Sunglasses with Readers

[otto6457]

OK....my age is catching up with me.  I noticed this past season that I struggle now to read my yardage books or even mark a scorecard with the Oakleys I've had almost 15 years.  I have rather photo sensitive eyes and sunglasses are mandatory for me to play.   I know you can order Oakleys with prescription lenses, but I've never heard of anyone ordering Oakleys with readers in the bottom and the person I spoke to at the local Oakley store was absolutely clueless.  I got some cheap reading sunglasses on readers.com to try, but they are pretty much useless for golf since the line in the bottom where the reading lens begins, falls right on the ball line when I'm putting and it's directly in my view when taking a normal swing. 

 

Has anyone else dealt with this issue and come up with a good solution?

[Wardman]

Glasses in the cart or bag for me. I have a good pair of sunglasses with readers from Maui Jim / but they are for fishing not golf.   
 

I’m looking at implanted lens surgery next, hate wearing glasses….

[ShortGolfer]

https://www.zennioptical.com/progressive-lenses

 

I've bought half a dozen prescription glasses and the lenses have been spot on.  One frame could fit better but considering the total cost was just $300 for all six I don't mind.  Three of them are auto-darkening.

I am near sighted so I can just move the glasses out of the way to read fine print.

 

The non polarized auto darkening glasses I got for golfing has a lens height of 44mm.  Plenty of space for a progressive prescription.

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by ShortGolfer

[Mob]

I wear prescription sunglasses to play golf.  I have to take them off to mark the score card.  I can't see a way that progressives would work with golf, as we are typically looking through the bottom of the lens when addressing the golf ball.  You would have to change everything about your set up, to even try and address a golf ball with progressive lenses.  If someone has a solution, I am curious as well.

[bcjim]

9 hours ago, Mob said:

I wear prescription sunglasses to play golf.  I have to take them off to mark the score card.  I can't see a way that progressives would work with golf, as we are typically looking through the bottom of the lens when addressing the golf ball.  You would have to change everything about your set up, to even try and address a golf ball with progressive lenses.  If someone has a solution, I am curious as well.

Used to feel this way but I've adapted to progressives somehow.  

 

I have a pair of Shady Ray's sunglasses with readers, and they're cheap and good for everything except golf for me. 

[WasatchBogey]

Have worn glasses for years, both my regular glasses & sunglasses are progressive, doesn’t present any problem at all for golf.

 

You can spec where the progression starts, for my sunglasses a much smaller portion of the lens is for reading. Have Maui Jim prescription progressives, work great, just a little spendy.

[NCLancer]

1 hour ago, WasatchBogey said:

Have worn glasses for years, both my regular glasses & sunglasses are progressive, doesn’t present any problem at all for golf.

 

You can spec where the progression starts, for my sunglasses a much smaller portion of the lens is for reading. Have Maui Jim prescription progressives, work great, just a little spendy.

I also have worn glasses for years, both my regular glasses & sunglasses are progressive, BUT it presents a huge problem for me at golf.  No way can I play golf with progressive lenses as the ball and the ground both appear to be moving as if I'm swaying my head even though it's still.  Putting is even worse as it's very difficult to go from hole to ball to find the line.  In my case I am exactly opposite from you, WB!

 

I guess we all see things differently.  (pun intended)😉

 

 

[Curmudg3on]

I have progressive lenses both regular and sunglasses.   Neither present a problem for me while golfing.   

[North Butte]

For a couple decades I thought it was impossible for me to play golf while wearing prescription progressive lenses. As others have noted, the ball seemed to move around during my swing. I have a very expensive (by my standards, several hundred dollars) prescription progressive Maui Jim sunglasses that I bought to wear for golf then relegated to only use them while driving my car because of the ball-moving problem in golf.

 

Then I had some lessons and did a LOT of work on staying stable in my golf swing as opposed to swaying off the ball on my backswing then sliding back forward during the downswing. I'm now pretty good at keeping a stable back leg with a steady amount of flex in the knee. Almost no swaying at all but it took several years of effort. 

 

Mirable dictu, those Maui Jims now work fine for golf. As do my regular, untinted, everyday prescription progressives. The ball was moving around in my visual field BECAUSE my head was moving back and forth during my swing. The only remaining problem is I have to careful how I rotate my head when looking toward the hole while I'm standing over the ball getting ready to putt. If I lift my head instead of turning, the "reading" portions of the lenses kick in and things get blurry. But that's pretty obvious when it happens and it's not during the actual stroke so no problem. 

[Leftist]

My solution had two parts: first, I had a fresh eye exam by my ophthalmologist. I told him I wanted a golf-specific prescription for eyeglasses. My eyes aren't bad; just the usual older-guy stuff. For the close focus in my prescription, he measured the distance from my eyes to the ground, when I'm in a putting stance. 

 

Then, I bought eyeglasses, with this prescription, from REKS online. My eyeglasses have what REKS claims are golf-specific, color boosting lenses. The bifocal, polycarbonate lenses are progressive.

 

After several months of use, I'm satisfied. They are lightweight and comfortable to wear all day. For me, the biggest benefit, beyond the basic sunglass function, is being able to follow balls in flight better. But, as they say, YMMV.

 

 

[WasatchBogey]

I just close my eyes🤣

 

Seriously, as Leftist mentioned, the key is getting the point where the progression starts appropriate for intended usage.

 

My sunglasses have a very small portion of the bottom of the lens for close vision. My normal glasses start the progression more towards the middle.

 

I have computer glasses that have no progression at all, the whole lens is set up for the distance from me eye to the screen when I’m sitting at my desk.

