European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 6, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse A. A a map fewer than 10 percent of the 85 million bikers the United states Wear safety helmets Here Champion Mountain Bike racer Ned Overend. Safe biking lightweight Cool helmets by Donn Larcen Hartford courant the weather is Clear. You eel Good. A Little exercise would be jus the thing. Time to jump the old Bike and go for a spin. Hang a minute. Lots make sure to Are practising Safe biking consider this there Are about 1,000 deaths a year the United states from bicycle Accident injuries. About half of Huo fatalities involve school age children. And three quarters of All bicycle related deaths come from head injuries. Quot that s Why helmets Are so important Quot says Sam Zeldner owner of Newington Conn bicycle and repair shop Quot there Are All kinds of sports injuries but hardly any Are As serious As the ones from biking Quot Bike shop owners and goods merchants throughout the world sell All kinds of a icy do safety accessories Quot but we can t Force Peon la Wear Eldnes says i vein lets w Ere hardly even thought of a Deeadra ago except among secs Trike racer now helmet is Sti Anzly co. Vina i a hut Lewes Len k Pei cent of the he million Bike ride the United f Tab s. Wear if it i i. Dec Ofifi j to o sea of go. I m Consul nor it of a a 111, to. I ii Ait use 1 to to that helmets were heavy and hot / o i ii a i says i a Lliso Uloff Al w types isl tiie . R i Are h til want and t col Quot 1 Here Are hic of Init helmets team suit Slu ,.n Shell team with a cover and haul Shell the team Page 14 the stars and utri Peb. Typer made from polypropylene polyethylene or polystyrene is the most popular. The original foam models were made of folded polystyrene the same material used Beer coolers. They have performed Well tests run by the american National standards Institute and the Snell memorial foundation the two helmet testing groups the United states Quot the foam shells Are basically a one Accident item Quot Zeldner says. Quot they often shatter and then you buy another $29 helmet.�?T. The new hybrid is the thin Shell a lightweight foam covered by a Lycra cover with some folded reinforcing material. Bicycling Magazine said a recent Issue that a. Thin shells should be the helmet of the future because of their Light weight and safety record. The hard Shell models Are More durable but some say their weight usually about one Pound can Lead to neck fatigue. Regardless of Type any helmet is better than a / Bare head. _. While the helmet is probably the one piece of bicycle safety equipment that can do More to save lives than any other there Are other accessories that should be considered. J shoes it is tempting to ride sandals or even Bare feet. Done to. Riding without proper shoes can easily Lead to scraped or bloodied toes and perhaps loss of control of the Bike at the minimum Wear laced up sneakers. The current Youthful trend for unplaced sneakers is a no no when biking. The trailing lace can get caught .the Chain biking shoes come a variety of styles but All Are hard Soled and designed for Good support. A new style uses a ski Type binding where a folded piece of plastic the sole fits into a Slot the pedal eliminating the Quot need for toe clips. High visibility traditional Bike shorts a the skin tight Chamois lined models a Are Black because racing rules specified that color but they do come Neon colors too. Which greatly improve your visibility to motorists. Jerseys and jackets also Are manufactured highly visible colors so that Drivers will be Able to see you the Road. A if you Are doing any distance Riding buy the shorts. They reduce chafing. After several Miles the combination of clothing with any kind of seam perspiration and Quot constant leg motion can make it feel As if you Ore sitting sandpaper. Bicycles come with reflectors their Back wheels and Many have reflectors built into the pedals using reflecting vests reflective leg bands and reflective tape can add to your safety quotient. A a. If you ride offer dark your Bike must be equipped with a a Light. A yellow taillight that flashes called the left Beacon clips to your Belt or the Back of the Bike. It can be seen up leva half mile away. Eye Wear a Bug or kicked up piece of Stone can Blind you and Bright Sun can cause temporary Retina damage so you need Eye Protection when out for a ride that is. Longer than once around the Block. If you Wear glasses be sure they have safety lenses that will not shatter Impact. Or Wear shatterproof sunglasses. Mirrors if you look behind you to see what s coming the Bike automatically wanders the direction you Are looking. Get a Mirror. A kids baby Bike seals which mount the Back of adults Bike can carry a child weighing up to 40 pounds if you use one definitely put a helmet the child