Does anyone have issues with eyesight and tracking their golf ball?

[Quasimoto]

Well, I am 65 and had an eye exam last year that has my distance vision at the ideal 20/20. In my opinion the eyes are no where near as good as when I was younger.

I do use reading glasses however.

I find I can see the golf ball in flight just fine. As soon as the ball is descending, and the broad contrast of the sky to fairway changes, I lose the ball. If it bounces I will see it.

No issue to see the ball hit the green. I wear Oakley golf shades so I really don't understand why the loss of ball in the contrast change, unless it is something I am doing to lose my distance focus by looking up or down to predict the landing area.?

[Carl Spackler3]

Everyone in the group ahead of me

[MountainKing]

I have kerataconus and struggle with depth perception and tracking the golf ball in certain conditions is a real challenge for me, even with my contacts in.

 

GPS has been a god send for helping me locate balls that aren't in the fairway, knowing how far you hit every thing is key, all I need to do is have the line and then use the gps to get the general yardage so I know where to look. Prior to GPS I would step off the shots to find the general area. It's less of an issue when I know the course.

 

Dept perception is tough but with the help of lasers I've been able to get good mental images of what certain yardages look like under 100 yards and just trusting that. The toughest part there is putting, especially in darker conditions. I struggle reading breaks with my eyes so I've used my feet for years to do that.

 

 

 

[Augster]

I got my new glasses, 20/15 at distance, and it’s fun to watch the ball all the way down.

 

Unfortunately, I absolutely can’t putt with them on. I hadn’t made any putts since I started using them. Lots of 3-putts. I had one round where I hit 15/18 greens and shot 80.

 

Yesterday I played without the glasses. Made nearly every putt I looked at. Never saw a ball land.

 

Today, I tried again putting with the glasses on and after 2 short misses, putts you really can’t miss. Like 16 inch putts, that was that. Now, when my ball is on the green, I take the glasses off early to let my eyes focus a bit. Then when I’m done putting, I put the glasses back on. It’s a giant PITA, but I want to SCORE.

 

 

[rkimbrell]

Getting old sucks but I understand the issue trying to track my ball in the air or anyone else ball for that matter. Especially if they are playing an orange golf ball.

[Augster]

As a follow up, not that one is needed, I’ve played a few rounds since my above posts. I’m finally putting fine with the glasses on. Not great, but I’m no longer missing gimme length putts.

Seeing the ball all the way down is awesome. But I’m still stuck in my old habits. I’ll see where it launches then stop watching. By the time I can remember to watch my own ball all the way down, I can’t pick it up again.

I do watch other’s balls all the way down. On one last week, I was the only one in our group that saw another player’s ball catch part of a tree that we couldn’t hear because of the wind and saw it carom all the way across and into the other rough. The player thought I was lying. Nobody else saw it. I couldn’t have seen that ball a month ago. Saved us some search time and surely a lost ball for that player.

[rsalt333]

When I get an wye exam, i can get corrected to 20:30.  I cannot see a golf ball past 150 yards.  could there be a different correction for long distances?  

 

[Socrates]

10 minutes ago, rsalt333 said:

When I get an wye exam, i can get corrected to 20:30.  I cannot see a golf ball past 150 yards.  could there be a different correction for long distances?  

 

Can you not get corrected to 20:20?  Do you have cataracts?

[rsalt333]

no cataracts but i did have a trab in one eye.

[jvincent]

I must have missed this thread earlier.

 

I am near-sighted with an astigmatism and after getting frustrated not being able to see the ball land at distance a few years ago I went and got glasses.

 

My first set was single vision for distance and while I could see the ball in the air great, it sucked for chipping and putting to the point where I abandoned the glasses.

 

Two years later and not getting any better I started to look at getting a set of progressive glasses. After much searching I came across a product from Shamir that is golf specific. Essentially what they do compared to normal progressive lenses is create a "flat" area in the progressive focus that lines up with the area where you would be looking at the ball when chipping/putting.

 

In a word, these are fabulous. I can see the ball in the air and have no issues with the closer distances. I have mine in a Maui Jim frame with Transitions so I can wear them in all light conditions. They weren't cheap, but worth every penny.

[GSDriver]

Father times wins eventually.

 

I have played yellow balls for few years now, far easier for me to see and track in-flight.

 

I got my new golf sunglasses a few weeks ago, what a difference it makes to be able to see clearly.

 

My new shades are Oakley Prizm Golf Dark lenses, they are Rx, progressive lenses. 

[Augster]

It’s a year later. My eyes continue to deteriorate close up. But my glasses for distance work great still. No issues chipping and putting. I’ve never played more rounds than I have this year and I’ve never played better. 
 

