Adapting to a (I hope) temporary visual handicap

Scottcrosby

Scottcrosby

Member
I woke up 2 months ago with distorted vision in my left eye. Couldn’t read the clock when I got up. All straight lines look like sine waves. It’s my dominant eye so pool balls are now elliptical and cut in half with the right side a half ball lower than the left side.
I’ve continued playing at least three times a week since this started.
I played like shit for the first 5 weeks but surprisingly I’m starting to get used to it. Hitting a ball with top right means I don’t actually see the contact point. I’m just hitting where I know the contact point has to be. Because of the offset I actually see cloth where the contact point is.
Hitting the ball on the left is the same as it always was.

Now, I see perfectly fine with my right eye however I can't aim with it. In fact, when I look at the ball with both eyes it actually appears in two different places. I can somehow tell my brain to concentrate only on the funky ball and block out the other image. This took a while but it works. I did try to close my funky eye a few times and just use the right eye. Try it!!! It's hell.
Anyway, 2 month have gone by and I think my game is back to where it was before the incident.

Medical diagnostic: It’s a Epiretinal membrane disorder. Surgery is scheduled to remove/fix it.

I asked my buddies why they didn’t give me the 7 ball while I was adjusting to this disorder. Reply » We did, you’re just too deaf and didn’t hear it » Sigh.

Now I'm wondering if I'm going to have to retrain myself again once the eye is fixed?

Note: I ate Brussels sprouts for the first time in late August. Just saying!
 
Scottcrosby said:
I woke up 2 months ago with distorted vision in my left eye. Couldn’t read the clock when I got up. All straight lines look like sine waves. It’s my dominant eye so pool balls are now elliptical and cut in half with the right side a half ball lower than the left side.
I’ve continued playing at least three times a week since this started.
I played like shit for the first 5 weeks but surprisingly I’m starting to get used to it. Hitting a ball with top right means I don’t actually see the contact point. I’m just hitting where I know the contact point has to be. Because of the offset I actually see cloth where the contact point is.
Hitting the ball on the left is the same as it always was.

Now, I see perfectly fine with my right eye however I can't aim with it. In fact, when I look at the ball with both eyes it actually appears in two different places. I can somehow tell my brain to concentrate only on the funky ball and block out the other image. This took a while but it works. I did try to close my funky eye a few times and just use the right eye. Try it!!! It's hell.
Anyway, 2 month have gone by and I think my game is back to where it was before the incident.

Medical diagnostic: It’s a Epiretinal membrane disorder. Surgery is scheduled to remove/fix it.

I asked my buddies why they didn’t give me the 7 ball while I was adjusting to this disorder. Reply » We did, you’re just too deaf and didn’t hear it » Sigh.

Now I'm wondering if I'm going to have to retrain myself again once the eye is fixed?

Note: I ate Brussels sprouts for the first time in late August. Just saying!
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Interesting. I have a friend who has a similar problem but with a different cause. I think his is muscular. He can only focus one eye at a time, otherwise he ends up with something similar to what you’re describing. He doesn’t close one when he does this, but he has to consciously choose an eye to focus with. When he’s tired, he can’t focus either of them.

Hope your surgery went well!!
 
I've had glaucoma for nearly 20 years, and it's gotten to the point where the top half of my left eye is a blank screen, and there are also random blind spots in my right eye.

Funny, but it doesn't affect my pool game except in one way: In 9 ball I sometimes shoot a ball out of sequence because I didn't see a lower numbered ball sitting in a far corner pocket. It looks like I've gone senile or something, but it's actually just a blind spot doing its dirty work.
 
I practiced post-op for the first time with my team on the weekend. Even though I have a patch over my dominant\aiming eye they agreed to let me play.
I was surprisingly accurate considering. It's a really competitive league so all I can say is that there will be some pissed off players if they get beaten by a Cyborg. Yes Dan, I mean you......
 
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Bless you for sticking with it! Not sure I could have done that given how difficult and frustrating it must have been... Good luck going forward..
 
Scottcrosby said:
I practiced for the first time with my team on the weekend. Even though I have a patch over my dominant\aiming eye they agreed to let me play.
I was surprisingly accurate considering. It's a really competitive league so all I can say is that there will be some pissed off players if they get beaten by a Cyborg. Yes Dan, I mean you......
Click to expand...

Just keep shooting is the way to do it.

I've had lots of eye changes due to surgeries, etc. and a guy's gotta just keep shooting and taking what you got.

Part of success is memory of where the pocket is, etc. so that helps make the transition.

fwiw,


Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
Just keep shooting is the way to do it.

I've had lots of eye changes due to surgeries, etc. and a guy's gotta just keep shooting and taking what you got.

Part of success is memory of where the pocket is, etc. so that helps make the transition.

fwiw,


Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...
Exactly, I realized that about 5 weeks into this situation. The brain can fill in the blanks quite well. When I try to compensate I miss. The secret is to shoot the same shot 30 times in a row. I'll miss the first 5 because I try to adjust. The trick is to just keep shooting normally, eventually the brain makes the compensation for you and I don't need to think about it. Well, that was my trick before the operation anyway.

Now I have a patch so I can't see anything out of that eye but I'm going to just keep shooting anyway.
 
Scottcrosby said:
For all of you waiting to know the outcome, I underwent eye surgery last Wednesday. Surgeon says it was a success. I'll know more in a couple of weeks. Until then I just need to be patient. I am however still going to play (with one eye) in the league tomorrow night. Wish me luck.
Scott
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Good luck, the eyes are something you don't want to mess with.
 
I have had one eye since i was a baby. Rare form of eye cancer. People are always surprised at how well i shoot. You lose depth perception so really close shots a chalk or two away are very hard to judge. Same with long bridge shots. Hard to see placement of cue tip on the ball and judge.

Over all it isn't so bad. You get use to it and work on not leaving yourself bad shape ;)

Good luck. And stay away from the sprouts.
 
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