High Performance Eyewear
Delivering your best eyewear fitting experience for sports patients
By Amy Spiezio
Setting your sights on victory is a natural attitude for athletes. To do that, they invest in the best coaching, training, and equipment. A natural extension of this focus on having the best to be the best is finding the right eyecare professional. The right dispenser can be an optical coach for his or her patients, looking at the best visual choices for excellent performance.
While optical professionals have traditionally taken second place to sports-specific shops when it comes to sunwear, the time is now to push for the lead. Today's technological advancements in frames and lenses require someone who's more than a sports specialist—they require sports eyewear experts.
READY, SET, GO FOR ATHLETIC PATIENTS
People in the United States have been watching their pennies; they have also been watching their waistlines by exercising. According to the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, there are 29,750 health clubs in the United States with a total of 45.3 million members. While not every membership gets daily usage, the membership fees add up to over $19 billion per year.
For those exercising in the great outdoors, the growth numbers have been dramatic over the past 10 years. The organization USA Triathlon marked an all-time membership high in 2010 with 135,000 annual members, up from around 21,000 in 2000. In addition, the group has logged 312,489 one-day memberships to compete in USAT sanctioned events in 2009 compared with 100,000 in 2000.
Another sport growing dramatically in the United States is lacrosse. According to US Lacrosse, “Youth participation in the sport has grown over 138 percent since 2001 to nearly 300,000.” Moving into territory held for generations by baseball and football, lacrosse is one of the nation's fastest-growing sports at the high school level with 228,000 players as well as on the college level where 557 NCAA schools host lacrosse teams as well as 500 college clubs for men and women, the organization reports.
What does that mean to optical? All of these sports participants represent potential eyewear consumers with very particular visual needs to be met.
Putting an extra and specific focus on athletic patients can be a smart retail strategy.
The United Kingdom's Optical Express chain recently announced the opening of its flagship Sports Vision clinic in Renfield Street, Glasgow City Centre, Scotland. The practice will pinpoint the sports set, “giving everyone the chance to improve their sporting skills and increase awareness of sports specific eyecare,” company representatives say.
The Optical Express will offer a full range of Sports Vision services: assessment, correction, enhancement, and protection. All sports eyewear meets specific standards for fit and protection to maintain healthy eyes and boost visual performance while competing or participating in sporting activities.
Starting in the lane, The Optical Express Sports Vision Clinic focuses on sports vision by staffing up with optometrists with a specific sports vision training.
In addition, the practices will provide some extra bells and whistles in terms of testing, such as Sports Vision Trainer (SVT) and Bassin Anticipation Timer (BAT) machines that are used to measure and improve patients' coordination and visual awareness.
Colin Moulson, a sports vision optometrist at Optical Express, notes: “Many people don't realize there is a separate eye examination available that is specific to sports, nor that following a simple eye training program can help improve their coordination.”
| TECH OPTIONS |
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| Sports-focused eyewear features more performance-driven attributes than ever, with everything from nosepads to lens color helping to boost performance. The latest developments on the market include the following: SHAPE. Wraps and shields are comfort and safety focused, and thanks to better lenses, feature far less distortion than previous generations. WEIGHT. Light is the name of the game in sports eyewear. Super light titanium and aluminum take the pressure off of the face.COLOR CONSIDERATIONS. High-performance lens hues help bring out the best in every game situation (see this month's lens story). |
| GAME CHANGERS |
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| With a nod to consumers' desire to have a streamlined eyewear wardrobe, frame manufacturers have upped their game in terms of making adjustable frames and eyewear with changeable lenses. Currently, some sporty eyewear features temples that elongate to work with cycling helmets and other adjustable features for multi-purpose usage. When it comes to sunwear, many new models come in kits with two to six pairs of lenses provided in the initial purchase and the option to buy additional lenses as needed. Thanks to new engineering, these lenses can be changed with ease but remain secure during active use. |
GETTING FIT FOR FITTING SPORTS EYEWEAR
Perhaps you're not ready to partner with a sports eyecare specialist or invest in elaborate equipment for sports vision evaluation and training. There are still strong options for effectively serving a wide audience of sports-focused patients.
In Australia, Luxottica's new OPSM eye hub store exemplifies a retail outlet where customers can personalize their shopping experience. (See a first-hand account from Erinn Morgan in an upcoming issue of Eyecare Business.)
The sports-focused portion of the practice features a simulator room for testing glasses and sunglasses for glare and wind resistance.
A mini wind tunnel may be just right for your dispensary, or creating a sports area where patients can move freely in their new eyewear may also help patients make their final choices.
SPORTS HIT LIST
While reworking your entire practice and dispensary for the ultimate athletic experience may not be in the cards, keeping sport-focused factors in mind can help get you and keep you in the game.
■ DEEPLY PERSONALIZED. Athletes are in tune with every nuance of their performance. Understand their specific needs or risk being left in the dust.
■ UP-TO-THE-MINUTE TECHNOLOGY. Sports-focused patients are eager to try the next big model. If you don't have it, someone else will. EB
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