Snooker Glasses

[Shockerz]

For anyone struggling with vision problems, I've done a video going over my issues and what I eventually found as a solution.

Hopefully if you are also struggling, it may help think over some of the issues.

[itsnoteasy]

Top bloke Chris, I love mine.

[Shockerz]

Top bloke Chris, I love mine.

I found him.very easy to deal with and good enough to listen to each issue so he could give me more accurate advice.

[Nifty50]

Yep. Snookerspex is the solution. High street opticians don’t know much about snooker. Chris at Snookerspex plays the game so understands the line of sight required. The lenses need to be made with the correct depth and a pantoscopic tilt. I’ve just bought myself a new pair of Blue Baron’s at 199 gbp. Last pair lasted about 5 years so not a lot of money.
I heard yesterday that Stuart Bingham has decided to give glasses a try. Hope he doesn’t go to Specsavers lol.

[Cue crafty]

Great post Marc, I'm sure that's going to help a good few people out.

[vmax]

I had a new eye test this year and asked my optician for a snooker prescription (as well as a general one) that gave me the best vision over about twenty feet. Sent this snooker prescription off to Chris and my new glasses arrived and I found I couldn't see a thing over six feet away, very dissapointed and emailed Chris the next day about this and he emailed back saying that he already tweeks every prescription he recieves for that bespoke snooker vision over a certain distance and therefore my general vision had been tweeked twice, once by my optician and again by him.
I returned my glasses along with my general prescription and he changed my lenses, no charge, and everything was perfect, top bloke and he knows what he's doing so don't do what I did and pre-empt his service, everything is already covered.

[DeanH]

I had a new eye test this year and asked my optician for a snooker prescription (as well as a general one) that gave me the best vision over about twenty feet. Sent this snooker prescription off to Chris and my new glasses arrived and I found I couldn't see a thing over six feet away, very dissapointed and emailed Chris the next day about this and he emailed back saying that he already tweeks every prescription he recieves for that bespoke snooker vision over a certain distance and therefore my general vision had been tweeked twice, once by my optician and again by him.
I returned my glasses along with my general prescription and he changed my lenses, no charge, and everything was perfect, top bloke and he knows what he's doing so don't do what I did and pre-empt his service, everything is already covered.

Would be interesting what the optician-prescription was compared to Chris' tweaked-prescription
Sad I know but I used to be in the industry

[Delphi]

I heard yesterday that Stuart Bingham has decided to give glasses a try. Hope he doesn’t go to Specsavers lol.

On twitter Stuart mentions he also went to Chris at SnookerSpex, i got 2 from him myself.

[Cue crafty]

Yep. Snookerspex is the solution. High street opticians don’t know much about snooker. Chris at Snookerspex plays the game so understands the line of sight required. The lenses need to be made with the correct depth and a pantoscopic tilt. I’ve just bought myself a new pair of Blue Baron’s at 199 gbp. Last pair lasted about 5 years so not a lot of money.
I heard yesterday that Stuart Bingham has decided to give glasses a try. Hope he doesn’t go to Specsavers lol.

Was the new ones required because of prescription change or they just wore out Nifty? I'm having an eye test next week, been struggling for a while now and kept putting it off, been wearing reading glasses for years now but it's the mid range that's got blurred now. Don't really like the idea of contact lenses so these appeal to me.

[Nifty50]

Was the new ones required because of prescription change or they just wore out Nifty? I'm having an eye test next week, been struggling for a while now and kept putting it off, been wearing reading glasses for years now but it's the mid range that's got blurred now. Don't really like the idea of contact lenses so these appeal to me.

Just thought I’d treat myself to a new pair. My prescription had changed slightly but I could still see ok with the old glasses. The problem with glasses is that over time they tend to get a bit out of shape and don’t sit properly on your face. The legs and nose pads can become a bit twisted. I could probably have gone into Specsavers and got them to do a few tweaks. Probably got new nose pads. Just thought…new prescription….new glasses…what the hell. If I was a golfer I’d be spending far more on clubs etc.

