “how does getting better at a reactive light board make you a better basketball player”? The answer is “we can’t prove that”. However, it’s the same answer if you’re asked to prove that squatting makes athletes better basketball players…The value of squatting is increased lower body control, joint integrity while cutting/pivoting, accelerating & decelerating, and putting force through the floor. Improvements in these athletic characteristics have been shown to lead to enhanced basketball performance, but not squatting directly.

Lastly, without data measuring all parts of what goes behind a cognitive performance, like reaction time, it’s very hard to isolate what the actual problem is. In the example of reaction time, if there was a concern, you would not be able to discern whether it was a brain processing issue, prioritization, cognitive decline through being distracted, or simply a peripheral vision deficiency. All of these play into reaction time and it’s hard to isolate what the problem is without a data-driven system that can separate all cognitive functions that are involved.

Overall, it’s another tool in the toolbox in the pursuit of helping athletes reach their full potential.

Reflexion, Leader In Cognitive Sports Training, Adds The Ironman Of Indycar, Tony Kanaan, To Advisory Board

REFLEXION, LEADER IN COGNITIVE SPORTS TRAINING, ADDS THE IRONMAN OF INDYCAR, TONY KANAAN, TO ADVISORY BOARD 

You Have to Train Your Eyes. Your Eyes are Not Different than Your Triceps, Your Biceps, or Your Legs.” – Kanaan

LANCASTER, PENN. (Apr. 14, 2021) — Reflexion, the cognitive sports training service that “rewires” the brain to improve athletic performance, today announced that Tony Kanaan, one of INDYCAR racing’s greatest, will be joining the company’s Advisory Board to accelerate the adoption of cognitive sports training in racing and beyond.

“Visual skills, especially for a racecar driver, are so important. When you’re in an oval, going 240 mph, and something happens in front of you, you have to be prepared” said Kanaan.  “Not to react to what is happening 100 feet from you, but what is happening 500 feet from you while you are anticipating what will happen around you. I am excited to join Reflexion because I have been driving Indy cars for the past 25 years and since I was introduced to Reflexion, I have to say I became a better driver.”

Kanaan was first introduced to Reflexion’s cognitive sports training platform, that combines a state-of-the-art touchscreen lightboard powered and cloud-based data analytics, at PitFit Training in Indianapolis, IN.  “Reflexion decreases mistakes and improves visual data processing skills that reduce our drivers’ chance for injury while boosting performance in the car” said Jim Leo, Founder and President of PitFit Training.

Working as part of Reflexion’s Advisory Board, Kanaan will educate athletes of all levels how to incorporate cognitive training into their overall training regimens and will share his own experiences of the successes that he has seen by doing so. This addition is part of a larger effort to make cognitive sports training that has traditionally been employed only by elite athletes much more accessible.

“Reflexion is catalyzing a sea change to bring cognitive sports training to athletes of all levels and we are incredibly privileged to work with some of the world’s greatest competitors like Tony to deliver a world-class experience to athletes at every level” said Reflexion CEO, Matt Campagna. “Additions to our team like this one are a key factor in what sets Reflexion apart from the pack.”

To learn more about Reflexion, its technology and products, visit www.reflexion.co. To see Reflexion in action and to hear from Tony Kanaan, view a case study of Reflexion at PitFit Training here.

About Reflexion

Reflexion is a game-changing cognitive sports training service designed to improve performance in competition. Using a state-of-the-art touchscreen lightboard powered by cloud-based technology and data analytics, Reflexion accelerates and strengthens cognitive processes and skills such as peripheral vision, decision making, reaction time and hand-eye coordination. By tracking individual goals and progress, the cognitive training service delivers tangible improvements in competitive performance for athletes. For additional information, please visit www.reflexion.co

About Tony Kanaan

Tony Kanaan is known as the Ironman of INDYCAR racing with a record 317 consecutive starts prior to 2021, year that Tony rejoined Chip Ganassi Racing for the oval events. Kanaan’s streak began in June 2001 at Portland before becoming the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, 2004 NTT INDYCAR Series champion, the first INDYCAR driver to complete every lap of every race during a season (2004), and being voted Most Popular Driver in 2013. Off the track, he is a dedicated runner and cyclist who has competed in numerous triathlon and Ironman competitions, including the Ironman World Championship in 2011. Kanaan’s charitable work also benefits Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN.