of you fall that child a head can hit the Concrete. Another method of transporting a child is the Bike trailer which is designed not to tip Over even if you do it has two wheels and a Roomy compartment for the youngster and attaches to the Back wheel of the adult s Bike. It can carry heavier loads than a child seat and does not affect the Bike s Center of Gravity As the seat Coos. Hut it does put the child the mad behind five boo so add a Marker Flag to the Back of the trailer. Gloves pads biking gloves Are padded across the Palm and can absorb some of the Shock of the read if you am olt Road , Wear and knee pad. It a a , the pads can prevent scraping 1 bar p. A ton do not want to hairy a Oer he Raj i a i gel o b rank and a a j or the a. A g a c u i e. N Inai i it i j i a. I a 1 a a a \ r l at Quot o a t "1 i a it t a 1 1 a i i k a v i i a la ij1 0 v Gnu to i a i i. To. A 1 a a a Ime. A s hew de-pa1 a i i ,1 up s i it a no g or i a reps a pm a carry a spare a pump Ennis seeing the Ball hit the Racquet is potluck by Alexander Mcnab new York times its the oldest cliche sports first a command you hear when you take your first Tennis lesson keep your Eye the Ball. This is solid advice but what does it really mean Quot we kind of keep our Eye the Ball automatically Quot said or. Renee Richards the new York ophthalmologist and former Tennis pro. Quot when somebody says keep your Eye the Bali they mean to follow it with the part of your Eye used for Sharp Quot the Quot following Quot movement also called the Pursuit movement is a show Eye movement. But before you begin following your eyes have to pick up the Ball and they do that with a soft focus fast Eye movement. If you Are receiving serve for example your eyes pick up the Ball with a fast Eye movement As the Ball leaves your opponent s hand the toss. Your eyes then focus the Ball and follow toward you with the slow Eye Pursuit movement. Experts opinions vary As to whether you can actually see the bail strike the strings. If the bait is moving very slowly such As when a teaching pro is feeding bail that first lesson you can probably see the bail right up to the moment of Impact. their Book hitting Blind Beaufort books 1981. Out of print two Canadian ophthalmologists or. Harold Stein and or. Bornie Slatt wrote Quot Tennis our eyes cannot track a bail unless it is going extremely slow. The Eye cannot follow the Ball because there is no mechanism that allows the Eye to make fast following movements and keep the Ball Sharp focus. Quot no one Ever sees the Ball hit the Racquet. Even a slow Ball that can be followed almost to Impact cannot be clearly defined because of the blurring movement of the Racquet for All intents and purposes hitting the Ball is a totally Blind others have a different View. Quot i believe there Are probably potluck times when you do see the Ball actually hit the Racquet Quot said or. Donald Teig optometrist who is director of the Institute for sports vision his company Ridgefield Conn. A. A a it a a shot the dark Quot Teig said. Quot but whether you do or not is not that relevant. You be done All the mechanical setting up movements and Are ready to Lay the Racquet the Ball Well before the moment when it hits the Many photographs taken of Tennis pros at the balls moment of Impact with the Racquet show the players eyes to be focused at a Point front of the Ball. The j probably looking at the spot where they last saw the Ball clearly before it has gone Back to their Racquet strings. A Richards said that picking up a hard serve off your opponent s Racquet and preparing to return it Quot takes place five tenths of a Quot its during the first three tenths of a second Quot Richards said Quot that you have to make All of the decisions about How fast the Ball is going where its going How its spinning curving and so . Then your brain reacts automatically and tells your Muscles How to swing to Contact it the last two tenths of a . Quot. The problem for most recreational players however Contact sports by Janet Nelson new York times Ore than half the population of the United states has a vision problem severe enough to warrant correction. Watching , one might think that most. Professional athletes Are blessed with Superior vision. Almost none of them Wear eyeglasses but some Wear Contact lenses. Quot for a lot of professional athletes wearing Contact lenses is a Well guarded secret Quot said or. At. Garner optometrist and the executive director of the National Academy of sports vision Harrisburg a Quot most players Don t want to identify themselves As having Eye . Of the 132 million americans who Wear Eye correction devices 22 million Wear Contact lenses although contacts have been popular with profess cos a hides since the Early 1970s, according to the a it a a i Academy of sports vision More rec Reali for dynamic visual acuity