Protective eyewear seen as a necessity for pickleball players

Soren Morales wasn’t expecting what was about to happen.

Morales, a 52-year-old native of Nicaragua who lives in Miami, was struck in his right eye by a pickleball that flew errantly off the paddle of his doubles partner.

The accident happened on Jan. 22, 2024.

“I went down like somebody had knocked me out,” Morales said. “I had major pain.”

Morales went to his eye doctor, and she said he had a scratched cornea.

“She gave me some drops to reduce the pain,” Morales said. “She also recommended I wear protective glasses or goggles.

“She also mentioned that she has seen more patients with eye injuries lately, and it’s all due to pickleball.”

These days, Morales is playing pickleball with protective eyewear, and it’s something he highly recommends for everyone.

“If you don’t do it, you are putting your eyes at risk,” Morales said. “You may not think that eye injuries happen, but there are plenty of videos online that show players getting hit in the face.

“I was hesitant to come back playing with (eyewear), but, if you look at the top pros, a lot of them wear goggles or glasses.”

One of those top pros is Bobbi Oshiro, a 30-year-old native of Hawaii who played tennis at Boise State before moving to South Florida eight years ago.

Toward the end of 2020, she played pickleball for the first time. She and a partner lost to a couple of “older gentlemen,” and that did not sit well with Oshiro.

“I thought, ‘This should not happen,’” Oshiro said.

Oshiro then bought her first paddle, and the rest is history as she finished 2024 ranked No. 1 in the APP (Association of Pickleball Players) Tour in mixed doubles, top-five in singles and top-10 in women’s doubles.

This past November, she traveled to Arizona and won the singles title and partnered with Will Howells to win the mixed-doubles championship.

She also threw out the first pitch for a Marlins game last year.

Oshiro plays with protective eyewear, but she forgot to put them on several months ago … and she paid the price.

On this particular day, she took a swing and the ball somehow came off the side of her paddle and hit her left eye.

“Fortunately, I was OK,” Oshiro said. “But it was very painful.”

Oshiro said it took a couple of weeks for her to adjust to using protective eyewear, but it’s been well worth the trouble.

“Outdoors, they act like sunglasses and can help protect you from the harmful effects of the sun,” Oshiro said. “It also enhances your vision of the ball -- kind of makes it appear bigger.”

Protective eyewear can be found at your local sporting goods store – Dick’s sells a pair (brand name Head) for $11.99.

If you prefer to shop online, you can find a vast selection, including brand name Joola, which are the ones used by Oshiro.

When playing indoors, clear glasses with anti-reflective coating are recommended. You want to get as much light as possible to your eyes, and nothing can do that better than clear glasses.

Anti-reflective coating is needed to guard against glare that is sometimes a problem with indoor lighting.

When playing outdoors, there are many choices in regards to the color of the lens. If you want to go deep with your research, there are a multitude of other factors such as impact rating, frame material and UV protection.

Oshiro said paddle technology is improving rapidly, which translates to players hitting with more force.

That leads to more eye injuries.

“I 100-percent recommend protective eyewear,” Oshiro said. “I’m seeing a lot more women wearing them – not as many men.

“Forgetting your protective eyewear could be dangerous. I forgot that day, and look what happened.

“Since then, I always wear them, and that’s the best decision I’ve ever made on a pickleball court.”