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Media Contact:
Matt Campagna
[email protected]
(717) 413-3336

Reflexion, Leader In Cognitive Sports Training, Partners With Evil Geniuses To Enhance Cognitive Performance In Esports

REFLEXION, LEADER IN COGNITIVE SPORTS TRAINING, PARTNERS WITH EVIL GENIUSES TO ENHANCE COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN ESPORTS

One of the Original and Most Iconic Organizations in Esports Chooses Reflexion to Train Players’ Brains  

LANCASTER, PENN. (Mar. 18, 2021) — Reflexion, the cognitive sports training service that “rewires” the brain to improve athletic performance, today announced that Evil Geniuses, one of the original and most iconic professional esports organizations in the world, has chosen Reflexion to train their players’ brains to enhance visual cognitive performance.

Evil Geniuses will be using Reflexion’s “Edge”, a state-of-the-art two-by-six-foot portable touchscreen lightboard that integrates a series of game-based drills with cloud-based data analytics that track, develop and strengthen neuro-fitness. The system turns peripheral vision, decision making, reaction time and hand-eye coordination into measurable, tangible skills that can be analyzed and enhanced, giving players a competitive edge.

“Visual cognitive training is the next frontier of sports performance” said Matt Campagna, Founder and CEO of Reflexion. “We are unbelievably excited to add Evil Geniuses to the league of elite competitors that train with Reflexion because they understand that nearly everything in sport and in competition starts with your eyes and that cannot be ignored.”

To learn more about Reflexion, its technology and products, visit www.reflexion.co.

About Reflexion

Reflexion is a game-changing cognitive sports training service designed to improve performance in competition. Using a state-of-the-art touchscreen lightboard powered by cloud-based technology and data analytics, Reflexion accelerates and strengthens cognitive processes and skills such as peripheral vision, decision making, reaction time and hand-eye coordination. By tracking individual goals and progress, the cognitive training service delivers tangible improvements in competitive performance for athletes. For additional information, please visit www.reflexion.co.

About‌ ‌Evil‌ ‌Geniuses‌ ‌

Evil‌ ‌Geniuses,‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌original‌ ‌and‌ ‌most‌ ‌recognizable‌ ‌professional‌ ‌organizations‌ ‌in‌ ‌esports,‌ ‌was‌ ‌founded‌ ‌over‌ ‌21‌ ‌years‌ ‌ago‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌belief‌ ‌that‌ ‌passion,‌ ‌commitment,‌ ‌and‌ ‌innovation‌ ‌could‌ ‌transform‌ ‌a‌ ‌beloved‌ ‌interest‌ ‌into‌ ‌a‌ ‌global‌ ‌phenomenon.‌ ‌Today,‌ ‌that‌ ‌same‌ ‌drive‌ ‌and‌ ‌dedication‌ ‌serve‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌foundation‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌legendary‌ ‌organization.‌ ‌From‌ ‌our‌ ‌top-tier‌ ‌esports‌ ‌teams‌ ‌to‌ ‌our‌ ‌industry-changing‌ ‌technology,‌ ‌our‌ ‌goal‌ ‌has‌ ‌always‌ ‌been—and‌ ‌will‌ ‌continue‌ ‌to‌ ‌be—building‌ ‌champions.‌

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Media Contact:
Matt Campagna
[email protected]
(717) 413-3336 

Introducing Reflexion Score 2021 (RS21)

Reflexion has just released a new assessment tool to assist in neuro-cognitive training: Reflexion Score 2021. This is a set of five values that relate to five important cognitions that determine performance during every sport: Eye-Hand Coordination, Inhibition, Prioritization, Reaction Time, and Tracking.

The Reflexion Score Assessment

The assessment can be taken once a month. During the assessment you will play through several drills that best determine your capability in these five cognitive areas. Do your absolute best during the assessment! Training daily on different Reflexion drills will give you the best practice.

