Can You Play Tennis In Prescription Glasses?

I’ve always worn glasses since I was 7 years old owing to the nearsightednees that I developed. I always played in my glasses and never thought that it was any real trouble. But I know a lot of people might be thinking before getting into tennis, that they might have to get contacts to play otherwise the glasses will just pop off.

Well, you can certainly play tennis in prescription glasses. You can play tennis as good as the person who doesn’t have them on. As long as you have a pair that is sturdy and you aren’t afraid of breaking them then give it a go, have fun on the court. 

There are a few things that you should keep in mind when you get into tennis as a player with weak eyesight, but those shouldn’t deter you from enjoying this awesome game.

Are They a Hindrance When it Comes to Enjoying Tennis?

It depends, that’s more or less the only answer that I should give to this one. Sometimes it’s humid and you are sweating hard, and when you have normal everyday glasses on then they can cause some issues.

Personally, for me, I play in very humid conditions during the summers and the sweat just rolls from my head all over my glasses. In the heat of the moment, you think that maybe it’s not that big of a deal and you can keep playing without any problems but then the same drop of sweat blinds you when you are going in for an approach shot or a smash.

You can’t blame anything or anyone, well maybe your genetics but that’s not a very smart thing to do. You carry on, wipe the sweat off of your face and your glasses and try and keep playing. 

Sometimes, your hair grows very long, and the grip that you had with your glasses and the head, it just dies and you have to adjust your glasses every other point, and you wish that those glasses would just magically disappear and you have perfect vision again.

This is, of course, me being very nitpicky. These problems do happen but they are not too bad as long you just keep enjoying your time and don’t let it get it your head.

Tips For Taking Care of Your Glasses When You Are Out on The Court.

It’s very easy to play in glasses, provided you take care of some stuff that I am gonna mention here:

• Always have a towel to wipe the sweat off of your face because it is going to be a lifesaver in a lot of situations. Sweat buildup on the head can trickle down to your glasses and really build up a mess. The problem with sweat is that it is composed of water and salts which don’t get wiped off that easily on some lenses. Gunked up glasses are a nightmare to play tennis in because you can’t really see the ball all that well.
• Have an extra pair of glasses with you because there can be situations where your opponent might be a little trigger happy or you might slip and break your glasses. Having a sturdy pair like Janko Tipsarevic might be a good option too.
• Keep a microfiber cloth with you for cleaning any smudges that might happen, this is something I came to find out pretty recently. It is a true lifesaver I tell you, a simple rub on your glasses and all the smudges are crystal clear. They are pretty cheap too, so you can easily grab a heap of them from Amazon and have some fun out on the tennis court without worrying about sweat.

Not a whole lot to take care of as you can see, but take care of these things and you’ll have a much better time enjoying this game. 

Situations in Which Glasses are Actually Better Than Contact Lenses

I have tried contacts and let me tell you, they weren’t as good as I thought they would be when I bought them. I used to think that oh Novak Djokovic can play with contacts, I should be able to too. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as I never got used to them at all. 

Contacts can be so annoying, the first problem I faced was that I could not get used to the feeling. Something felt like it was poking my eye, and this kind of discomfort is a problem when you are trying to concentrate on the ball and running across the court to make a shot.

Contacts might be better overall, but there are a lot of people like me with sensitive and dry eyes. You need to have eye drops on you for pretty much every change of ends so eyes don’t just start crying.

Glasses, in my opinion, are just better because they don’t have this extra baggage that you have to carry just so that you enjoy the game. It seems like you will enjoy it more because you won’t have to worry about juggling your glasses, but it’s not as good as it looks.

Do You Need a Specific Brand of Glasses to Play?

You don’t specifically need one, but there is a frame that I have been using that I put in my prescription lenses and they have been trucking along just fine for a few years now. 

Hulislem S1 Sport Polarized Glasses, these are the ones I use, pretty cheap pair and you can have like two or three of them as spares maybe with some tinted lenses so you can play in the sun too. They are light and you don’t even feel them on your face most of the time, and honestly, that’s a great feeling.

Playing in the sun is a breeze with them too with a tinted frame, and you look so cool when you wear them. I won’t lie whenever I wear them on the court, I feel like a superstar. It is a total placebo I know but placebo does wonders if you believe in it hard enough.

You can go with something fancy that your optometrist recommends you but I will say that just save that money, you can get a good racquet if you want to for that price or some tennis balls that’ll last a while. 

Conclusion Time

At the end of the day, it really comes down to you. If you want to play with your existing glasses, go on enjoy, I only switched to the Hulislem a year ago and didn’t even feel the need to buy them until I just saw a good deal on Amazon and just grabbed them. 

Enjoy, have fun and you don’t need to feel like you might be at a disadvantage against players that have perfect eyesight. Glasses are never going to hinder you from playing at a good level if you want to. I have seen college players with glasses playing some great tennis.

Have fun  hitting those forehands