Who Are Sports Vision Specialists And Exercise Physiologists?

Historically, most individuals and athletes have been measured to their static visual acuity (SVA)—how well they could read a stationary eye chart while seated. However, athletes don't function in their sport in this fashion. Enter dynamic visual acuity (DVA)—how well moving players see moving objects. Today’s sports vision specialists emphasize the importance of visual acuity to athletic success and techniques to enhance such skills, particularly DVA.

Bausch and Lombs Council on Sports Vision have discovered these early warning signs for detection of vision problems:

1. athletes who squint to see clearly
   
2. football players who have difficulty seeing the ball and catching passes
   
   
   
3. tennis players who have difficulty focusing on the ball and reacting to the serve
   
4. golfers who have trouble discerning the distance to the green
   
5. basketball players who are uncertain in their ball handling, miss too many free throws, or tend to close one eye when they shoot
   
6. athletes who constantly rub their eyes or suffer from headaches or excessive tearing.
   

While most of the public, including athletes, remain unaware of the dynamic value of vision, Steven DeVore and Greggory DeVore have had excellent results working with a variety of athletes. Results of the DeVore brother's technique have included:

1. At California State University at Hayward, two of the lowest-ranking tennis players tried the technique. The results made international news. Their coach commented, "In all my years of coaching, I have never seen such rapid progress in athletes before."
   
2. Doug True, who played on the University of California basketball team, utilized the system to improve his shooting percentage. He later was drafted by the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association.
   

This training system has the potential to attract more and more athletes, and additional sports optometrists (and optometric assistants and technicians) may be necessary to implement this program or others of its type.

For people thinking of a career in a sports-related profession, one of the most exciting and rewarding will be in sports vision. Dr. Burt Fisher, who has assisted members of the Dallas Cowboys and other teams, lamented, "It seems odd that parents and coaches will spend so much time developing a young athlete and so much money purchasing the necessary equipment and padding and then ignore proper eye care." Fortunately, the message of Dr. Fisher and his fellow sports vision specialists has begun to attract attention; future players in all sports at all levels will give serious attention to this aspect of human performance.

As with other medical personnel, the education and training of ophthalmologists (M.D.'s) and optometrists (D.O. s) requires a serious commitment and training study. One important criterion for success is an interest in science and academics. Opportunities also exist for paraprofessionals to serve in this area as technicians and assistants. Normally these will require shorter training, in a trade school or community college. Salaries are considerably below that of eye doctors.

Exercise Physiologists

Breakthroughs in physical training and fitness conditioning occur continuously. Despite a string of broken records and superior athletic successes, additional information needs to be discovered. Heading the movement to maximize athletic performance are exercise physiologists. Those involved in athletics normally work at sports centers, some located on college campuses, and perform the following major functions:

1. assisting serious and weekend athletes to achieve fitness
   
2. developing team conditioning and injury prevention programs with coaches and other sports medicine personnel
   
3. evaluating the potential of athletes
   
4. helping players to recover from injury
   
5. working with world-class athletes to improve their performances.
   

The underlying assumption of exercise physiologists (who most often work closely with a variety of other sports medicine professionals) is that through analysis of the elements of athletic prowess, they will be able to teach athletes to perform even better. Consequently, across the nation and the world, new research continues to provide innovative methods of evaluating performance and training techniques.

One area of major contributions has come in the realm of women's athletics. Just a couple of decades ago, sports and athletics generally were believed to be too demanding and too intense for most women. Fortunately, the myth that women cannot engage in conditioning and training activities has largely disappeared. Professor George Golfer of Texas A & M University reviewed the research on women and physical activity and developed the following conclusions:

1. Women can be athletically skilled and rigorously trained.
   
2. Women are perfectly capable of performing strenuous activities without any physical impairment.
   
3. Active women possess a better state of health than those who are inactive.
   
4. Women are capable of high-level motor tasks as well as those involving endurance capabilities.
   
5. Strength can be developed or improved in women at a higher ratio than that of men.
   

Golfer concluded that the training needs of women are basically the same as those for men, and there is no reason to invent different training techniques for women.

Typical of the people entering the exercise physiology profession is Jill White. An athlete in basketball and track at Britten-kill High School (New York), she completed her undergraduate degree at Ithaca College, then enrolled in the exercise physiology program at the University of Delaware where she earned a masters degree. She then pursued additional graduate studies at the University of Georgia.

"I was always very interested in athletics (my father is a college coach) and science, and when I found out you could study sports science, I was ecstatic," said White.

Exercise physiologists utilize modern technology to complete their tasks. Slow-motion films, videotapes, and computers give clues for perfecting performance. For example, by using a biomechanical computer analyzing the placement of the joints of the body, scientists have discovered that keeping the feet flat against the ground throughout the entire throwing motion will yield the greatest distance for the javelin thrower.

In analyzing performance, Dr. Marvin Clein, founder and director of the University of Denver Human Performance Laboratory, explained some of his procedures: "The first thing you look at when you test an athlete is the ability to use oxygen." Clein stated that the physical capacity to deliver powerful explosive force (arm power or leg power) serves as an important prerequisite. The laboratory looks at other aspects of the athlete's physiology. For example, bowed legs can assist football running backs; fast-twitch muscle fibers react well to quick-moving, high-intensity sports; narrow hips enable long-distance runners to a mass medal.

Following the receipt of her doctorate at the University of Miami, Pat Mosher put her knowledge of exercise physiology to good use. She joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as director of the school's Human Performance Laboratory.

"This is a great career for people-oriented persons who enjoy helping their fellow human beings, and it never gets tedious, "noted Dr. Mosher." I love what I'm doing and I'm very enthusiastic about seeing people improve." She had the experience of working and conducting research at the University of Miami's Human Performance Laboratory while earning her master's and doctorate. Dr. Mosher recommended that in addition to a strong background in science, course work in physical education and computers will prove beneficial.

The career of exercise physiology remains wide open for employment for people interested in the sports aspects of the work of exercise physiologists. The preparation requires the completion of a master's degree (M.S.); many students also complete the doctorate (Ph.D.). Frequently, exercise physiologists with master's degrees will gain employment in corporate fitness centers or sports medicine centers.

Many universities with an interest in sports medicine prepare exercise physiologists through interdisciplinary course work with a strong science emphasis. For additional program information, write to the colleges of your choice; address your letter to: Director. Exercise Physiology Program.