The results are presented as scores from 0-100, showing where you stand compared to the theoretical maximum limits of human performance. Reflexion drills are no cake walk, so don’t expect to hit the top scores without undergoing extensive cognitive training.

The results are also presented in a spider graph, comparing each cognition to the others. This shows where your cognitive strengths are, and any potential room for improvements. A filled-in circular area indicates that you are well-rounded, while spikes or dips show exceptional skill in that cognition compared to the others (or lack thereof). The more overall area that’s filled-in shows that you’re overflowing with cognitive excellence!

Your ratings in these five cognitive skills can help direct where you need to focus training and specialization. Each cognition is meaningful to different people in different ways based on the skills that pay the bills. No matter what you do or what your role is, you’re likely to find yourself engaging in these cognitions every day and with every play.

Eye-Hand Coordination

Measures how well you can accurately move your hands and fingers to a specific place in your visual field. Eye-hand coordination is the most fundamental cognition for every athlete. This is connecting with the ball, blocking the punch while connecting with your own, intercepting with more than just luck, and so much more. Given the high standards of professionals, we assess this ability with sub-millimeter precision, so don’t miss the center of the target!

The importance of eye-hand coordination is limitless. Nearly every physical activity with the hands requires accurate interaction with vision. The better the cognitive skill of coordinating hand motor activity with the visual information in your brain, the more you’re able to fine-tune and control how you engage with the world around you.

Inhibition

This measures how well you can stop yourself from an action that you are prepared to conduct and how quickly you can determine when to act in the face of distractions. Your brain is constantly being bombarded with information, most of which is inhibited so that limited attention resources are engaged with meaningful information. High Inhibition scores means that you can throw out the noise in order to act meaningfully and react to the things you want to.

It might seem odd that not doing something is a cognitive ability. But you know what they say: “Check it before you wreck it.” Wise words, because being better able to inhibit inappropriate actions helps you maintain focus on appropriate actions and being prepared to respond to what matters. Proper training in Inhibition means you won’t be tricked out by a feint maneuver or distraction from your opponents.

Prioritization

Understanding what needs to be done now versus later is critical in many circumstances. Prioritization measures how well you can manage multiple competing demands for your attention in a limited time frame. You can survive longer and achieve a higher score in our assessment drill by making sure you hit high-priority targets before it’s too late and ignoring low-priority targets when you’re running short on time.

Prioritization comes in many different forms in life. Many decisions in sports have to be made in less than one second. The kind of Prioritization we measure with the Reflexion Score is very fast-paced, assessing your capability to make many split-second decisions while following through with rapid action in a constantly changing visual environment.

Reaction Time

Reaction Time is a measure of how quickly you can initiate an action, whatever that action might be. Slowness to react to events around you can lead to injury and tragedy of all sorts, while quickness of response wins the day. We measure your Reaction Time capabilities to the sub-millisecond. Delaying will lose the game, and you’ll get a lousy assessment score.

The neural circuits that send information from your eyes, through the brain, down the spinal cord, and to the muscles for motor activity have a mechanical limit. But don’t be fooled by a neuroscientist like me! Those circuits can be trained and developed to operate faster than fast, reducing the time it takes to initiate correct responses to less than ¼ of a second.

Tracking

Most activities in sports do not have you engaging with a static environment. You might need to follow a hockey puck blasting back and forth across the ice, the pace of a dribbled basketball right before you go in for the swipe-and-steal, or the shifting legwork controlling a soccer ball. Objects are often moving at different speeds compared to your own movement, becoming larger or smaller in your visual field, and changing directions. Tracking is the cognition of how well you can follow a target and maintain hand coordination in response to rapid velocity changes.

Anything from watching cars in traffic moving around you while driving to following a ball as it’s thrown around a field from person to person involves good Tracking cognition. If you lose sight of the object you’re tracking, you might not be able to find it again fast enough to avoid disaster! Efficient Tracking keeps your eyes and coordinated body movements locked on target for as long as needed, responding as quickly as needed. Tracking means you can monitor your opponent’s every move as they make it, and be ready to respond with the right moves.