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Sports Vision


Contacts and Glasses That Enhance Performance

No one can perform at their best during sports if they are worrying about an injury. Compared to regular eyewear, sports eyewear offers a primary benefit of superior impact resistance and eye protection.

Contact lenses alone offer no protection from sports-related eye injuries, and regular eyeglasses designed for everyday wear are not strong enough nor are they designed to offer adequate eye protection during sports.

While safety eyewear should be considered for every activity that has the potential for eye injury, it is essential for the following sports: baseball, softball, basketball, hockey, football, handball, racquetball, squash, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and pool sports, fishing, tennis and volleyball. Paintball “war games” are another activity for which safety eyewear is a must.

Protection from UV

Another danger during outdoor sports, even in winter, is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. Excessive exposure to UV rays has been associated with eye diseases such as cataracts and ocular tumors. You can also get a “sunburn” on your eye – called photokeratitis – which is very painful and can cause long-term damage to the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye).

Skiers should always wear tinted goggles or sports sunglasses that block 100% of the sun’s UV rays, since these harmful rays are stronger at higher altitudes. UV also bounces off snow (even on cloudy days) to increase one’s exposure. Anyone participating in outdoor water sports also needs UV protection, since UV rays reflect off bodies of water.

Some contact lenses offer UV protection. However, since contacts cover only the center part of your eye and can’t do anything for uncovered areas, you should still wear UV-blocking sunglasses, preferably with a close-fitting, wraparound style. Wide-brimmed hats are also helpful to reduce exposure of your eyes and face to UV rays.

Color enhancement

In some lighting conditions, “keeping your eye on the ball” is not as easy as it sounds. Sports eyewear with special tints can help. Amber-colored “shooting glasses” are popular with hunters because they increase the contrast of birds, clay pigeons, etc. against an overcast sky. In recent years, several eyeglass lens manufacturers have created special tints for sports sunglasses that improve visibility in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor lighting conditions. Your eye doctor or professional optician can show you samples of these lenses and help you decide which tints are best suited for your needs.

Light control

Polarized sports sunglasses reduce glare from reflective surfaces, making them extremely beneficial for fishing and other water sports. They can also reduce glare from sunlight reflecting off a sandy beach or light-colored pavement, such as an outdoor basketball court.

Anti-reflective (AR) coating is another glare reducer. AR-coated sports glasses reduce lens reflections at night if you’re playing under bright lights. AR coating is also a good idea for the back surface of sport sunglasses. It reduces glare from “bounce-back” reflections that occur when sunlight hits the back of your lenses.

Photochromic lenses are another way to control light for optimum visibility and performance. These lenses darken automatically outdoors in response to UV rays from the sun. They reduce the intensity of light reaching your eyes to a more comfortable level, and provide 100% UV protection at the same time.

Convenience and comfort

One-day disposable soft contact lenses are an excellent option for sports, because they don’t require cleaning. You wear them just once, and then throw them away. This makes them especially attractive to someone who normally wears eyeglasses.

And because they are made of a soft, oxygen-permeable material, one-day soft lenses require little or no adaptation. So even if you haven’t worn contact lenses for a week or longer, you can usually wear a pair of one-day disposable lenses comfortably for a full day of sports or other activities.

Remember, though contacts offer visual and other advantages over glasses for sports (you don’t have to worry about them fogging up or falling off when you’re perspiring, for example), you still need to wear protective eyewear over contact lenses to protect your eyes from injuries and/or UV damage.


Protective Sports Eyewear

Initially, there was some resistance by children to “looking funny” when they wore protective eyewear. Today, sports goggles are an accepted part of everyday life, much the way bike helmets have become the norm. In addition, both children and adults like the image that wearing protective eyewear gives them: it shows they mean business on the playing field.

If you’re not wearing protective eyewear, consider this…

Prevent Blindness America reports that hospital emergency rooms treat 40,000 eye injuries every year that are sports-related. Sports such as racquetball, tennis and badminton may seem relatively harmless, but they involve objects moving at 60 miles per hour or faster. During a typical game, a racquetball can travel between 60 and 200 miles per hour. Another potential danger is that the racquets themselves move at high speed in a confined space and often make contact with one another.