following and tracking a moving object Contact lenses Are better Quot he said. Quot depth perception is also improved As is Speed of focusing. addition when you have very thick glasses Contact lenses fit closer to the eyes and of course. There is no problem with weight the realizing the growing Market among recreational athletes for Contact lenses manufacturers have made minor changes to accommodate specialized need such As a slightly larger Lens and chemicals that Block ultraviolet Light. Disposable lenses bifocal Contact lenses and Gas permeable lenses Are also being adopted by athletes Quot with today s technology we can make Contact tenses work for almost anybody Quot said or Donald to y. optometrist who is director of the Institute for sports vision Ridgefield Conn Quot the larger Lens for instance stays better and bifocals there is now a Multi locus soft ions that allows the Pup to ree All focal most Eye experts say. It i to i a o a Teks h -. I i intact tenses recently d h i do l a is a .-Ila-jc.cf Contact lenses is suf. I Quot i a a a a i a ii they move with your eyes from 1 to a and to 1 toy up or get soaked by a Oigt a a i 1,11 ii a v 1 j r l Jav u a p i a a q f. Jan Ico Carlson Whu -. Zes m j kind Wash. A i my Ore visual skills required of i Mere rigid Nan soft to i e v. 1 pm a. I. At o. A Quot Etc a a per t _ a pro p. 1 a i v a t Sporta i a is p. ,0,. A a a Lar la brute f Man it the to . Of i of re 1 p f. A o a a o i i United states Michael Chang uses both hands to re Fum a shot at the French open Tennis tournament Paris june. A is taking their eyes off the Ball. Quot watching the Ball is a difficult task Quot said or. Dennis Kirscher optometrist from Blue Island Iii. Quot its not the easiest thing to keep up with the Kirscher is president of the International Academy of sports vision organization of Eye experts based Harrisburg a to improve your Ball watching skills specialists such As Kirscher and Teig offer Spotts vision courses Thal mix weekly office exercises to do at Homo. Quot a costs can Range from $100 a weekly session for up to 10 weeks to $300 or More Lor eight week program. Among the drills such doctors having players hit balls fed to them from behind and bail illuminated Only by Strobe lights. Some Eye experts Are sceptical about the Worth of such training. A Quot there a a certain neuromuscular set that comes a with every human being Quot Richards Sard Quot everybody has what god gave them terms of that kind of. Neuromuscular coordination. A Jimmy Connors a Ken Rosewall a Tracy Austin they probably saw Tiro Ball a Little bit sharper a Little bit quicker. You really can t Tram that. That a what they have Quot regardless of whether you opt for sports vision training there Are several things you can do tie. Court to help you keep your Eye the first try to focus the Ball As your opponent makes1 Contact. If you done to pick up the Ball until it is nearing the net or even worse bouncing your Side you wont assimilate enough visual information irom the. A Pursuit movement to ensure Good Contact and accurate return second Quot if you keep your Knees Bent you Are going to be More the Lino of sight of the Ball Quot Richards said Quot you do better any bail batting game if you and the Ball Are the same line of sight Quot. Third keep your head still As you stroke the Ball to do that you must get into position for the so your body t moving either fourth keep your head position until Well after the stroke is Complete. Quot discipline yourself to keep Vur head Down or when you re serving to keep your head a up Quot Richards said Quot then your Eye will be looking at. A the Ball As Long As it possibly can , you can actually see it hit it without losing sight of it unlike Kurt Rambis of the Phoenix suns most professional athletes opt for Contact tenses. Swimmers can Wear Contact lenses but to reduce the possibility of Mitat or u,feet. they Shou d not remove the lenses for�?~15 to to minutes after out of this1 water the Annc p o dangers m the use of Contact tenses trom est. i ack of great a a. Ant at. a t c v i a j e a a or a Suai s i 11 s to to f or -1 a a six ,.-�> night lights for runners new York times a retired Engineer from new Jersey has developed a blinking Myhl Light or runners the Light blinks faster As the runner s Pace speeds up referred to As the run Light the device is shaped As a triangular 4 Inch Patch with three Strobe lights embedded m its surface the Patch is powered by a Nickel sued Lithium Battery and weighs about two ounces Ray Cooper of Allendale j developed the Patch after years of Cooper said recently Elhat Hie settled the Tang rear shape after persuading members of the new York Road runners jut to try prototypes Quot via deeded lire Teri Ilion inane to m red and White because it is a let Sale Coper said. 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