I hate wearing them, but I love being able to see. 
 

Check out zenni.com. If you have your prescription, the glasses there are crazy affordable. 

[nitram]

1 minute ago, Augster said:

It’s a year later. My eyes continue to deteriorate close up. But my glasses for distance work great still. No issues chipping and putting. I’ve never played more rounds than I have this year and I’ve never played better. 
 

I hate wearing them, but I love being able to see. 
 

Check out zenni.com. If you have your prescription, the glasses there are crazy affordable. 

 

I just turned 57 and asked my Dr. for some contacts to try. After taking a week or so to get used to them I can honestly say this has been the most positive gain in my game in my life. I can now see the dimple on the ball I want to contact and tracking ball flight is as good (well almost) as when I had 20/10 in my late 30's. 

[Socrates]

4 hours ago, rsalt333 said:

no cataracts but i did have a trab in one eye.

Glaucoma would explain a lot of things. 

[Socrates]

3 hours ago, nitram said:

 

I just turned 57 and asked my Dr. for some contacts to try. After taking a week or so to get used to them I can honestly say this has been the most positive gain in my game in my life. I can now see the dimple on the ball I want to contact and tracking ball flight is as good (well almost) as when I had 20/10 in my late 30's. 

Contacts are a game changer.  I wish I had them when I was in school.  I would've been so much better at sports like baseball.

[rogolf]

I also wear contacts for distance vision while playing golf.  Can't read a scorecard or anything else with them in, but great for playing!

Try "daysoft" website.

[SophieWaggner83]

 

To track the ball of partners, especially if you have a vision problem, it is quite normal and correct. The main rule of etiquette here is to warn your partner to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. In general, I recommend you visit a doctor, because of course the ball is small, but still noticeable, he does not merge with the environment.

[nsxguy]

If you're a good candidate, LASIK. 👍

 

The End.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2020 by nsxguy

[gripandrip]

22 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

If you're a good candidate, LASIK. 👍

 

The End.

 

 

Been there, done that. I still have excellent vision at 60 yrs per eye exams and charts since my lasik years ago, but after 200-225 yards, the ball becomes very difficult to see. The contrast capability (?) is not what it used to be. I have found the yellow balls help me a bit.

[nsxguy]

5 minutes ago, gripandrip said:

Been there, done that. I still have excellent vision at 60 yrs per eye exams and charts since my lasik years ago, but after 200-225 yards, the ball becomes very difficult to see. The contrast capability (?) is not what it used to be. I have found the yellow balls help me a bit.

 

I wore glasses since 5th grade. Cost my mother a fortune since I played pretty much every sport there was and they'd break regularly.

 

For golf the glasses weren't too bad; just annoying. 

 

Got Lasik 20 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made (even though I still need reading glasses).

 

As far as golf, I can track a ball the entire way, even after it hits the ground, if I can see it from behind another play - my own I see just fine. However, if the ball hits a tree, even if it changes direction just slightly, I can never seem to pick it up again. Not sure why. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SLD]

A good pair of prescription sunglasses can make a huge difference. With a contrast enhancing lens like Oakley Prizm Golf, tracking your ball becomes much easier off the tee. Check out www.SportRx.com, they have certified sports opticians who can help with any specific eye ailments you might have and know just the right eyewear for your next time out on the links. 

[Socrates]

On 11/9/2020 at 2:04 PM, nsxguy said:

 

As far as golf, I can track a ball the entire way, even after it hits the ground, if I can see it from behind another play - my own I see just fine. However, if the ball hits a tree, even if it changes direction just slightly, I can never seem to pick it up again. Not sure why. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A number of years ago I saw a thing done on the GC with Titleist TPI (I think) where they discussed why people lose sight of balls.  Essentially, the player can follow a ball because their brain is predicting where the ball will be.  Works fine in straight lines.  If the ball makes a sudden change in direction or the ball is traveling faster or slower than expected, one looks where the brain thinks it should be.  Obviously it isn't there if you guess wrong and you've lost track of it.  Almost impossible to pick it up again unless you make another correct guess.

 

Also explained why people lose more balls on unfamiliar courses.  No familiar visual cues to help you predict where the ball should be based on experience.  They had some exercises to help you get better.  I've often tried to find that episode so that I could watch it again and use some of their stuff, but never found it again.

[DaveLeeNC]

I have an interesting and related problem. I have encountered noticeable vision deterioration since my last eye exam. This is almost certainly cataracts but that won't be certain until my next (covid delayed) eye exam. I recently bought new irons and had a helluva time dialing in distances. I just could not see range balls bounce on winter brown turf (outside around 100 yds). Quite irritating.  

