Is good eyesight really that important?

Harvywallbanger

Harvywallbanger

Josh Eisert
Silver Member
I've been playing pool for more than 20 years and once I catch a gear I can approach A speed. My eyes have always been terrible and I don't wear glasses when I play. My left eye is 20/30 and my right is 30/100. I know alot of top pros play by feel and just align untill they "feel" its going in the pocket especially when using english rather than seeing a specific spot all the time.
With that being said I am getting my eyes done sometime in the future. Can I exspect it to improve my game alot because I play by feel mostly as well. I'm sure I will get atleast a tiny boost just because of me mentally knowing I see better...but basically my question is this. Is having 20/20 vision really that important if your a player who goes by feel? Thanks in advance.
Josh
 
Yes

Actually I think that fixing your eyes will throw your game for a loop. However once you adapt your game will be finer than ever. When I was young with vision approaching 20-10 I could make near impossible long thin cuts. Now I often completely miss the object ball trying the same shots. I don't see edges anymore.

The few that are blessed with great eyes and an older players knowledge and cunning have a huge advantage.

Hu
 
Here is my 2 cents.

I had Lasik on Nov 3rd. My right eye wasn't bad, it was like 20/30 wth a small astigmatism but my left eye was pretty bad, it was weak and with a HUGE astigmatism causing me to see multiple images, espescially if i closed my right eye. I am very right eye dominant.

After the procedure your instructed to rest for a day basically and then your instructed to take it easy for the next week or so ,wear sunglasses because your very sensitive to light. My eyesight was quite good, while things were bright they were clear with no ghosting.

After a week, I went down to shoot some pool and I have to say at first glance at the table the balls were all glowing with halo's around them due to reflections from the table lights. I said to myself, omg what have I done? lol... It's about a month later and my eyesight has pretty much stabilized and the halo's are gone except around things such as street lights and headlights and such and those are going away as well little by little. The light sensitivity is completely gone now too. I was told you can expect the halo's to gradually decline over a period of 3-5 months as it varies patient by patient.

Now that all is said and done, I feel I play alot better than I did even with my glasses before and am quite happy with the results. Playing by feel is fine but there is no reason you can't play by feel and see at the same time lol, the two work well in conjunction with each other imo :).
 
Let me ask you this..if you could see 20/20 or better yet 10/10, does that mean you'd never miss a ball? Bet you didn't see that comming?..LMAO
 
It only can help.

I hope I could have lasik... I'm too young.. gotta wait 3-4 years GRRRRRR

I wear contacts but my eyes dry out easily when in a poolroom (no light, a/c) well...
I think a good sight is good (necessary) to become the best player you can be!
 
GTeye said:
Here is my 2 cents.

I had Lasik on Nov 3rd. My right eye wasn't bad, it was like 20/30 wth a small astigmatism but my left eye was pretty bad, it was weak and with a HUGE astigmatism causing me to see multiple images, espescially if i closed my right eye. I am very right eye dominant.

After the procedure your instructed to rest for a day basically and then your instructed to take it easy for the next week or so ,wear sunglasses because your very sensitive to light. My eyesight was quite good, while things were bright they were clear with no ghosting.

After a week, I went down to shoot some pool and I have to say at first glance at the table the balls were all glowing with halo's around them due to reflections from the table lights. I said to myself, omg what have I done? lol... It's about a month later and my eyesight has pretty much stabilized and the halo's are gone except around things such as street lights and headlights and such and those are going away as well little by little. The light sensitivity is completely gone now too. I was told you can expect the halo's to gradually decline over a period of 3-5 months as it varies patient by patient.

Now that all is said and done, I feel I play alot better than I did even with my glasses before and am quite happy with the results. Playing by feel is fine but there is no reason you can't play by feel and see at the same time lol, the two work well in conjunction with each other imo :).
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How much did it cost you? I have been told by different people that the price has dropped alot and you can get both eyes done for around 1000. BUT when I called I was quoted at around 1500 per eye.:( I told the lady on the phone that I thought it was alot cheaper than that now-a-days and she said you can find places that are doing it cheap but she wouldn't suggest it.
 
That's really something you have to decide for yourself once you go in and talk with the eye doctors at the lasik center. I find it a bit odd that they quoted you an exact price over the phone without seeing you first. When I first called around places would just give me a price range like- "Varying from 295 an eye to 1500 an eye".

The place I went had plans as low as 295 per eye. This is for standard lasik with the flap being cut with a blade. Wavefront added a few hundred per eye and intralase (cutting the flap with a laser as opposed to a blade) was about 400 per eye extra I believe.

What I decided to go with was $998 per eye.

Every one is different and it's hard to decide until you get there and speak with someone. The place I went to scanned my eyes with 3 different machines and then the surgeon sat down with me to discuss the results to determine which system would benefit me most based on the quality of the scans they were able to obtain as not everyones eyes produce the same quality scan for the custom lasiks. Not everyone always benefits from the most expensive lasik procedures and in fact some people are better off getting standard lasik over the more expensive custom lasiks depending on their situation, it varies. They can only tell you this once they see the quality of the scans of your eyes which can vary with the type of lasik.

$1500, at least around my area, would be on the very high end of the lasik procedures, so personally I would call around.

Also before you decide on a place make sure to do some checking on the repuation of the center your choosing and ask them who performs the procedures so you can also research the actual doctor doing it. Also ask them for some statistical data regarding how many patients they turn away for the procedure. You want to find one who WILL turn you away if your not a good candidate for it. You don't want someone who doesn't have alot of experience in my opinion.

Around here it seems that many lasik centers share surgeons. So basicaly like Monday/Tuesday he'll be at Center_A and then Wed/Thu he'll be at Center_B. I think this is how these centers are able to claim they have the experience of so many lasik procedures because they are using what their surgeons have performed as that data which is spread across many different eye centers. I think if you added up the numbers they claim it would be more people than exist in the country :).
 
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