07 May 6 Sports You Need Sunglasses for Now

About a quarter of American adults play sports on a regular basis, and even more people participate in leisurely outdoors activities like hiking or fishing.

Whether you compete for fun, pride, or money, having sports sunglasses can help make sure that you are ready for the next adventure. Without them, you may find it hard to compete, and if you’ve never tried using sunglasses while playing sports, you could see your game improve.

Want to know what sports you need sunglasses for? Read on to learn more!

1. Fishing

Fishing is a difficult sport that takes a lot of skill, timing, and luck. But with polarized sunglasses, you can be sure to take advantage of everything you have.

One thing sunglasses help with when finishing is keeping the glare out of your eyes. When you’re looking down at the water, the sun is often reflecting off of it. This not only hurts your eyes, but it can also keep you from seeing fish in clear water.

Polarized sunglasses can also help enhance the colors around you. For fishers, this means you’ll have an easier time noticing signs that there are fish near you.

2. Hiking

Like fishing, hiking takes skill, patience, and a lot of work. While not a sport in the traditional sense, hiking and backpacking competitions are popping up throughout the world. And for those hikers wanting to step over into climbing, having great sunglasses can make sure that you perform at your best.

For hiking, you want your sunglasses to be able to keep the sweat out of your eyes and also stay on your face. Consider purchasing wrap-around glasses for intense hiking, or stick with rubber nose pads and a steady grip for the more casual hiker.

Having sunglasses is also great for the peaks of your hikes. While nature is beautiful on its own, having polarized lenses will help you see it with more clarity.

3. Running

When most people think of sunglasses for sports, chances are they think of running. Take a look at any picture of a race, and you’ll notice that many of the people in the picture are wearing sunglasses!

The biggest benefit of running with sunglasses is that it helps you relax. As any good runner knows, staying loose gives you an easier and chilled run, and this includes your eyes.

Squinting for the entirety of your run doesn’t sound very comfortable! Over the length of your run, squinting your eyes can waste precious energy you could have used when running.

Sunglasses can also help keep the sweat out of your eyes. When looking for running sunglasses, you’ll probably want to purchase wrap-around frames. Otherwise, you’ll have to spend time pushing your glasses up when you start to sweat.

4. Biking

Like running, biking takes a lot out of you, and squinting your eyes the whole time can also waste muscle energy. While a bike helmet can help to some extent, full protection from sunglasses is the better option.

Sunglasses are also important to protect your eyes while biking. One study showed that the average person bikes at 9.6 miles per hour. If a pebble or other object hits your eye at that speed, you might end up with a serious injury.

Also, if your sunglasses are polarized, you’ll have an easier time seeing obstacles in your path. From rocks to roots, you want to know what’s in your path.

When looking, you’ll want to make sure that the sunglasses also wrap around your head. Causal wear will get distracting and likely fall off, especially for athletic bikers.

5. Kayaking

Kayaking with sunglasses isn’t necessary, but it can make your experience a whole lot better, especially when you’re in fast waters. Like fishing, having sunglasses can keep the sun from reflecting on your eyes.

Having sunglasses can also be helpful when kayaking to keep water out of your eyes. Depending on what river you’re heading down, keeping water out will be a lifesaver.

When looking for kayaking sunglasses, ask about floating sunglasses. With glasses like these, you can make sure that your frames never get lost at the bottom of a river.

6. Tennis

When it comes to tennis, you have to have fantastic eyesight to play well. A tennis ball is only a couple inches in diameter, and when it’s coming at you at speeds of up to 160 miles per hour, you can’t miss a second.

That’s why having sunglasses can be so important when playing tennis. If the sun gets in your eyes, there’s no doubt that the ball will fly right past you.

Many tennis players prefer playing with hats, but sunglasses can be great for amateurs and when warming up.

There Are More Sports You Need Sunglasses For

Believe it or not, sports sunglasses are one of the most important items in your outdoor itinerary. Without them, you might be at a disadvantage, and being outside for long periods of time without protection can also harm your vision.

Whether you’re active or not, you can protect your vision by wearing sports sunglasses.

Looking for sports sunglasses? Come by one of our six optometry locations and browse through our collection.

Cover Photo Credit
Running Photo Credit