 

dave

 

[irvnasty]

I'm not very old (early 30s) but I'm significantly nearsighted. My glasses work really well, which has helped a lot, but I have a lot of bright light sensitivity while wearing them. Thin clouds that cause the sky to be a bright gray color are the worst for me, and I struggle with depth perception wearing polarized sunglasses (chipping and putting go to crap, and my ability to be a human rangefinder lapses) so I never wear sunglasses on the course. I don't own other sunglasses, so I'm not sure if non-polarized would help. Playing an orange ball helps a ton, although I have to switch back to white once the leaves turn. I don't track yellow very well from experience.

 

I will sometimes have to ask FCs if they saw where my ball went, but usually I can track the orange ball with the benefit of feeling the strike and having an idea where it might be headed if I don't have it right away. In general, I think colorful golf balls are beneficial for tracking and being sure you're playing the correct ball. I've taken some crap for it from friends, but all the data you'll find will identify the Volvik S4 as among the longest balls off the driver and highest spinning off the wedge in production. I'm sure the same is true of other colored balls, so there's no sacrifice in quality required to play them IMO.

[nsxguy]

6 hours ago, irvnasty said:

I'm not very old (early 30s) but I'm significantly nearsighted. My glasses work really well, which has helped a lot, but I have a lot of bright light sensitivity while wearing them. Thin clouds that cause the sky to be a bright gray color are the worst for me, and I struggle with depth perception wearing polarized sunglasses (chipping and putting go to crap, and my ability to be a human rangefinder lapses) so I never wear sunglasses on the course. I don't own other sunglasses, so I'm not sure if non-polarized would help. Playing an orange ball helps a ton, although I have to switch back to white once the leaves turn. I don't track yellow very well from experience.

 

I will sometimes have to ask FCs if they saw where my ball went, but usually I can track the orange ball with the benefit of feeling the strike and having an idea where it might be headed if I don't have it right away. In general, I think colorful golf balls are beneficial for tracking and being sure you're playing the correct ball. I've taken some crap for it from friends, but all the data you'll find will identify the Volvik S4 as among the longest balls off the driver and highest spinning off the wedge in production. I'm sure the same is true of other colored balls, so there's no sacrifice in quality required to play them IMO.

 

Have you considered Lasik ?

[Peter_b]

Had my Lenses replaced t Age 48 because of beginning cataract, surgery would have come anyway and I just hated varifocals. So the Zeiss Lisa multifocal lenses are working fine in my eyes close and far. 80-90 cm for PC I still need a dioptry. Two other downsides are much dryer eyes because of the cortisone drops I had to use killing my tear glands and the reduced contrast. So grey sky and white ball, no chance, if I play alone I loose balls, no idea where they go to. Blue sky no problem, it is just the contrast that makes me loose the ball over ground and trees. So will consider playing yellow or orange balls and or trying contrast glasses for night driving. Dunno.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Peter_b

[A.Princey]

Maybe someone mentioned this already, but those laser red neon balls that Callaway, Volvik and others make are quite easy to track the flight of. My bro has always had issues “watching” his ball, even at a young age. I bought him several dozen so he cannot b*tch about me “not seeing where it went”. Haha

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by A.Princey

[easyjay39402]

I've been dealing with glaucoma for about 18 years. This year, I have finally lost the ability to see the ball in flight, mainly due to glare.  I surely miss seeing my shots, especially the ones with a good outcome! Anyways, the guys that I play with are pretty good about watching my shots, but there are inevitably times when they are off dealing with their own problems, and I am unable to determine by feel where my ball might have ended up. (This is only a problem with tee shots and second shots on par 5 holes.) At 77, I am no longer a good golfer, but can still occasionally shot my age. I play a yellow ball and have tried various eyeglass combinations. Today at the range I tried a pair with amber tint and anti-reflective lenses.  Was not able to even see the flight of my short irons. 

I would appreciate any suggestions, especially those that you have personally found helpful. As an earlier poster remarked, golf isn't much when you can't see the ball in flight.

[Carolina Golfer 2]

On 2/1/2021 at 3:53 PM, SLD said:

A good pair of prescription sunglasses can make a huge difference. With a contrast enhancing lens like Oakley Prizm Golf, tracking your ball becomes much easier off the tee. Check out www.SportRx.com, they have certified sports opticians who can help with any specific eye ailments you might have and know just the right eyewear for your next time out on the links. 

I highly recommend them as well. As mentioned their sport specific opticians are very knowledgeable.  I spoke to Rory…gotta trust a guy with they name..ha

I ended up getting two pair of RX sunglasses last year. One with my normal progressive RX and one single vision to use for golf.  It helps on the distance.  Up close took a bit of adjustment but after an hour or so on the range it all came together.