OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hope I can find info about glasses. I am 71 now and have to where bi focals for the first time in my life. Before only needed readers you know magnifiers to read not play TT.
Any help with adjusting to progressive lenses would be appreciated.

TIA

Don't try to play TT with progressive lenses.. it's simply unrealistic to think you'll be able to tilt your head to the appropriate focus band anywhere near fast enough for this game.

You'd do better with single-vision lenses with a focus/sweet spot of about 10ft/3m. If you're in the USA or elsewhere where such glasses are available cheaply without a prescription then what you're looking for are so-called 'reading glasses' in a strength that's too weak for you to read with but provide sharp focus at 10ft. If you're reading with +2.75 power lenses then your ideal table tennis lenses might be +1.25 but experiment in the store to find which strength gives you the best focus at 10ft.

Why 10ft and not 2-3ft where you contact the ball, you might wonder? It's due to it being more important to see how your opponent is hitting the ball than you hitting the ball, a nugget I gleaned through much trial and error. Lenses that provide sharp focus at 10ft will have enough focus at 2-3ft to work without issue. But try playing with lenses that don't show your opponent's ball contact zone in sharp focus and your game will suffer.

If you're having prescription eyeglasses made (recommended if you suffer from astigmatism in addition to presbyopia, over-the-counter eyeglasses aren't available, or you simply want the best possible TT eyeglasses) the following has helped me:

1. Select large diameter frames that position pupils at lens center and lenses close to eyes to provide good peripheral vision in all directions.
2. Use CR-39 lens material for its lowest distortion of all non-glass lenses (research: Abbe value). Avoid "high index" lenses which have high distortion. Trivex is quite good. Glass has the lowest distortion but is dangerous for sports and can be quite heavy.
3. Specify anti-reflective coating or you may see ceiling light fixtures reflected off the inside of your lenses.
4. Specify digital lens manufacturing, if available, for a more accurate lower-distortion lens (VSP insurance offers UNITY digital lenses).
5. Select a frame whose lenses have the optimal base curve for your required lens power (ask your optometrist) . Avoid highly curved wrap-around style lenses whose high base curves can challenge the eye's ability to focus.
6. Select frames that will stay in place during TT play.
7. Keep an eyeglass lens cleaning kit in your TT bag so you always have clean, clear lenses to play with.
8. Reassess your vision annually with your optometrist as human eyesight changes with age, and with it, you'll need to update your TT eyeglasses.

Re contact lenses, I spent an equal amount of time experimenting with contact lenses before ultimately abandoning them for eyeglasses. Here's what happened: My optometrist was fairly insistent that, given my occasional use scenario, I stick with daily wear disposable lenses. I went thru the training and got pretty good at applying/removing them. I then tried 4-5 brands and an equal number of strengths. Some brands worked noticeably better than others, though I can't recall which one I thought worked best at the time. When the best lens in the right power was working properly it was unparalleled, even by eyeglasses. The deal-killer, however, was sweat. Over the course of a playing session, sweat would invariably get into my eyes, and what I eventually realized was that it was somehow affecting the lenses' performance. I can't say whether it was causing them to swell or cloud or something else, but once I was aware of the signs it became obvious that contact lenses wouldn't work for me. If you don't tend to sweat a lot then this may be a non-issue for you.

Nathanso A million thanks for that info

I am playing with progressives for the first time and not finding much difficulty. I have always worn glasses to play. The only thing I changed was to get larger lenses than before.

_________________
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Yoko Ono

I echo nathanso. Several years ago I got single vision lenses optimized for about 10 ft to use instead of my progressive lenses. I think it helps a good bit, except for writing the score down - I cannot focus that close.

When I need to read something I usually just flip my glasses up. Since I'm near-sighted it works out pretty well. Also I have one eye that is nearly normal and one short-sighted, so I can get by without glasses most of the time. For table tennis I do put the glasses on.

Iskandar

I am slightly short-sighted - so my eyes have improved as I get older.

Instead of glasses, I wear contact lenses when playing, as I find it much easier. With the improvement in my eyesight, I now wear a contact lens in one eye only - gives me both short and longer vision. The brain adjusts very quickly to optimise