Sports, Sun Vision, and Your Eyes Vision and Athletic Performance

Performance in sports involves the eyes feeding information to the brain for the interpretation and assignment of the appropriate physical action. Inaccurate visual information supplied to the brain will result in a reduced performance by the player (i.e. Decreased depth perception, inability to judge distances for shooting and throwing, activities.) Certain vision skills are essential for good sports performance such as: distance and near point activities, depth perception, overall field of vision, binocular coordination, eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, color vision, glare recovery and the like. At Geneva Optometrics, we can determine whether your vision skills meet the norm for normal sports vision. By determining if a refractive error exists or if a binocular disorder results, we can then alleviate the problem. Eyewear designed for the protection during athletic activities has now become the norm. All levels of sports leagues from professional ball clubs to little leagues require their players to wear protective eyewear. Sun and sand sports as well as snow and ice activities also have special eyewear designed to help reduce strain on your eyes. Scuba Diving masks and Swimming goggles are available with prescription lenses so that underwater activities can be enjoyed in focused. For winter sports, ski goggles can be fitted with a prescription to make cross country, downhill skiing, and snow boarding more enjoyable. Sports such as tennis, racket ball and the like are always an opportunity for eye injuries. Wearing protective eyewear that guards against fast moving balls will provide the needed protection against eye injuries. Physical contact sports such as basketball and soccer will also protect the eye from elbows and fingers in the event of contact. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is present is sunlight, as well as other sources of light such as, arc welding, tanning lamps, fluorescent lights, computer screens, etc. Studies have suggested that prolonged exposure to UVR can contribute to the formation of Cataracts, Macular Degeneration, Skin Cancer and other ocular health conditions. By wearing protective sun eyewear that blocks out 99.9% of the UVR, you can minimize the amount of radiation entering the eye, thus preventing any ocular health conditions from developing. Any good quality sunglasses can provide you with the glare protection from the sunlight. Even on cloudy days, you have to be careful for the UVR, since they are still being emitted. Don't let the lack of sunshine fool you in thinking the ultraviolet radiation is not present. No matter what your sport or physical activity you play, you must keep in mind that you have only one pair of eyes. You must protect them from injuries from those activities. By thinking proactively, you can prevent potential vision loss from occurring before it becomes to late.