While parents know that exposure to UV rays has harmful effects on children’s skin, many do not realize that UV rays can actually cause just as much damage to their eyes. In fact, a recent edition of Review of Optometry reported that eye changes due to UV radiation were found in children as young as age 9.  In one study, a remarkable 80% of patients under the age of 15 showed signs of UV-related eye damage. 

Despite the concerning statistics about children’s eye health, the 2009 American Optometric Association’s Eye-Q Survey surprisingly revealed that 71% of patients do not ensure that their children wear sunglasses outdoors. Please remember, it is never too early or too late to begin protecting your eyes from UV rays, and children are never too young to start learning about the importance of sun protection.

It is important to make sure that children’s eyes are protected with UV-protective eyewear, such as Transitions® lenses, which block 100% of UV rays. In addition to proper eyewear, wearing a hat can be a simple way to provide children with extra sun protection. While some schools do not allow sunglasses to be worn on the playground, eyewear fitted with Transitions may be a great alternative that still adheres to school guidelines.  Protect your eyes and your children’s eyes with UV-protective lenses and be sure to include a comprehensive exam with your eye doctor as part of your regular health/wellness check-ups.

I participated in a nationwide radio tour today to discuss the connection between vision and the sport of cycling, in anticipation of the largest professional cycling event in the US called the Tour of California (http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/), where Team Garmin-Transitions will compete*.

In both amateur and professional cycling, the body does most of the work, but the eyes lead the body and tell it what to do. Keeping in mind the following can give you a competitive edge, whether you are participating in a professional race or going for a leisurely bike ride with your family:

1. Peripheral vision
2. Depth and distance perception
3. Contrast
4. Eye Movement
5. Balance
   

Peripheral vision, also known as side vision, actually goes into the brain 25% faster than central vision, which is the line of vision you use to read eye charts. Peripheral vision helps to guide you through the pack and see other riders as they try to pass you. When you squint, you reduce your peripheral vision and increase the number of eye and head movements you make. Squinting can negatively affect your balance and speed.

Each of your eyes has six muscles that move in concert with the other eye. Keeping your eyes relaxed helps reduce eye fatigue, so you can see changes in the road or trail surface and avoid erratic eye movements which can slow you down and throw you off balance. Nerve messages from the eyes also go to the balancing centers in the brain. You can easily understand how this works with a simple test of standing on one leg with your eyes closed to experience how your balance can be impacted.

Quality eyesight is critical for all outdoor sports enthusiasts, whether you’re professional cyclists in a race, amateur riders on the trail or spectators cheering from the crowd. Vision can be enhanced and protected today and tomorrow by regular visits to your eye doctor and chosing eyewear that is most appropriate for your lifestyle and the activities in which you participate. 

For those who enjoy being active outdoors, wearing adaptive lenses, such as Transitions® lenses – that automatically adjust the level of darkness as light conditions change – help to reduce glare and fatigue, so you can perform your best. Transitions block 100% of harmful UV rays, so your vision is protected from the effects of ongoing sun exposure.   Take it from the professional cyclists of Team Garmin-Transitions who train and race hundreds of miles each day while wearing their Transitions – proper eyewear is essential to optimal vision and sports performance.

Tune in to Versus May 16-23 to see Team Garmin-Transitions sprint to the finish line of the Tour of California.

* Note:  I am not affiliated with Team Garmin-Transitions as a doctor or trainer. I’m an optometric consultant to Transitions, who sponsors the team. My role is to help communicate to consumers the connection between vision and sports performance and the importance of proper eyecare and eyewear as a means of ensuring healthy sight.

Here I am at the Transitions Championship, and let me tell you I am having a great time.  Transitions has taken great efforts to host a world-class golf event, but what’s more is that they have created a week-long experience for players and spectators demonstrating the importance of healthy sight and its relevance to sports performance and an overall healthy lifestyle.

We arrived Sunday and started our week with the Live Your Vision Family Walk, which benefited Prevent Blindness Florida and followed the cartpath of the Copperhead Course where the pros are playing.  The beginning of my week was spent meeting with players, doing media spots, and working in the VSP/Transitions mobile eyes clinic. 

I did a sports/vision consultation with a well-known Golf Channel commentator and was able to give him some advice about how he can better use his vision to benefit his game.  We looked at how his eyes align, focus, hold together as a team, and how he uses his peripheral vision.  We spoke about how sports/vision training is the next training frontier for athletes just like weight training was many years ago.  Gaining a visual edge will take your sports performance to the next level. 

Healthy sight is at the core of every sports/vision program and starts by getting routine eye exams regularly from your eye doctor and taking the proper precautions to protect your eyes from UV rays, so they stay healthy in the future.  Sports/vision exams are specialty evaluations that are conducted in addition to a comprehensive eye exam that look beyond a person’s ability to see 20/20.  For more information, visit the Sports Vision Section of the American Optometric Association’s site or www.covd.org to find a specialist near you.

Many times when a golfer is missing putts to the right or to the left it has to do with the alignment of their eyes. This week I would like to share with you how you can determine if your eyes are aligned correctly over your putts and if they are not properly aligned, how to correct them.

To see if your eyes are aligned correctly all you need is some masking tape and a mirror. Place a strip of tape on the ground parallel to your feer and then place the mirror on the ground over the tape. Then take a golf ball and place it on top of the mirror. As you address your putt, your eyes in the mirror should be lined up with the tape. If they are this means you are properly aligned.

It is very important that your eyes are lined up with the tape. If your eyes are past the line, you will tend to align to the left and miss to the left and if your eyes are between your feet and the line you will then misalign to the right. This of course goes for right handed golfers and everything should be reverse if you are left handed.

