Ocular dominance and handedness in golf putting

Purpose: In golf, the impact of eye-hand dominance on putting performance has long been debated. Eye-hand dominance is thought to impact how golfers judge the alignment of the ball with the target and the club with the ball, as well as how golfers visualize the line of the putt when making decisions about the force needed to hit the ball. Previous studies have all measured ocular dominance in primary gaze only, despite golfers spending a significant amount of their time in a putting stance (bent at the hips, head tilted down). Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess ocular dominance in both primary gaze (aligning the ball with the target) and putting gaze (addressing the ball and aligning the club). Methods: This study investigatedmeasuring pointing oculardominance in both primary and putting gaze positions on 31 golfers (14 amateur, 7 club professionals, and 10 top professionals). All playerswere right-handed golfers, although one reported having no hand dominance and one reported being strongly left hand dominant. Results: The results showed that (1) primary and putting gaze ocular dominances are not equal, nor are they predictive of each other; (2) themagnitude of putting ocular dominance is significantly less than themagnitude of primary gaze ocular dominance; (3) ocular dominance is not correlated with handedness in either primary or putting gaze; and (4) eye-hand dominance is not associated with increased putting skill, although ocular dominance may be associated with increased putting success. Conclusions: It is important that coaches assess golfers' ocular dominance in both primary and putting gaze positions to ensure they have the most accurate information upon which to base their vision strategy decisions.

An update on the characteristics of patients attending the Kooyong Low Vision Clinic

BACKGROUND: Since 1972, the Australian College of Optometry has worked in partnership with Vision Australia to provide multidisciplinary low-vision care at the Kooyong Low Vision Clinic. In 1999, Wolffsohn and Cochrane reported on the demographic characteristics of patients attending Kooyong. Sixteen years on, the aim of this study is to review the demographics of the Kooyong patient cohort and prescribing patterns. METHODS: Records of all new patients (n = 155) attending the Kooyong Low Vision Clinic for optometry services between April and September 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Median age was 84.3 years (range 7.7 to 98.1 years) with 59 per cent female. The majority of patients presented with late-onset degenerative pathology, 49 per cent with a primary diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration. Many (47.1 per cent) lived with their families. Mean distance visual acuity was 0.57 ± 0.47 logMAR or approximately 6/24. The median spectacle-corrected near visual acuity was N8 (range N3 to worse than N80). Fifty patients (32.3 per cent) were prescribed new spectacles, 51 (32.9 per cent) low vision aids and five (8.3 per cent) were prescribed electronic magnification devices. Almost two-thirds (63.9 per cent) were referred for occupational therapy management and 12.3 per cent for orientation and mobility services. CONCLUSIONS: The profile of patients presenting for low-vision services at Kooyong is broadly similar to that identified in 1999. Outcomes appear to be similar, aside from an expected increase in electronic devices and technological solutions; however, the nature of services is changing, as treatments for ocular diseases advance and assistive technology develops and becomes more accessible. Alongside the aging population and age-related ocular disease being the predominant cause of low vision in Australia, the health-funding landscape is becoming more restrictive. The challenge for the future will be to provide timely, high-quality care in an economically efficient model.

Ocular biotribology and the contact lens:Surface interactions and ocular response

Biotribology is essentially the study of friction, lubrication and wear in biological systems. The area has been widely studied in relation to the behaviour of synovial joints and the design and behaviour of hip joint prostheses, but only in the last decade have serious studies been extended to the eye. In the ocular environment - as distinct from articular joints - wear is not a major factor. Both lubrication and friction are extremely important, however; this is particularly the case in the presence of the contact lens, which is a medical device important not only in vision correction but also as a therapeutic bandage for the compromised cornea. This chapter describes the difficulty in replicating experimental conditions that accurately reflect the complex nature of the ocular environment together with the factors such as load and rate of travel of the eyelid, which is the principal moving surface in the eye. Results obtained across a range of laboratories are compared.