SCENE + HEARD Alcon and ‘The A Team’ Help Professional Golfers Keep Their Eyes on the Ball By Staff Monday, September 1, 2014 12:17 AM GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Professional golfers at the Meijer LPGA Classic here last month had their visual-motor skills evaluated by a group of sports-minded eyecare practitioners known as “The A Team” High Performance Vision Associates. With support from the Vision Care Division of Alcon/Novartis, The A Team evaluated more than 80 professional golfers using a variety of visual acuity tests, from eye-hand coordination, to tracking ability, to response time, to learning which eye is their dominant eye. “Athletes focus on their chosen sport with such intensity—training, building strength, carefully selecting their equipment and monitoring what they eat—but their eyecare is often left out of this important mix,” said Donald S. Teig, OD, FAAO, and founder of The A Team. “I’m thrilled to partner with Alcon to provide vision evaluations for members of the LPGA and to educate them on the ways to help improve their vision.” Teig, director of the Institute for Sports Vision and a vision consultant for professional sports organizations, composed The A Team of more than 30 practitioners who have completed his 16-hour consulting program on “High Performance Vision.” Jim Murphy, VP and GM of US Vision Care for Alcon, explained his company’s sponsorship of the event: “Golf is a visually demanding sport, requiring acuity at all distances and often for long periods of time. We talked with LPGA members about maintaining healthy vision, both on and off the course, and about our portfolio of daily disposable contact lenses that may be an option for athletes looking for the latest innovation in contact lenses.” 1/5 During a test administered by Gary Kalloch, RDO, and Jeremy Ciano, OD, golfers were challenged to sink a putt while wearing prism glasses, which make focusing, balance and equilibrium more challenging. The Visual-Motor Enhancement Trainer tested golfers’ eye-hand coordination. An eye alignment test helped this professional golfer precisely position her gaze. Tracy MacIntyre, OD, tested LPGA champion golfer, Paula Creamer’s convergence and accommodation skills. Frederick Edmunds, OD, used wavefront analysis to accurately measure this LPGA golfer’s visual correction needs.