[Cue crafty]

Just thought I’d treat myself to a new pair. My prescription had changed slightly but I could still see ok with the old glasses. The problem with glasses is that over time they tend to get a bit out of shape and don’t sit properly on your face. The legs and nose pads can become a bit twisted. I could probably have gone into Specsavers and got them to do a few tweaks. Probably got new nose pads. Just thought…new prescription….new glasses…what the hell. If I was a golfer I’d be spending far more on clubs etc.

Thanks mate, yeh good value and glasses are fairly weak generally so that's a good run for your money.

[Cue crafty]

How long did it take you guys to adjust to your snooker glasses? Are we talking a few sessions or more?

thanks.

[WilliamKent]

Can I ask why you would want to wear glasses for snooker?

Why I ask is because working with computers I had to move to glasses for reading very early on and watching a computer screen for so long did affect my snooker, so much that I tried to not even look at a screen before a match. But I did eventually use special glasses for snooker. They took some getting used to and needed updates. But a couple of years ago, after 3 refits and still seeing a double image over 10-12 feet, I stopped using them.

Now I practice and play without them and am making more breaks and bigger breaks. I had to change my sighting technique a little, but at least now I can tell which side of the ball I am hitting over 10-12 feet and have no problems with depth of field. It took a couple of years and a lot of practice, but am now making bigger breaks than when I was younger and could see 20:20.

Is it insecurity about not seeing a sharp edge that makes you reach for spectacles?

[Nifty50]

CC. Don’t remember there was much of a problem in getting used to them in terms of having to change the way I sight. I was already a glasses wearer and played a bit like Martin Gould before he got his Snookerspex. For distance I was sighting over the top of my normal glasses. For years that was ok but eventually I couldn’t really see the balls at the far end of the table. They were a bit fuzzy. Once I changed to Snookerspex I could see the end of the table ok.
There was a downside of course…..I can’t see really close up so if I wanted to look at my watch to see the time I would have to change my glasses. Also would need to change to my normal glasses when going to the bar to buy a drink. Checking for a touching ball is not possible without changing glasses. These things might not be a problem for you. Depends on how bad your eyes are to start with.
One other downside. You have to get used to taking them with you to the club and remembering to take them home with you. Have left mine in the club a few times. Mind you that’s not the problem with the glasses. Happens as well with my mobile phone lol.

[Cue crafty]

Can I ask why you would want to wear glasses for snooker?

Why I ask is because working with computers I had to move to glasses for reading very early on and watching a computer screen for so long did affect my snooker, so much that I tried to not even look at a screen before a match. But I did eventually use special glasses for snooker. They took some getting used to and needed updates. But a couple of years ago, after 3 refits and still seeing a double image over 10-12 feet, I stopped using them.

Now I practice and play without them and am making more breaks and bigger breaks. I had to change my sighting technique a little, but at least now I can tell which side of the ball I am hitting over 10-12 feet and have no problems with depth of field. It took a couple of years and a lot of practice, but am now making bigger breaks than when I was younger and could see 20:20.

Is it insecurity about not seeing a sharp edge that makes you reach for spectacles?

Hi William, similar for me in that I've been wearing reading glasses for around 15 years now, started on +1 and now use +2. This year I've noticed my mid range is starting to blur also, I'd been struggling with long pots over the 10/11 feet distance for a while and now long blues etc have become the same. At first I wondered if the blur was due to neck position and my age, but have realised when I've changed my sighting technique that it's purely a vision issue.
I've been using my usual technique to sight the shot and get down in position, but now my eye pattern stays on the cue ball for longer once I'm happy with the angle, then I look at the object ball as I strike, so last minute. I've found this relaxes my eyes and is improving my potting. If I stare at the object ball too long I see blur, so staying longer on the cue ball which is obviously closer stays in focus.

I'm not set on glasses just yet and may try contact lenses first to see if they work for me. I adapted an old pair of my +1 reading glasses as a test for mid range and it was amazing how HD the balls, cloth, even the grain down my cue looked!

I think the bottom line for me is although my new sighting technique is helping it feels a little laboured and I'm a fairly natural flowing type of player generally, so I guess I'm just hoping there's a way to see things clearer and play using my normal technique.

As I'm writing this I've realised at 56 I'm just hoping to reel a few years back. 😉