 

Go to a good ophthalmologist, let them know what you want & they’ll set you up.

[Mob]

I am alittle more curious.  It seems that several of you are looking above the "reader portion" of the lens when addressing the ball, except for leftist, who had the progressive/reader portion designed for the distance from address position, down to the ball.  Is this correct?

 

If you are looking above the reader portion to see the ball so it isn't blurry, it seems like you would have to tuck your chin alittle bit, to see through the mid portion of the lens, unless the reader portion is extremely small.  Am I understanding this correctly?

[acemandrake]

12 minutes ago, Mob said:

If you are looking above the reader portion to see the ball so it isn't blurry, it seems like you would have to tuck your chin alittle bit, to see through the mid portion of the lens, unless the reader portion is extremely small.  Am I understanding this correctly?

"Chin on chest" has been my only issue with progressive lenses. 

 

It would be nice to setup with my chin up but that can't be done w/o losing clear sight of the ball.

 

Teaching pros must see this with many older golfers. Do they teach a solution for this?  

 

[Greenie]

I have never had much luck playing golf in my bifocals or progressive glasses.

 

For the last five years I have used single vision contacts. They have worked great for me. I can see the writing on the ball when it's laying on the ground. My distance vision is great. They have allowed me to use all my Oakley sunglasses that I have. The problem is I can't read clearly up close so I still have to use my readers to read. Probably not a solution for you.

 

I recently got fitted for bifocal contacts. The verdict is still out. I can read with them. The ball is clear on the ground and everything is clear up to about 100 yards then things start to get a little fuzzy for me the farther I look. The doctor said she could give me more distance at the cost of losing some up close sight so I am giving them a good try out the way they are. The nice thing is I can't see them affecting anything in my game and it sure is nice not having to pull out the readers. 

 

You might want to check out contacts..

 

He is another option that could work for you. I never tried them while playing golf but I use them on my fishing sunglasses.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Google .............hydrotac stick-on bifocal lenses.

 

I have never had a problem with using them.   They are readers you can stick on your lenses. You can remove them and stick them on another pair. You can position them the way you want them on your glasses.

 

[ChipNRun]

On 11/27/2022 at 7:07 PM, Greenie said:

I have never had much luck playing golf in my bifocals or progressive glasses.

Problem with bifocals or progressive glass lenses is that the dividing line tends to fall across the ball for clubs 7i and longer. This causes golfers to crane their necks funny at set-up, and can lead to an inconsistent stance/torso tilt.

 

At a golf expo, a guy who runs a regional golf school advised golfers to get sunglasses or playing glasses with distance lenses. This way, you get the same look at address.

 

I have both Callaway version and Maui Jim's prescription sunglasses with transition lenses, AKA photochromic. These darken in sunlight and lighten in the shade. May have to stretch arm to see scorecard clearly.

 

Caution on non-adjusting smoke grays: On an overcast day, or finishing a nine at sunset, it may be difficult to track the ball. 

[bellken]

I haven't tried it, but, stick on reading lenses could be the answer.

[bcjim]

I hate to admit it but the major problem for me was not being able to check my phone. 🧐   My issues, beyond age-related far sightedness, are minor. I could go without my glasses easily but for the reading part of my progressives.  Stupid phones.

[Greenie]

1 hour ago, ChipNRun said:

Problem with bifocals or progressive glass lenses is that the dividing line tends to fall across the ball for clubs 7i and longer. This causes golfers to crane their necks funny at set-up, and can lead to an inconsistent stance/torso tilt.

 

At a golf expo, a guy who runs a regional golf school advised golfers to get sunglasses or playing glasses with distance lenses. This way, you get the same look at address.

 

I have both Callaway version and Maui Jim's prescription sunglasses with transition lenses, AKA photochromic. These darken in sunlight and lighten in the shade. May have to stretch arm to see scorecard clearly.

 

Caution on non-adjusting smoke grays: On an overcast day, or finishing a nine at sunset, it may be difficult to track the ball. 

 

That's what my previous optometrist recommended I use to play golf. I went with single vision distance contacts so that I could still use all my sunglasses that I have. They have worked great. 

[Greenie]

1 hour ago, bellken said:

I haven't tried it, but, stick on reading lenses could be the answer.

 

Using stick on readers saved many pairs of expensive sunglasses for me. I have bifocal and progressive glasses that darken. I like wearing my Oakleys over them and still being able to see up close is a nice perk.

[deadsolid...shank]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:02 AM, Mob said:

I am alittle more curious.  It seems that several of you are looking above the "reader portion" of the lens when addressing the ball, except for leftist, who had the progressive/reader portion designed for the distance from address position, down to the ball.  Is this correct?

 

If you are looking above the reader portion to see the ball so it isn't blurry, it seems like you would have to tuck your chin alittle bit, to see through the mid portion of the lens, unless the reader portion is extremely small.  Am I understanding this correctly?

That was my issue trying to play in bifocals. I had to tuck the chin to see through the top part, and when I have chin tucked, my head turns with the shoulders instead of turning “under the chin”. (I don’t know what actually happens, but that is the feel have). Bad things happen at that point. 
 

What I’ve done for the last several years is wear just one distance contact. I’m not great, probably not even really good, at seeing distance this way But adequate I guess, I can see he ball for a while, long enough to at least have a pretty good idea where it is. Once in while I’ll even catch a bounce or two. 
But, I can still read or mark the card. And I can wear my good sunglasses. 
 

But my best solution is to always try and play with people with good eyesight!