Losing Golf Balls in The Air

[GolferTodd]

I will start off by saying that I wear contacts and I am correctable to 20/20 vision so I don't think that this is something related to my eyesight, however, sometimes I hit a golf ball and I do not see it at all, and I have absolutely no idea where it went even if it felt good like I hit it on the middle of the face. I just lose it in the air completely. Do those special golf sunglasses really work because on so many shots I have to ask my partners if they saw where it went and it gets to the point where I think it kind of annoys them however, it's the only way I can track my ball sometimes and I'm not talking just if you're hitting it into the sun it's hard to see but even in ideal conditions I have trouble tracking my golf ball. Does anyone have any advice on how I could maybe mitigate this? I wear sunglasses (standard ray ban green) and I have the problem whether I wear sunglasses or do not wear sunglasses. It causes me to lose a lot of golf balls and it's becoming expensive and I'm willing to pay for a nice set of golfing sunglasses that increased contrast if they actually work. 

[Saijin]

You sound like me…. I can’t see very far, I don’t lose balls but I can’t see where it lands half the time. 
that's because I’m Asian and eye sight is our flaw. 
 

are you Asian too? If so, just embrace it and know that you get an extra boost in intelligence points. 
 

(I always ask people I’m playing with to help keep an eye on my balls) 

[ShortGolfer]

I play yellow balls as they are easy for me to track in the air when the light is good.  There are times when the angle of sun relative to the ball and the golfer make for tough tracking.

One hole is in a dark hollow between the trees and I always lose the ball in the air.  Fortunately it is a short Par 3 and one can aim away from the nasty scrub brush.

 

Red and pink are hard for me to track in the air.  But, my misses are often  quite predictable, so I know where to look, based on how the contact sounded.

 

I am of Asian heritage.

 

A random partner told he he'd never been able to find his ball on the  3rd hole, a blind dog leg, so I offered to spot the ball for him on the other side of the trees.

He hit a good shot through a narrow gap in the trees, but it rolled over a hill towards the cart path.  I saw the white ball a land and told him where to find it!  Near the twin pines trees!

Edited July 20 by ShortGolfer

[TNwanabe]

Once a white ball goes into the sky I lose it pretty often. I use yellow for this reason. I suspect that is why you see yellow used on the senior tour as well. Getting old is no fun on some levels. 

[Socrates]

11 minutes ago, GolferTodd said:

I will start off by saying that I wear contacts and I am correctable to 20/20 vision so I don't think that this is something related to my eyesight, however, sometimes I hit a golf ball and I do not see it at all, and I have absolutely no idea where it went even if it felt good like I hit it on the middle of the face. I just lose it in the air completely. Do those special golf sunglasses really work because on so many shots I have to ask my partners if they saw where it went and it gets to the point where I think it kind of annoys them however, it's the only way I can track my ball sometimes and I'm not talking just if you're hitting it into the sun it's hard to see but even in ideal conditions I have trouble tracking my golf ball. Does anyone have any advice on how I could maybe mitigate this? I wear sunglasses (standard ray ban green) and I have the problem whether I wear sunglasses or do not wear sunglasses. It causes me to lose a lot of golf balls and it's becoming expensive and I'm willing to pay for a nice set of golfing sunglasses that increased contrast if they actually work. 

How old are you?  Over 40?  As we age, the eyes don't adjust to track things as fast.  You start out looking at the flight of the ball and then because your eyes don't adjust as fast, the ball goes out of focus and it just seems to disappear on you.  It is even more problematic on unfamiliar courses as you don't have the visual cues as to where the ball will likely land.   On familiar courses that you play often, you can look down range and guess where the ball will land and can focus on that area and pick it up again.  Not so much on unfamiliar courses.

 

You might be able to mitigate some issues by using a colored ball or different sunglasses.  A trip to an ophthalmologist might be in order to make sure you don't have any other issues.  I have the same issues if I wear my progressives to golf with (very rarely).  The ball travels outside of the part of the lens I use for distance vision and then the ball is gone.  I might be able to pick it up again, but usually I just extrapolate where the ball might be.

 

Lately the air has been compromised by forest fire smoke and the haze makes it really hard to track the ball.  So other conditions could be a problem.

[bellken]

Probably age related,  It seemed easier to track my shots, when I was younger. If there's a solution,  I would love it. 

Edited July 20 by bellken

[PJE]

You didn’t mention how old you are but age affects the ability to spot the ball.  
If you’re older, try a yellow ball. It’s like magic. 
As far as golfing sunglasses, I’ve tried them. I didn’t notice any difference vs. conventional sunglasses regarding distance. I think golf sunglasses use lens color to highlight contrasts for reading greens? Or at least the pair I tried used that approach. 

