Athletes with impaired vision historically have had a difficult time wearing eyewear during sports activities. Eyeglasses can shatter or fly off during performance, and contacts can become dry or get dislodged in the eye. For some athletes, it may seem more logical to perform without vision correction at all rather than to take the risk of eyewear related injury.
Eyewear designers have noticed this problem for years, and fortunately, have produced many remedies. Noting that different sports have different needs, eyewear designers have created a host of options for all athletes, so you can find the eyeglasses that fit your athletic lifestyle. Many styles of prescription glasses today are tailor-made for sports activities, and are designed to help prevent sports injuries to the eyes.
“It’s imperative for visually-impaired athletes to have eyewear that protect their eyes from a potential sports injury,” says Dr. Hodgson of FramesDirect.com. “Eye injuries in sports are too common, and many can be prevented by wearing the proper protective eyewear.” Snow Sports
Snow skiers, snowboarders, and other snow sport athletes have better protection with goggles than glasses or contacts. Athletes who are dealing with cold wind are adverse to contacts because they dry up and become irritable. Thankfully, many eyewear designers offer prescription goggles specifically suited for snow sports. These goggles have complete blockage from the wind, are more slip-resistant that standard eyewear, and have prescription options available. They also feature a variety of tints, anti-reflective (AR) coating, and UV protection, so athletes can select a custom featured pair of goggles. Most sports lenses are made from impact and scratch resistant polycarbonate, which is imparitive for extreme winter sports. It’s important to note that not all goggles companies offer prescription lenses for their goggles. Instead they might offer pre-fabricated, half-diopter steps goggles, which may not match your exact prescription. If you have vision impairment and you do not want half-diopter lenses for your goggles, wearing contacts with non-prescription goggles is suitable as long as the goggles ensure a proper fit.
Arena Sports
If you’re an NBA fan, you’ve probably noticed a lot of athletes on the court who have goggles strapped around their head. One of the most recognized NBA players that have adorned eyewear is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; he wore goggles on the court all the way up to his sixth MVP award. Basketball, baseball, soccer, and football players wear goggles for either or both of these reasons: vision correction and eye protection. Goggles are just as effective for vision correction as they are eye protection because the hard polycarbonate lenses protect the eyes from injury. For vision purposes, goggles are superior to glasses because they stay fixed to the wearer’s face during active moments. Like all eyewear, goggles can be prescription or non, and have a host of choices from AR coating to tints of all shades and colors. Plus, the elastic band on sports goggles also works as a sweat band.
Water Sports
Whether you’re a swimmer, water skier, or race boat driver, eyewear is almost always necessary for water sports. Due to the fact that water is constantly being sprayed in all directions, water sports enthusiasts need more protection to shield their eyes than contacts can offer. Boat drivers can rely on sunglass frames with AR (anti-reflective) coating, UV Protection, and suitable tints for the area that they are boating in. But for the more physically active water sports, like surfing and water-skiing, goggles are necessary on account of their grip ability. Goggles come in many shapes, sizes, and offer many lens colors, be sure to choose the one that fits comfortably and fits the water sport accordingly. Hunting and Fishing
Hunters and Fishers generally have to rely less on the facial grip and durability of eyewear, and more on tint and sun blockage. For the visually impaired hunter or fisher, prescription sunglasses with top and side shields are necessary to block all pathways of sunlight to the eye. Also, polarized lenses with AR coating are needed to block sun glare and enable the fisher to see through water, and the hunter to see through sun-drenched foliage. Polycarbonate lenses are best suited for this sport, because of their light weight and durability. The best lens colors are dependent on the region and weather circumstances, for more information on fishing lens colors, read this article.
Motorsports
Depending on the aggressiveness of the activity, motorsports enthusiast can rely on eyeglasses or goggles for vision improvement. For the more extreme motorsports categories, like dirt bike and off-road racing, goggles are necessary for protection against flying debris and to ensure that the eyewear stay on the athlete’s face. These lenses should also require UV protection, AR coating, scratch and shatter resistant, and anti-fog coating. Since motor bikers typically sweat a lot, the more sweat absorbent foam on the lens frame will ensure that less sweat and dirt reaches the athlete’s eyes. Multiple foam layers also add extra comfort to the wearer’s face. Many goggles also offer tear-offs as an accessory, so the wearer can change the tint of the lens when needed.