Flying objects aren’t the only hazard. Many eye injuries come from pokes and jabs by fingers and elbows, particularly in games where players are in close contact with each other. Basketball, for example, has an extremely high rate of eye injury.

These are great reasons to wear protective eyewear. Another aspect has to do with performance. It used to be common for people with mild to moderate prescriptions to simply participate in sports without wearing their glasses or contacts. But sharp vision is a vital ingredient to performing well in nearly every sport, and participating in sports when you have less than 20/20 vision is counterproductive.

Features to look for

Polycarbonate is the material of choice for sports lenses, but the eyewear frame plays just as important a role. Different sports require different types of frames, which has led to development of sport-specific frames. Sport frames are constructed of highly impact-resistant plastic or polycarbonate, and most come with rubber padding to cushion the frame where it comes in contact with your head and the bridge of your nose.

Some sports styles are contoured, wrapping slightly around the face. This type of goggle works well for biking, hang-gliding, and sailing. Contact lens wearers especially benefit from the wraparound style, which shields your eyes from wind and dust.

A note about handball goggles

At one time, handball goggles for those with no need for vision correction were simply goggles with small openings in place of lenses. It was eventually recognized that the high speed of handballs compressed the ball enough to protrude through the opening and cause serious eye damage. All goggles worn for handball and racquetball should include impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses for adequate protection during these sports.

Important fitting considerations

Sport goggles must be properly fit to the individual wearer. This is particularly important with children, because there is a temptation to purchase a larger goggle than what is needed today so the youngster has “room to grow.” Some growing room is acceptable, since sports goggles are made to be somewhat flexible in their width adjustment. If the frames are oversize, however, they will not protect the way they were designed, leaving a potential for damage when there is impact to the head or the face. It’s a risk not worth taking.

By the same token, permitting a youngster to continue wearing goggles that he or she has outgrown can be just as dangerous. First, the frames will be uncomfortable, tempting the child to take them off. Secondly, the frames may obstruct peripheral vision, leading to poor performance with a potential for impact from unseen sources to one side or another. Review the fit of your youngsters’ sports eyewear each year to ensure that they are still providing proper protection and are fitting comfortably. Make sure the padding inside the sides of the goggle rests flush with the face and the eyes are centered in the lens area.

Scuba Diving Masks and Swim Goggles

When they’re in the water, swimmers and scuba divers who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses could benefit from prescription swim goggles.

Scuba diving masks

Prescription lenses for scuba diving masks are available in one of two forms: either the entire front of the mask is a prescription lens, or corrective lenses are inserted separately between the mask and your eyes. If the dive mask comes with prescription lenses, they may be either custom-made for your vision correction needs, or they can come pre-made in a prescription for nearsightedness or farsightedness that is the same for both eyes.

Most people who require corrective lenses have a similar prescription for both eyes, so a dive mask with pre-made lenses will usually provide adequate vision for reading gauges and maneuvering around underwater. Even though pre-made prescription lenses don’t correct astigmatism, most people who have astigmatism can function quite well with a spherical (meaning “without astigmatism”) correction in the water.

Dive masks made with lenses designed specifically to your measurements and prescription are generally more expensive than their pre-made counterparts.

Some diving masks are designed to allow customized prescription lens inserts to be attached to the inside of the front of the mask. This option provides a more accurate vision correction. But, depending on the depth, temperature and type of water that you’re in, fogging may be a bit more problematic with lens inserts.

If you’re a contact lens wearer, however, you might benefit from a diving mask that allows prescription lens inserts because they provide the option of wearing or not wearing contacts. If you have the contact lenses in for a dive, there’s no need for the prescription insert. If you go diving without your contacts on, you can put the prescription lens inserts in the mask for a clear underwater experience.

Because of the potential risk of contamination of contact lenses underwater, it’s generally a better idea to dive and swim without them. Another option is to wear one-day disposable soft contacts, and discard them as soon as you’re back on dry land.

Swim goggles

Swimming goggles are much smaller and fit closer to your eyes than a diving mask. They are designed to protect your eyes from the water and be sleek and unobtrusive at the same time, so as not to interfere with your speed and motion. A rubber or silicone seal surrounds the lenses to keep water away from your eyes.

