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The effect of retinal defocus on golf putting
Ryan C Bulson1, Kenneth J Ciuffreda, George K Hung
1Department of Vision Sciences, State University of New York, State College of Optometry, New York, USA.
Summary
Retinal defocus minimally impacts golf putting, except at high blur levels. Visual adaptation and motor learning help golfers maintain accuracy despite visual challenges.
Area of Science:
- Vision Science
- Sports Biomechanics
- Motor Control
Background:
- Visual acuity is crucial for sports performance.
- The impact of controlled retinal defocus on fine motor skills like golf putting is not fully understood.
- Understanding visual system adaptations can inform training and equipment design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how different types and magnitudes of retinal defocus affect golf putting accuracy.
- To objectively measure eye, head, and putter movements during putting under induced defocus conditions.
- To determine the relationship between retinal image quality and motor performance in golf putting.
Main Methods:
- 16 visually normal, inexperienced golfers performed a fixed 9-foot golf putt.
- Retinal defocus was induced binocularly using convex spherical and cylindrical lenses of varying powers.
- Putting accuracy, eye, head, and putter movements were objectively assessed across different defocus conditions.
Main Results:
- Putting accuracy significantly decreased only with the highest spherical defocus (+10.00 D).
- No significant differences in eye, head, or putter movements were observed across most defocus conditions.
- Minor spherical and astigmatic defocus had minimal impact on overall golf putting performance.
Conclusions:
- Small amounts of retinal defocus do not significantly impair golf putting performance.
- Factors like blur adaptation and motor learning compensate for reduced retinal image quality.
- High levels of blur are necessary to degrade putting accuracy in inexperienced golfers.
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