by Sheldon Silberman

Do you wear eye guards? USHA rules (2.5) requires "protective eyewear be worn at all times during play." The MSHA has adopted this same policy and for most of us, it is no longer an issue. Are eye guards really necessary? After all, if someone hits the ball so high that it is going to hit you in the head, you can probably see it coming and avoid the impact - right? "It’s probably a defensive shot anyway." Maybe you’ve been hit once and learned how to protect yourself.

The accompanying pictures demonstrate what happened to me recently. This is the second time in 20 years I’ve been dangerously close to losing an eye. My eye guards prevented serious injury. The first time, I was wearing the still very popular open (non-lensed) eye guards and the ball compressed enough to go through and hit my eye. The bruise left me sedated in the hospital for five days while the blood in my eye was reabsorbed. This was a great comfort to my wife of 6 months!

The eye doctors agreed the protective glasses saved my eye. I changed to lensed eye guards following that incident. I now wear the best protective eyewear available from my eye doctor. It’s OSHA approved and thoroughly tested for court sports. "Indestructible, unbreakable" - you know the advertising. I took this shot right on the lens (to the best of my knowledge). Both lenses flew out of the frames and the frame broke in one spot. I only received a minor scratch and a small red spot in the corner of my eye. My vision was fuzzy for almost an hour and not fully clear for two days.

Do you really need eye guards?