The Eyes Have It

Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams reportedly had 20/10 eyesight, which in the estimation of many contributed to making him an exceptional hitter, fly fisherman and fighter pilot. Despite missing three prime years of his career to serve his country in World War II, he still managed to amass 2,654 hits, 521 home runs and a pair of American League MVP awards and two Triple Crowns, all while playing half of his games in a ballpark that didn’t favor his lefthanded swing.

The term “20/10” means that he could see clearly at 20 feet what most people could only see from 10. That wasn’t the only reason that he excelled at his vocations and avocations, but it certainly helped. He also was a tireless worker, a student of the game, and born with remarkable size and athleticism.

Not all of us can be born with that high-quality vision. Not all of us are eligible for Lasik or want to undergo that procedure. When I reached 45, I really needed glasses for the first time in my life. Now, at 50, there are lots of things I can’t do without them.

Fortunately, great natural eyesight is not the only way to use vision to your advantage. I’ve seen plenty of people who needed corrective help and still could likely outspot even eagle-eyed colleagues.

For example, I think of Daffy, our expert naturalist guide at The Hide camp in Zimbabwe. He wore corrective lenses, but not only did he know more about termites than you’ll ever know about anything, but he could spot them at a great distance. He could do the same with other wildlife, too – as we struggled to ID species with binoculars and zoom lenses, he easily picked them out with eyesight alone.

Think of the best sight fisherman you know. I’m guessing he doesn’t have eyesight as good as Ted Williams. Of course, good peepers help, but other factors come into play, including knowing where to look. Perhaps more importantly it’s about knowing how to look. Several of the most skilled sight fishermen I know have used similar terminology when describing how to spot difficult spawning fish – you have to “unfocus” your eyes. Indeed, by not focusing exclusively on a small spot at first, you pick up more, including shapes, colors and patterns indicative of where the big girls may be sitting.

This gets easier and easier over time, despite the fact that it’s unlikely your sight itself is getting any better. A big part of any outdoor success, particularly those that rely on the senses, is learning how to isolate a particular sense, and that only comes by honing it through repetition. So, if you wear coke-bottle glasses, don’t despair – Ted Williams’ head is being cryogenically preserved, so that’s one hammer you’re already ahead of. If nothing else, you have time to work on your eye-related abilities, and the research is the fun part.