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.

Golf is not the only sport where optimal vision plays a huge role in success.  I have worked with many athletes in a variety of different sports on how learning to better use your visual system can give you an advantage no matter what the sport.

Over the last several weeks I have talked about how to test your eye dominancy and how to use it to your advantage on the golf course, but it can also help you a great deal with your swing in baseball or your backhand in tennis.

If you happen to be right-handed and left-eye dominant you have what is called cross-dominancy. This can be an advantage in many sports such as baseball and golf.

Check back next week for examples on how dominancy can play a roll what kind of sports you will be most successful.

Last week I talked about a simple test you can do to discover which is your dominant eye, this week I would like to share with you how you can use that knowledge to your advantage when you putt.

Line of sight from your dominant eye helps you determine the exact position of the ball. When you align yourself to putt you should always position your dominant eye directly over the back tip of the golf ball. Positioning yourself this way aids alignment and allows for proper impact on your putt.

I want to thank all of you for taking time to read these postings and I want to wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and a great New Year!

One of the first things a young athlete learns when they start playing sports is if they are right- or left-handed.  Discovering your dominant hand helps you to position yourself correctly in a variety of different sports.  However, many athletes don’t know they have another kind of dominance that can further enhance their athletic performance: eye dominance.

Your dominant eye processes information 14 to 21 milliseconds faster than the non-dominant eye and helps to locate points and objects in your visual field. Finding out whether you are right- or left-eye dominant can give you a distinct advantage in your sport.

Once you have learned which of your eyes is dominant, you can better position yourself for success.

To test your eye dominancy, hold your arms and hands extended forward with your palms away from you, then bring your hands together to form a small hole with your thumbs. Find an object or spot on the wall, look at the spot and raise your hands (with the small hole between your thumbs) and find the spot on the wall. Once you have found the spot, close one eye and then the other. The eye that finds the spot is your dominant eye. If you can still see the spot, make the hole between your thumbs small and continue until just one eye finds the spot.

Next week, I will share how to use your eye dominance to your advantage when lining up a putt in golf.

As always, please feel free to write in with your questions.