Last week when I was at the Northern Trust I again noticed many players without sunglasses, and those who did have them on had them flipped over on the top of their hats. Without fail I saw many of those same players hit a shot and squint as they looked into the sky to find their ball.

A big part of my job is helping people best use their visual abilities for success on the playing field. However, in order to best use your visual system you need to have healthy sight. Without proper eye protection from the sun the health of your eyes can be compromised. UV damage from the sun can cause problems like cataracts, macular degeneration and even premature blindness. When outside it is important to consider photochromic lenses like Transitions lenses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.

While I hope this blog serves as a way for readers to use their vision for on the field success, I hope more than anything it helps people realize how important eye health is to overall health and wellness.

This week I spent some time at The Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. During the practices rounds I got a chance to see Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old phenom from Japan, who is making his PGA TOUR debut this week. Even during his practice rounds he was surrounded by a huge entourage of cameras and reporters.

Riviera is an absolutely beautiful course, the first hole in particular is very unique. The tee box is tiered up very high and players have to walk down a hill just to get to the fairway. Here is a link so you can check out some of the holes at Riviera:

http://www.therivieracountryclub.com/html/Course_Tour.cfm?Hole_ID=1

Next week I'll be sharing some more tips as we get closer to the Transitions Championship For Healthy Sight. As always, please feel free to write in with your questions or comments.

Last week I had the opportunity to work a little bit with Kenny Perry before his big win out at the FBR Open.  In Kenny’s post, he wrote about the discomfort that he felt in his eyes. It really drives home the importance of keeping your eyes healthy to achieve your best on the golf course.

The same day Kenny was out winning the FBR, another fan of sports vision training from Arizona was in the Super Bowl playing in front of the eyes of the entire world. Larry Fitzgerald, the star wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, who this postseason broke the records for most catches, most yards and most touchdowns by a receiver in single playoffs, has done work with sports vision training.

Larry's grandfather, an optometrist, has worked with him to develop the visual skills he uses when he goes up to catch a ball in the air. To hear more about the sports vision training Larry has done to help him become one of the best players in all of football, click here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=2&t=1&islist=false&id=100049694&m=100049675.

Despite the Cardinals losing to the Steelers in one of the most exciting Super Bowl’s ever played, Super Bowl Sunday was a banner day for healthy sight and quality vision for Arizona.

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time with both Matt Killen and Kenny Perry at the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Arizona.  I took a look at Kenny’s eyes and talked to him about some of the exercises he can do to help him use his vision to his advantage. To follow Kenny’s play this week live click here. http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/.

Spending time with Kenny allowed me the chance to be able to talk to several other players and I was really excited to see how many had a genuine interest in learning more about their vision. I talked about some eye muscle strengthening exercises and tests for eye dominance to a couple players. To see so many world class athletes gaining appreciation about the effect improved vision can have on performance was really terrific.

On a side note, the FBR Open is known for its wild atmosphere and it was totally confirmed for me when I saw rock-star – and huge golf fan – Alice Cooper taking in some of the action.

Getting a behind-the-scenes look at a PGA TOUR event gave me a completely new perspective on a golfer’s routine. Hearing about how Matt works with Kenny really reinforced for me that golf truly isn’t just an individual sport, coaches play a huge role in the success of their players. It was incredible to see things Matt was able to notice with Kenny’s swing.

We will have a special post for you this week, so be sure to check back soon.

Today, Ryo Ishikawa, the seventeen-year-old Japanese phenom, announced that he would be playing one of his very first PGA TOUR events at the Transitions Championship For Healthy Sight.

Many people have compared Ryo to a young Tiger Woods, so there is a ton of excitement about him coming to the US to play. Thinking about this young Japanese player on the verge of success reminded me of a sports vision training success story out of Japan.

Outfielder Doug Jennings played in the Major Leagues with both the Oakland A’s and Chicago Cubs. While with the Cubs, Doug was finding that he couldn’t see the pitch seven feet from the bat. The ball looked even tinier than it had in the past and Doug couldn’t swing his arms in time to make contact. This was particularly confusing to Doug because he had 20/15 vision, the same as baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams.

I evaluated Doug and found out that he was left-eye dominant. After just a few short sessions, I was able to help Doug learn how to train his eyes to improve his tracking and depth perception of a baseball. Being a left-handed hitter, Doug adapted his batting stance to position his left eye more toward the mound so that he could more accurately see the ball at the pitcher’s point of release.

Through sports vision training, Doug would go on to become an MVP in the Japanese league, and even tied the league’s consecutive games with a home run record in the process.

Doug had this to say about his work to improve his vision, “Dr. Lampert’s Sports Vision Training brought an awareness of my batting to a new level. He made me aware that vision is, in many ways, more important to hitting than the actual mechanics of the swing.”

I wanted to share this story with you this week to show you how great the results of improved vision and sports vision training can be and hopefully inspire you to learn more about using your vision for your own success.

Many people say that being cross-dominant is an advantage in sports like golf and baseball. When you are swinging a golf club if you are cross-dominant it is easier to keep your dominant eye on the ball and when you’re at bat in baseball your dominant eye is closer to the pitcher. Having your dominant eye closer to the target allows it to stay still and focused, giving your eyes extra time to zone in on the exact location of the ball.

On the other hand being same-side dominant is a plus in many target sports such as tennis, bowling, shuffle board, archery or rifle.

A really great thing about sports vision training is how having knowledge of what to do with your eyes and how to position yourself during play can allow you to be successful in your sport no matter what your eye dominancy says.

Please feel to write in any questions you may have about your dominance or how you can use it to your advantage in any sport.