As with dive masks, swim goggles are available with pre-made prescription lenses that are the same power for both eyes. Because swim goggles generally are used in a pool setting, these pre-made prescription lenses will usually provide adequate vision. However, custom-made prescription swimming goggles are also an option.


Shooting Glasses and Hunting Eyewear

Firearms can be dangerous, and all have some recoil. In addition most shooting occurs outside, where elements such as dust, wind, sun, trees and vegetation can potentially harm eyes. Therefore it’s very important to use eye protection at all times when engaged in shooting activities, indoors and outside.

Generally, sports goggles that you can buy without prescription usually protect your eyes if you wear contacts or don’t need glasses. These goggles usually wrap around your eyes to form a shield against the elements. Make sure to buy goggles with lenses made of polycarbonate, which is the best and strongest lens material available.

Features of Shooting Glasses

Glasses for shooters are specially designed and have several important features. These glasses have more features that the general aviator- shaped frames that are popular. The most important feature is that the frame has a safety rating. Don’t buy any shooting glasses that don’t have such a rating. All of these models have a strong rim which holds the lenses in place. Some glasses have a “sweat bar” that goes along the width of the frame which creates stability for the frame to stay on the face. Other models use padding on the frame around the eyes, which cushions the frame on your face. This protects your face from gun recoil. Additionally, it adds to the protection against the elements.

Glasses for shooting often have temples with spring hinges. This type of hinge allows the frame to move without breaking. Many glasses often include temples that wrap around your ear which helps keep the frame in the correct position on your face. Features that make the frames more comfortable often include soft silicon pads around the nose, which also help to keep the frame in place. Frames may be made out of several different types of materials, including various metals and titanium, plastic and polycarbonate.

Lenses for Shooting Glasses

Shooters have chosen polycarbonate lenses with UV protection and a scratch-resistant coating as their lens of choice for years. Polycarbonate lenses are extremely resistant to impact, and also give a lot of “bounce back” and “blow back” protection. However, there are newer materials for lenses that have been developed recently that are also excellent choices for shooters.

Non-prescription shooting glasses often come with interchangeable lenses. These lenses are used when facing varied conditions of light. If you need prescription lenses, you can order your lenses in various colors of your choice. Shooters often enjoy using orange or yellow colored lenses. These colors of lenses block blue light as well as haze. They also provide a more vivid hue of orange, which is often the color of the target. Bright yellow lenses are good for using in low light, or foggy weather conditions.

A light purple lens is particularly good for seeing an orange target when the background is green trees. Purple lenses are made from a mixture of vermillion and gray. Some shooters like vermilion, because this color helps see where there is a natural outdoor background, and helps the target to stand out. If you prefer a neutral or natural color, gray is the color of choice. A gray lens allows you to see all colors naturally, and are good for using in strong sunshine.

Polarized lenses are available in most colors. Polarized lenses are good for use in the outdoors, as they reduce glare. This is particularly helpful when shooting near water.


What Sports Vision Doctors Can Do For You

All these vision skills are extremely important in sports, whether you play golf, soccer, baseball, basketball or racquet sports.

If you want to perform your best in sports, you may benefit from seeing an eyecare practitioner who specializes in sports vision – even if you already have 20/20 vision. This is because a typical eye exam usually doesn’t include tests of visual skills important to sports performance.

Sports vision testing is more extensive, and can be tailored to the specific sport you are interested in. During a sports vision exam, it’s not unusual for the examiner to include tests to evaluate how well you see while you are moving around outdoors and interacting with other objects or players.

Many professional athletes work on their sports vision, but so do high school and college athletes, recreational golfers, tennis players and even billiards players. Some non-sports professionals also benefit from the same vision training, including law enforcement personnel and pilots.

When you visit a sports vision specialist, he or she will probably give you a complete eye exam and will ask you questions about your activities. More testing will determine your sports-related needs. These tests may include the use of three-dimensional, holographic images so you can react to them as in real life, and computerized tests that measure your reaction time and eye-hand coordination.

Depending on your particular sport, actual on-field measuring of your reactions to various sports situations may be included. Many sports vision specialists will attend your games or matches to help them evaluate your vision performance. They may also study videos of your games.

You may need only one visit to a specialist to set you on your way to better visual skills for sports. However, in many cases, a comprehensive sports vision training program is a better option to help you develop your sports vision skills so they become second nature.