TEN REASONS TO WEAR EYE PROTECTION

      by Dr. Jeff Brown, Ophthalmologist and Chippewa Falls Pickleball Club Member

The main reason is of course to avoid injury, but there are many other considerations!

1.  Save yourself a visit to the E.R. Pickleball eye injuries come from many sources. The BALL can hit you, not only off your opponent’s paddle, but your own paddle or your partner’s. Remember, you are only 14 feet away from your opponents when at the kitchen line. Paddles are much more powerful, and the game is speeding up. You can be smashed in the face by your PARTNER’S PADDLE, and even your own paddle (and the paddle is much harder than the ball!) FALLING on your face can break bones in your face and around the eye. Abrasions of the cornea are super painful. Detached retinas require surgery, and can cause permanent loss of vision. Fractures of facial and orbital bones can cause permanent double vision.
2. Save money! How much will it cost if you miss a week of work?
3. Save a point. Most of us wear a hat or visor. Likewise, sunglasses or tinted lenses can help when you get lobbed into the sun, or the indoor lights.
4. Save your game. Try playing a few points with one eye shut. Depth perception really helps, and it takes two healthy eyes.
5. Save your friendships! If I’m afraid of hurting you, I might avoid playing with you, either as a partner or as an opponent. How would you feel if you hurt someone else? Are you good enough to make sure your drive, overhead, or speedup doesn’t hit someone in the face?
6. Save the sport and your club. It’s not common yet, but a facility could be sued (usually requires negligence or malice), but if national organizations recommend eye protection, a facility might be seen as negligent if they don’t require it. Currently, USA Pickleball does not mandate eye protection, realizing it would be hard to enforce. USA Racquetball does indeed require all players to wear certified eyewear.
7. Save your good looks! Just as sunscreen protects your skin, glasses with UV filters can decrease aging and wrinkles around your eyes. Skin cancer on the eyelids is common, and can be extremely disfiguring.
8. Save your comfort. Dry eyes, wind, and bugs in your eye are no fun.
9. Save your DUPR rating! You might play better with less glare, and better contrast, if your glasses have the right tint and optical correction.
10.  It looks cool! Many pro pickleball players have lucrative contracts for eyewear. It’s part of their look.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

FRAMES - rubber nose pads for comfort and slippage. Wrap-around lenses may give better protection from wind and sun. ASTM F3164 is a standard tested for strength (and super cedes the older F803). Try them on, and jump and bend to make sure they will fit securely.

LENSES - Polycarbonate or Trivex lenses are shatterproof. Trivex is a little clearer, and harder to scratch, but costs more.

TINTS AND COLORS - for Outdoor, use rose/copper/amber/brown with yellow balls. For Indoor, clear or light orange/yellow.

TRANSITIONS – lenses that darken in sunlight. When the sun goes behind the trees, this can save you switching pairs, or from the temptation to play without.

AVOID BIFOCALS - unless you want a convenient excuse for missing those resets.

So, before you rush to the kitchen line, rush out and get some eye protection. 

Let’s make the No Volley Zone a “no injury zone.”