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Eye Glasses

1/28/2009 11:33:58 AM

Eye Glasses

I have started back playing pool. Taking nothing for granted and going all the way back to the basics as its been such a long time.

I now wear reading glasses and can see well enough to pass a driving eye site test without glasses but still a bit off on distances.

I have a pair of glasses I had made for me with a 24 inch focal length and a bit more to I could stand behind someone and see a computer screen.

These medium focal length glasses seem to help me on a pool table but will be forced to raise up a bit more than I like to see properly thru the glasses.

Would like to hear feedback from other eye glass wearers and what they have done to adjust to having to use glasses.

Eye Glasses

Replies & Comments
  1. Houstonguy77388Mitch Alsup on 1/28/2009 12:11:13 PM

    My eyes have a prescriptioin very much lke yours, near perfect distance, and presbyopia* for reading with a mild astig in each eye. I can drive without glasses, and walk arund without then either. I do need glasses to read or the computer screen.

    I have a pair of special glasses I had made up for handgun shooting. These are trifocal lenses, the top lens is set for astig correction at infinity (driving), the center section is set so that I can reach focus on the sights of the gun at arms length, and the bottom ones are set for reading 24". It ends up these are just great for playing pool! When leaning over the table, the reading section lets me see the table under my stick, the hand gun section lets me clearly see the cue ball and impact, and the long section let me see the distannt targets with clarity. {Most could get by with bifocals setting one focal length for average distance to cue-ball impact and the other for the other end of the table.}

    (*) presbyopia--the inability to focus up close due to hardening of the eye lens due to age.

  2. Houstonguy77388Houstonguy77388 on 1/28/2009 12:40:58 PM

    Mitch

    Thanks for the feedback. Man i think tri focals would drive me crazy but may have to give them a try in the near future. So far I find raising up a bit more may work out for me ...hope so.

    Houstonguy

  3. Houstonguy77388quickshot on 1/28/2009 1:55:07 PM

    @Houstonguy77388 - I tried tri focals and they did not work for me. It was not on the table but rather in the all around experience. I went back to bi focals and they work just fine. For the computer I have special glasses made for that purpose. Actually, that was after the cataracts removal. You only get one set of eyes and they are not replaceable. Take good care of the ones you got.

  4. Houstonguy77388Mitch Alsup on 1/30/2009 6:34:53 PM

    Just for the record, These tri-focals are only used while shooting {both kinds}. For all other uses, I revert back to mono-focals {reading, driving, shop, ...}

  5. Houstonguy77388billiardsforum on 1/31/2009 8:43:45 AM

    Two words: contact lenses - I wear glasses, and once I tried using contacts, it was like unreal how much better it was. With glasses you get distortion near the edges of the lenses, and of course, the glasses don't help when looking far up, far down, or to the right or left periphery.

  6. Houstonguy77388Mitch Alsup on 1/31/2009 1:50:31 PM

    Contact lenses do not help with presbyopia--the inability to focus both long and short--caused by the hardening of the eye lens as one ages. In my case any prescription that allows me crsiply see an object ball at the other end of the table will not allow my eyes to focus at the cue ball in front of the cue, and any prescription that allows me to crsiply see the cue all will not allow me to see the object ball at the other end of the table.

  7. Houstonguy77388Fenwick on 1/31/2009 7:15:37 PM

    Two words; Billiard glasses! Do a search on the www. Good luck and hope they help.

