An investigation of the effectiveness of Bolle's Competivision sport‐glasses on tennis performance

Abstract

Background: Specifically, Bollé claims the Competivision lens will enhance the ability of a player to visually perceive a tennis ball and may subsequently improve athletic performance. This study examined the impact on tennis performance of wearing Bollé Competivision tennis sport‐glasses.

Methods: Twenty subjects of three tennis skill levels were measured in relation to their hitting accuracy and movement initiation speed while hitting ground strokes projected from a sports action machine. Each participant completed 40 test trials under three conditions: wearing Competivision lenses, wearing clear lens glasses (used as a placebo to create an expectancy of improved performance) and not wearing glasses. Result: No significant differences were found between any treatment conditions or skill groups for movement initiation time. There was a significant difference in hitting accuracy between the skill levels, with the advanced and intermediate skill groups being more advanced than the novices, but this difference was independent of treatment condition. Additionally, there was no significant difference in hitting accuracy between the treatment conditions.

Discussion: Possible causes of the results include the role of ball flight information for successful hitting performance and the transfer of colour contrast sensitivity to enhanced sports performance.

Key words:

• colour contrast
• perception
• sports performance
• sports vision
• sunglasses
• tennis