However, if your sunglasses are not polarized, perhaps try a polarized pair.  They work well re: contrasts at distance and may help. 

Edited July 20 by PJE

[DArnie]

14 minutes ago, bellken said:

Probably age related,  It seemed easier to track my shots, when I was younger. If there's a solution,  I would love it. 

Got cataract surgery a couple years ago with implants. Can see the ball now with no problems like I could when I was 18. My wife didn't have cataracts but also got implants and it has solved her eye problems.

[caniac6]

29 minutes ago, DArnie said:

Got cataract surgery a couple years ago with implants. Can see the ball now with no problems like I could when I was 18. My wife didn't have cataracts but also got implants and it has solved her eye problems.

I am getting close to qualifying for cataract surgery, and I have a very hard time seeing the ball. I’m a pretty good green reader, but I lose my drives when the ball starts coming down. 

[bellken]

44 minutes ago, DArnie said:

Got cataract surgery a couple years ago with implants. Can see the ball now with no problems like I could when I was 18. My wife didn't have cataracts but also got implants and it has solved her eye problems.

I had cataract surgery about a month ago (multi focal lens). I think I may still be in the adjustment phase. I was very near sighted. Vision is 20 20 now, but I have trouble tracking some shots. It does seem to be improving and I hope it continues to get better. 

[DArnie]

5 hours ago, caniac6 said:

I am getting close to qualifying for cataract surgery, and I have a very hard time seeing the ball. I’m a pretty good green reader, but I lose my drives when the ball starts coming down. 

Yeah, I used to hit it so far it was out of sight too! Now I measure my drives in feet and can see that it went nowhere. 😁

[ThinkingPlus]

It can be very difficult if you play at altitude...

[Greenie]

I am 65.  I don't have any issues seeing my ball I play. Of course I play balls I like and I can see. 

 

I have noticed there are certain colors some of the guys I play with use that I do have issues seeing. They are shades of orange and red. Last week one of the guys were using a red ball. I could see it in the air but I lost it every time when it landed on the grass. There are certain balls I can't see in the air at all.

 

I don't have any issues with white, green or yellow balls.

 

I wear multi focal contacts when I play.

[caniac6]

9 hours ago, DArnie said:

Yeah, I used to hit it so far it was out of sight too! Now I measure my drives in feet and can see that it went nowhere. 😁

It’s bad when you can’t see them come down, but you can hear them come down.

[bluefishercat]

Cataract surgery helped me 

I couldn’t see my ball fly at all

Now it’s pretty normal, though on a hazy day I can have issues.

I was also nearsighted and before I had surgery could only see from two feet and in, now it’s two feet and out.

since I spent my entire life wearing glasses, I opted to correct for distance and use glasses for up close rather than take a chance on mediocre vision.

Worked for me 

[st1800e]

12 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

It can be very difficult if you play at altitude...

Please explain why.  

[ThinkingPlus]

53 minutes ago, st1800e said:

Please explain why.  

Well things seem to vanish more in thin air...

[Ferguson]

4 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Well things seem to vanish more in thin air...

@ThinkingPlus. Good one. 

 

 

 

OP,

In regard to seeing a ball in flight, i will state this plainly: I have been playing golf a long time and have never heard anyone say anything even remotely close to what you're saying. 

 

You don't need sunglasses. 

You need lessons.  

 

 

[GolferTodd]

On 7/20/2025 at 12:55 PM, Socrates said:

How old are you?  Over 40?  As we age, the eyes don't adjust to track things as fast.  You start out looking at the flight of the ball and then because your eyes don't adjust as fast, the ball goes out of focus and it just seems to disappear on you.  It is even more problematic on unfamiliar courses as you don't have the visual cues as to where the ball will likely land.   On familiar courses that you play often, you can look down range and guess where the ball will land and can focus on that area and pick it up again.  Not so much on unfamiliar courses.

 

You might be able to mitigate some issues by using a colored ball or different sunglasses.  A trip to an ophthalmologist might be in order to make sure you don't have any other issues.  I have the same issues if I wear my progressives to golf with (very rarely).  The ball travels outside of the part of the lens I use for distance vision and then the ball is gone.  I might be able to pick it up again, but usually I just extrapolate where the ball might be.

 

Lately the air has been compromised by forest fire smoke and the haze makes it really hard to track the ball.  So other conditions could be a problem.

I am 31 year old male 

[Hawkeye77]

4 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Well things seem to vanish more in thin air...

