Should I wear glasses or goggles to play sports?
I’ve been watching some NFL football lately and the place kicker for the Indianapolis Colts caught my eye. His name is Rodrigo Blankenship and as he takes the field, you can see through his helmet, that he is wearing some thick black glasses. This guy has got his own style and he is rocking it!
I was reminded about my childhood best friend who was unable to wear contacts due to a medical condition. When he played basketball around middle school time, he wore the classic goggles that covered your eyes and the spaces around your eyes with a strap around his head that kept them in place. Back then, it was a little sketchy. Actually, it was just different in a time or at an age when it was difficult to be different. When I picture him in my mind now, first I picture him, and then I immediately picture an NBA basketball player that wore goggles on the court and really, looking back, that was pretty bad ass of my friend to wear those goggles – just as iconic as it was for, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, for example, to wear glasses during basketball games! And they’re not just for the men, you can check out Stanford’s Fran Belibi rocking her goggles as she dunks on her opponents.
Why should I wear glasses or goggles to play sports?
Speaking of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, why did he start wearing glasses on the basketball court? It wasn’t a matter of style or vision, it was for protection. He had had two injuries to his eyes while playing basketball before he finally decided to just wear glasses when he played. I could definitely see this as a good reason for wearing glasses while playing sports. Not only have I heard countless stories of people getting poked in the eye during contact sports, but I saw another blatant example of it last weekend on a televised football game. I don’t have to tell you how important vision is to human beings, so going out of your way a little bit to protect your vision doesn’t seem like a big deal.
Should I wear glasses for outdoor sports?
You’ll see that players of certain sports almost always wear shaded glasses. This helps keep the sun’s glare out of their eyes so that they won’t be distracted, and it further helps protect their eyes from the sun and from possible injury. I’m thinking of sports like beach volleyball or open sea big fish angling, or fishing. You can see that some sports more readily lend themselves to using eyeglasses or goggles. Similarly, some positions within a sport will be better suited to using glasses or goggles. Take our first example above, the place kicker for the Indianapolis Colts could be seen wearing eyeglasses during play, but you probably wouldn’t see a linesman wearing glasses since they hit and get hit with the force of a car accident during every play!
Should I wear prescription lenses underwater?
Even underwater, you might consider getting some prescription inserts for your snorkel or scuba mask. I know plenty of people who do these activities while wearing contact lenses, and I suppose that you can convince yourself that it will be okay since you have a mask on, but it’s still possible to get your face wet and you know that the rule is not to swim with contact lenses on because it’s possible for the seawater to get stuck between your contact lens and your eyeball. This can be bad if there’s anything dirty or in the water or if anything in the water causes an allergic reaction. Even if you don’t buy your own vision-corrected mask inserts, it’s possible that wherever you rent or borrow your equipment will have some corrective lenses that you can use, so if you’re interested, ask!
Should I wear glasses or goggles in the snow?
Yes! Whether you’re snowboarding or skiing, the reflection of the sun’s rays off of the snow is going to blind you if you’re not wearing goggles! You can have prescription inserts made for these, too.
What else should I worry about?
I think many people may be worried about their glasses slipping or falling while they’re trying to be active. Well, I think the fact that countless professional sports players have worn glasses during their competitions suggests that this worry is overblown. These pros are probably going to move around a lot more than me, as an amateur, and if they can sport the specs on the field or on the court, I’m sure I can, too. You’ll see that whether you’re wearing glasses or goggles, there’s an adjustable strap connecting the glasses temple arms that goes around your head, so you can wear them as snuggly as you wish.
If nothing else, it beats having to play with contact lenses which can dry out during indoor air-conditioned play or during outdoor play depending on the weather and it sure beats having to stop play because a contact lens fell out and you have to search for it on your hands and knees!
Conclusion
I hope that I’ve given you some things to think about when deciding whether to wear glasses while playing sports. If you’re still not sure, it might be worth a try, or even worth just keeping a pair at hand just in case something happens with your contact lenses or your vision. You might feel safer wearing glasses, or more comfortable, or perhaps, you just want to add a bold look to your style. These are all good reasons to consider wearing eyeglasses or goggles while playing sports.
