The game of golf is visually demanding, entailing a wide variety of vision conditions during play such as lining up a shot, reading a putt, following a ball in flight, judging the terrain and surface changes as well as recording the score on a card. Traditionally golfers had difficulty with no-line or progressive addition lenses (PAL). Limited field of vision, peripheral distortion and “swim” sensation as you look down to putt all contribute to a less-than-ideal experience. Golfers were forced to wear single vision distance glasses or lined bifocals as an alternative. With distance glasses golfers could see to putt but couldn’t read the scorecard. With lined bifocals, some golfers went so far as to have their bifocal line drastically lowered to avoid the reading area. But with the latest technology in PAL today, those days are over!
Let’s go over why we need bifocal glasses. As people enter middle age they may first notice reading materials need to be held at arm’s length to properly view them. This condition is called Presbyopia and is different from nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. These conditions are related to the shape of the eye. Presbyopia is unique because it is the gradual loss of flexibility in the crystalline lens inside your eye. Aging of the eye changes the proteins inside this lens, making it harder and less elastic. The muscles surrounding the lens also changes to further take away its elastic nature.
New developments in lens design allow for wider field at all viewing distances than traditional PAL designs. Standard lenses are fabricated using molds, which involve a single “master mold” being duplicated into many “production molds”. Due to slight degradations during the fabrication process the last lens made with a production mold is never identical to the first lens of the batch. New technology eliminates this mold. Computers digitally surface each lens individually, resulting in the final lens being produced within 0.01 diopters of the exact design and prescription. The same wavefront technology used in Lasik surgery is also used by some manufacturers to further customize the lens’.
Other developments in lens design allow a PAL wearer to view the ground as they look below the reading area. While other PAL end with the reading prescription at the bottom of the frame the new PAL end with a prescription for viewing the ground. This technology is ideal for playing golf and tennis, riding a motorcycle as well as just taking a stroll. A recent double-blind lens study on golfers resulted in a seven to one preference to this new design than to traditional PAL glasses.
Sharper vision and larger vision fields in each area of the lens provide a clear edge to the Presbyopic golfer as well as anyone who live an active lifestyle. Those who have shied away from no-line bifocals now have many new innovations to choose from.
For further information, please call Advanced Vision Care at 661-257-4499.