Vision - 20/40

[knuckleballer15]

My daughter failed her eye test at school, will be going to an eye doctor for an official exam.
Just wondering - she was told she has 20/40 vision after the school exam. I don't wear glasses at all so I don't know squat. I am reading that 20/40 isn't the worst vision and most can function, but I am wondering how this could affect her playing ball. She doesn't seem to think she can't see anything, but if she can see at 20 feet what others can see at 40 feet, wouldn't that potentially affect her seeing the pitcher?

 

[Lance Steckler]

would certainly effect most areas requiring distance vision. tracking the ball, seeing the ball spin, etc, etc. As well as reading at distance, driving, signage, etc.

 

[Orange Socks]

We were surprised to learn that our DD needed to corrective vision. We got a pair (why do we say Pair when it's one?) of glasses. She doesn't wear them for softball, but does when she watches TV, drives and during class. I asked her to wear them during batting practice to see if she can tell if there is a difference with or without. She said no difference.

 

[CoachJD]

(why do we say Pair when it's one?)

A single glass is a monocle. A pair of glasses is for both eyes.

 

[Northball]

A single glass is a monocle. A pair of glasses is for both eyes.

Haven't seen one of those since Klink. Can't imagine why...

 

[Strike2]

When I was ~13, I realized that my vision wasn't all it could be, and it turned out that it was ~20/40. While you can drive with that in many states, that isn't the vision you want to play ball. Not only will it affect what you see at the plate, it will be worse in the field. Imagine trying to track a fly ball with janky distance vision. Corrected, her vision might well be better than the normal 20/20.

 

[Vertigo]

When I first got glasses my vision was about 20/40 as well. The crispness when you put on that first pair of glasses is amazing - I couldn’t believe the difference. At first I didn’t wear mine for softball either but when I got to HS and couldn’t hit off machine-pitch I put them on and could hit no problem. I noticed that since the light was dimmer in the gym where the machine was it did make a big difference.

If she’s brave enough have her try contacts. My kids switched to them at age 12 and never looked back.

 

[jsoftballcoach]

My DD has astigmatism and wears glasses, contacts. For some reason she always has less contacts for her left eye (she must lose them putting them in) and has only wore one while pitching a few times. Claims no difference.


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[LEsoftballdad]

Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in MLB history. He was also a Marine fighter pilot during WWII and Korea. Only guys with the best vision were made into fighter pilots. He was able to identify balls, strikes, pitch type, and spin better than anyone, and that made him such a great hitter.

Get the corrective lenses and have her get used to them. I fought getting them myself for years when I was younger, but once I realized I could go back to 20/20, I realized how foolish I was to fight it.

 

[_MIA_]

Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters in MLB history. He was also a Marine fighter pilot during WWII and Korea. Only guys with the best vision were made into fighter pilots. He was able to identify balls, strikes, pitch type, and spin better than anyone, and that made him such a great hitter.

His vision was great (20/15 supposedly). That said:

In Williams' case, most of the legends are true. He was one of the greatest hitters ever, one of the greatest fishermen ever, one of the greatest fighter jet pilots ever. But later that day, when John McCain stopped by, Williams set him straight on one particular myth about how his extraordinary vision -- it was said only 1 in 100,000 could match him -- enabled him to see exactly where he hit the baseball spinning furiously towards him.

"I told all my friends that I was coming to see you," said McCain. "I bet fifty of them said, 'Ask him could he really see the laces on the ball?'"

"shirt, no," Williams barked. "You're readin' all these sportswriters. Jesus. Listen, that ball looked like a pea to me comin' in there once in a while. Hell, no, I couldn't see the laces."



Also the 1 in 100000 is overstated. 20/15 is top 95th percentile for the age group he was in when he was tested.