  8. Houstonguy77388kevin on 1/31/2009 8:31:36 PM

    Dear Houstonguy, If you are over fifty like me, you have presbyopia which reduces the eyes ability to focus on objects at distances of 5 ft. or less. It is these close-in and mid range distances which are important in playing pool. Luckily you have lots of options.I will list them in the most likely to the least likely to work. Use your full distance prescription with maybe a +.75 or +1.00 add for near. These can be made as either a flat top (lined bifocal) or a progressive bifocal (No-line). You might also consider just a single vision Rx (not a bifocal) made with the mild add power suggested above.The pool table would look sharp,distances beyond that would be slightly blurred. I happen to wear progressive no-lines and they work just fine. Typical adaptation time is 4 days to 1 week. Contact lenses would not be my first choice, simply because they could correct your distance vision but not be that sharp for the pool table distances. Monovision contact lenses (one eye for far,one lens for near work reasonably well. The least likely to succeed method would be bifocal contact lenses. Most patients find them blurry for all distances! If you were to try bifocal cl's try a lens called a Cooper EP they have a very mild bifocal effect... fine for the pool table not strong enough for reading fine print up close. My pic would be progressive glasses or single vision specs with a +75 add. Your local eye doctor (optometrist or ophthalmologist) can easily prescribe these. This Rx as you stated earlier does turn out to be milder than a computer Rx.

  9. Houstonguy77388dkrager on 2/1/2009 10:20:15 AM

    I carry a pair of Hurricane II snooker glasses with single vision lenses optimized for mid distances in my pool case. They have an adjustable pantoscopic tilt feature that is absolutely fantastic. Just flip those babies up and it’s like looking through a fishbowl of perfect unobstructed vision. (It's really quite amazing)

    Personally I don’t like progressive lenses in billiard glasses and could never get used to them. They tend to distort peripheral vision and I find having to aim the glasses to be distracting when down on the shot. Don't get me wrong, normally I wear progressive lenses. It’s just that there are a few activities such as driving and Billiards where a good old fashioned (and cheaper) single vision lens seems to perform better.

    Since these are dedicated billiard glasses I just put my progressives back on when I need to read the score card, but if I were to go with a bi-focal I would probably go with a small standard lined type down at the bottom of the lens and not worry about making a fashion statement.

    Hope this helps,

    Dave

  10. Houstonguy77388billiardsforum on 2/1/2009 10:32:22 AM

    Wow, learn something new every day.

    I didn't even realize these things existed.

    Do they really help?

    Do you wear contacts?

    I'd think they would still be better.

  11. Houstonguy77388dkrager on 2/2/2009 4:22:20 PM

    Oh yea they help big time. It's by far the best investment I have made in pool over the last year. Unfortunately I cant wear contacts so I wouldnt really know. I suppose contacts would be better if you can wear them.

  12. Houstonguy77388bumped on 2/4/2009 7:09:43 PM

    Good thread. Thanks. I'm will 62 soon. Wear Tri's. No good for pool. So I shoot without glasses. The picture is blurry. I need a set just for pool. Thanks, Frank

  13. Houstonguy77388quickshot on 2/4/2009 10:37:43 PM

    @dkrager, I never though of that. Are they special brands or can I go to the eye doc and order a pair of mid distance glasses.

    When you say mid-distance does that pretty much cover all the shots like long and short?

  14. Houstonguy77388guest on 11/9/2011 4:25:52 PM

    There are contacts that are made for Presbyopia; they would be similar to a trifocal or progressive; although with contacts there is no certain area that you look through for the contacts they do take some time to adjust to but they do give better peripheral vision without distortion. I would talk to your local Optometrist if you are interested.

  15. Houstonguy77388jmacb0 on 3/10/2016 12:12:16 PM

    I bought a pair of billiard glasses from Gordon Harrison at billiard-eyeglasses.com. Talk about after sale service: the original pair had temples which were way to short for me.

    So Mr Harrison handcrafted a set of longer temples which are perfect, and there was no additional charge. The optical centering and functionality of the glasses leaves nothing to be desired.

    I would recommend these without reservation. Don't get bifocals or add: power; I'm 70 with one cataract replacement lens, so I have little accommodation, but you don't need any for playing: just get a prescription for distance.

    You can't go wrong here. They are as good as contacts, without the hassle. This is simply good, old school good service and attention to detail.

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Eye Glasses