Role of Optometrist in Sports Vision. What skills are compulsory to check? | OOLS |

Bhumin Parekh starts by telling us about the importance of quality vision in improving the performance of athletes and defining the need for sports vision. We learn in brief of the evolution of the sports vision starting from 1917 onwards. He states the key areas where optometrists are involved in sports vision. The following are the necessary components for sports vision and Bhumin, which talks in detail about each of them as they pertain specifically to sports vision testing.

1. General ocular health (9:56)

2. Visual acuity (11:18)

3. Binocular vision (13:20)

4. Stereopsis (15:26)

5. Triangulation (17:07)

6. Eye movements (19:03)

7. Visual motor responses (23:30)

8. Eye-hand coordination (24:30)

9. Eye body coordination (25:28)

10. Central and peripheral awareness (26:10)

11. Visualization (26:58)

Mr. Parekh mentions a list of commonly played sports and what visual ability is in high demand for those sports. He then walks us through a typical sports vision workup and performance enhancement activities. He emphasizes the need to understand each sport and its visual demands, this allows an optometrist to actively be involved in training and improvement of player performance. We understand the advantages of contact lens use for sports over contact lenses. He talks about the different types of sports-related injuries and how to manage them. Long-term education and counseling of the player for such injuries. Lastly, Bhumin talks about the basics of setting up a clinical practice that can cater to the vision needs of athletes. The session ends with a Question and Answer session where Bhumin speaks more about practical sports vision assessment and management.

References:

Websites:

All about vision – sports https://www.allaboutvision.com/sports/

College of an optometrist in vision disorders – sports https://www.covd.org/page/Sports

Papers:

Hitzeman SA, Beckerman SA. What the literature says about sports vision. Optom Clin. 1993: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8324322/

Gao Y, Chen L, Yang SN, et al. Contributions of Visuo-oculomotor Abilities to Interceptive Skills in Sports. Optom Vis Sci. 2015: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25930979/

Wood JM, Abernethy B. An assessment of the efficacy of sports vision training programs. Optom Vis Sci. 1997: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9323736/

Watch the complete session below:

Online Optom Learning Series(OOLS) is managed by S.K. Optics.

OOLS is accredited by:

Optometry Council Of India (OOLS)

Integrated Philippine Association of Optometrist (IPAO)

Philippine Society of Public Health and Occupational Optometry (PSPHOO)

Optometry Vietnam

Education Supported by: SEGi University