 

 

[Jtgavigan]

For me, I was 20/20-25 with contacts, but I was struggling to see the ball, especially in low light conditions. It was cataracts. I was 53 at the time. I got cataract surgery and don't struggle to see the ball at all now. 

[Ferguson]

12 minutes ago, Jtgavigan said:

For me, I was 20/20-25 with contacts, but I was struggling to see the ball, especially in low light conditions. It was cataracts. I was 53 at the time. I got cataract surgery and don't struggle to see the ball at all now. 

 

So, does the OP have cataracts or is he lying about his age? 

 

I feel confused, like the one time I watched Avatar.  I was actually struggling with the reasons why anyone would watch Avatar.  It bothered me for at least a week.  

 

[Jtgavigan]

8 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

 

So, does the OP have cataracts or is he lying about his age? 

 

I feel confused, like the one time I watched Avatar.  I was actually struggling with the reasons why anyone would watch Avatar.  It bothered me for at least a week.  

 

I have no idea. I just know I was having the same issues he was having and asked the exact same questions on this forum. I had been to a new optometrist within 4 months of being diagnosed with cataracts. I had told her of my issues of not seeing the golf ball and she never said a word about cataracts. I finally was panicked after a Sunday round where I didn't see a single ball fly and made an appointment with another eye outfit. The optometrist took one look at my eyes and told me I had them - and they were at a point where I needed surgery. I was also struggling to see when driving at night, especially in the rain. All should have been clues that I had something more serious going on. 

 

Neither of my previous optometrists had said a word.

I said what I did so that maybe the OP would leave no stone unturned. We have lots of young people getting old people's diseases these days, so it is never to young to at least ask a question or two. 

[ThinkingPlus]

20 minutes ago, Jtgavigan said:

I have no idea. I just know I was having the same issues he was having and asked the exact same questions on this forum. I had been to a new optometrist within 4 months of being diagnosed with cataracts. I had told her of my issues of not seeing the golf ball and she never said a word about cataracts. I finally was panicked after a Sunday round where I didn't see a single ball fly and made an appointment with another eye outfit. The optometrist took one look at my eyes and told me I had them - and they were at a point where I needed surgery. I was also struggling to see when driving at night, especially in the rain. All should have been clues that I had something more serious going on. 

 

Neither of my previous optometrists had said a word.

I said what I did so that maybe the OP would leave no stone unturned. We have lots of young people getting old people's diseases these days, so it is never to young to at least ask a question or two. 

Diagnosing cataracts and their severity is more of an ophthalmologist thing.

[Curmudg3on]

I used to fly radio-controlled airplanes.   At altitude, over 400' @ThinkingPlus, almost all color is void when looking toward a sunny sky.  I've flown white, yellow, red, and blue airplanes, and they all appear dark at higher altitudes. Regardless of the color, it looks dark.  Unless you have a point of reference, it isn't easy to see.  

 

For me I like using yellow golf balls because they seem to be easier for me to see in the air and on the ground.   

[Jtgavigan]

37 minutes ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Diagnosing cataracts and their severity is more of an ophthalmologist thing.

 Agreed - the optometrist saw them and referred me to the ophthalmologist. The optometrist that found them told me that they were VERY obvious. The OP's case may be different IF that is a suspicion.

[Socrates]

2 hours ago, GolferTodd said:

I am 31 year old male 

Not too early to see an eye Dr.  Especially if you are experiencing Presbyopia already.  At 31, your vision should still be like a hawk unless there are underlying problems.  Even at 64+ I only occasionally completely lose a ball and that is usually when it goes off in a direction I wasn't expecting and I lost it right off the face.  20/20 with contacts and no cataracts, yet.

[Jeff58]

Our eye has two types of receptors - rods and cones. As we age, or with many types of ocular degeneration, we loose rods. Rods are primarily responsible for differentiating light and dark, as well as detecting motion. 
 

So, the optimal golf ball pattern from a human detection point of view would have high contrast as well as a perceptible motion pattern. When we look at models currently available, none are actively trying to address the issue.

 

So, in the name of science and such, I have sacrificed one of my best Kirkland balls for the experiment. I’ll hit it tomorrow and see how it goes (hopefully quite well LOL).

* an initial backyard chipping experiment showed the ball to be amazingly effective at demonstrating the amount of spin induced by different techniques. 

 

[Ferguson]

15 hours ago, ThinkingPlus said:

Diagnosing cataracts and their severity is more of an ophthalmologist thing.

 

I tend to agree here.

 

 

[ShortGolfer]

Rickie Fowler said he changed his golf swing to better track the ball wearing prescription glasses.

 

A more consistent swing may eliminated the need for tracking the ball all the time.