JAMES Bustar, 28, of Sutherland, is a master of hand-eye co-ordination.
The professional juggler teaches circus skills for a living, but is finding it's not all fun and games.
Over the past few years, Mr Bustar has seen a big decline in children's co-ordination skills.
It is a trend exercise physiologists are seeing as well; however, there is no clear data documenting the causes for it.
Mr Bustar's theory is that children are spending more time on electronic devices than they are playing outdoors, and others agree.
"I see kids do amazing things on iPads but they don't have the general skills of catching and throwing ... it really annoys me because they are such basic skills to have," Mr Bustar said.
Hand-eye-co-ordination is a complex neurological process that helps the brain, eyes and limbs perform daily functional tasks.
It can also improve reaction times, agility and athleticism.
"I used to teach juggling, but for the past few years I'm finding I'm not teaching juggling, I'm teaching a skill I learnt as a kid, and that's catching a ball," Mr Bustar said.
"It's a touchy subject, but parents have to work more these days so they're not having that time to spend playing with the kids."
Kogarah exercise physiologist Jonathon Petrohilos said children had fewer co-ordination skills than their older siblings/parents did at the same age.
"Studies have shown that in NSW, 50 per cent of children are non-competent at running, jumping, catching, kicking and throwing overhead," Mr Petrohilos said.
Children with an electronic device such as a computer or gaming console in their bedroom take, on average, 1000 fewer steps a day, a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found.
These children also spent on average 2½ hours a day on sedentary screen-based activity.
How much time should children spend on improving their hand-eye co-ordination?
