Polarized, UVA, UVB, What is the best sunglass technology?
By: Elle Brec on 04/22/09 03:28 AM
After a gorgeous, sunny day on the golf course, the long exposure to the sun’s brightness may make eyes feel strained or eye muscles sore from squinting, especially without sunglasses. Hat brims shade eyes from direct sun rays, however, sunlight also reflects off the earth. When looking at the green, eyes still perceive 100% sunlight as opposed to wearing gray sunglasses which block 70-90% of sunlight. Technology has had a major impact on improving the quality of sunglass clarity, functionality, and protection. Many brands offer lenses made especially for golf. These include Tifosi’s Golf/Tennis lenses designed for the green grass conditions. They enhance the wearer’s ability to see the ball better when teeing off, lining up to putt or locating a ball in flight. Tifosi Extreme Contrast give the wearer an edge in distinguishing terrain details and allow them to spot subtle breaks in a putting green. Callaway partnered with Ray-Ban to design quality, golf-specific sunglasses for performance enhancing lens technology from Neox. In fact, when tested, 65% of golfers reported it improved their ability to read the greens better.
For lens material, polycarbonate and plutonite portray the best clarity and color contrast. Polycarbonate is a synthetic plastic material that is very lightweight and impact-resistant. Oakley's Plutonite plastic has UV protection, scratch resistance, variable tint, and polarization bonded into the lens. To know whether lenses are good optical quality, find a surface with repeating lines, like a tiled floor. Hold the sunglasses a short distance away from the face, cover one eye, and move the glasses slowly across the lines. If the lines wiggle instead of staying straight, then the lenses are poor optical quality and will distort vision.
Photochromatic, otherwise known as variable tint, is one example in advancements in the lens clarity. As the intensity of the UV rays increases or decreases, the tint changes in accordance. If it is very sunny out, the tint gets darker, but if clouds cover the sun, the tint becomes lighter. It is also beneficial because it improves depth perception.
Different shades and colors allow for various amounts of light into the eyes. Yellow or amber are perfect for cloudy days because they block 30% of sunlight and still protect against UV rays. Gray minimizes color distortion meaning colors stay truer while yellow increases color distortion making terrain more accentuated.
Polarized sunglasses block the glare that reflects off flat surfaces such as water, flat greens, or pavement. Ordinary polarized sunglasses use a film to filter out the unwanted concentrated light but the more technologically advanced sunglasses of today have bonded polarization right to the lens. This provides the best protection, while improving clarity, color contrast, and depth perception. Some brands do not recommend their polarized sunglasses for golf so make sure they are golf specific before buying them. To know whether sunglasses are polarized find a reflective surface, again hold them a short distance from face, and cover one eye. Slowly move the sunglasses, if they are polarized, you will see a significant diminishing of the glare.
If you do not wear sunglasses when you play golf, you should. They offer important protection from not only the sun but wind too. Wind can cause sand and dust particles to get into eyes. UVA, UVB and UVC rays can cause cataracts, cancer of the eye, blindness, or retina sunburn. Make sure that your sunglasses protect against 100% of all UV rays, it will tell you the percentage on the label or in the description of the sunglasses.
The functionality of today’s sunglasses give no reason not to wear them. Most meet the American National Standards Institute’s requirements for impact resistance and durability. Frames made from vinyl, nylon, titanium are lightweight and comfortable to avoid temple soreness from wearing sunglasses too long. The Adidas Adivista have screw less tri-fit technology with traction grip and flex zones for a pressure-free fit. The Adivista is also convenient because you can clip prescription inserts inside the lenses. Many sunglasses including these, have rubberized nose bridges to prevent them from slipping when sweat accumulates. There are sunglasses that feature exact measurements of temple to ear, between eyes, and lens length to give you the most comfortable precise fit possible.
Recommendations if you do not want to spend a great deal of money on golf sunglasses would be Snake Eyes Viper High Def sunglasses which retail around $40. If your target is the mid-price range, Tifosi’s Slip sunglasses, which retail around $90, are unique in they have vents to prevent lens fogging. To be ready for any weather condition they also feature interchangeable lenses available in gray, yellow, red, and clear. Callaway sunglasses come in Collection, Sport, X, and Hybrid Series and range from $100-$200. Opt for the X602 or the S203 if you are partial to frameless glasses, or for the sporty look the H301 is a good choice. Another mid-priced style is the Adidas Adivista which retails for around $150 and is highly recommended. For a more expensive taste, opt for Oakley’s high definition optics with every sunglass feature you can imagine. Ranging from around $140-$300 you can get custom fitted, and add any custom combination you would like with lens options including polarization, photochromatic, tinted, UV protection, impact protection, prescription, and hydrophobic. You can even get a Motorola Bluetooth Headset to attach to Oakley sunglasses if you just can’t bare to be phone-less on the course, and don't want to admit it to your friends.
If you still do not believe you need sunglasses, you’re probably just holding out until the release of the computerized sunglasses, with built in GPS, ball locator, weather condition updates, wind speed radars, and angle measurement capabilities.
For questions or comments email ellebrecgolf@yahoo.com
