Padel tutorial
Padel Eye Protection: What Exists and What Doesn't
Padel has a real eye-injury risk and almost no protective eyewear designed for it. Here is what the evidence says, what squash and racquetball do differently, and why the products sold as padel glasses are sunglasses rather than protection.
By Andrei Ionut ·
The short version
Padel carries a genuine eye-injury risk, and the equipment market has not responded to it. Those two facts sit oddly together, and this guide exists because we went looking for protective padel eyewear to compare and found that the category, as most people imagine it, does not exist.
We surveyed what the padel brands actually sell. Three manufacturers publish padel-marketed eyewear with real specifications. Not one of them cites an impact standard. Several describe lenses that "resist impacts" or offer "extra impact protection" without naming any certification, which is marketing language rather than a safety claim you can check. Most of the rest of the market is sunglasses relabelled per sport: we found one brand serving the same products under padel, CrossFit, mountain-bike and beach-volleyball collections, and another selling a single unbranded item under a dozen keyword-stuffed padel titles.
That is why there is no comparison table on this page. We did the research and concluded that ranking ten sunglasses as though they were safety equipment would mislead the people most likely to be reading.
Where the risk actually comes from
Two sources, and the second surprises people.
The ball. A padel ball is larger and softer than a squash ball and moves more slowly, but it is played in an enclosed court where it rebounds off glass and mesh at close range. A smash taken in the face at the net is not a freak event.
Your partner's racket. Padel is doubles, played in a 20-by-10-metre court, and both players often converge at the net. The racket is short and solid, and the person swinging it is sometimes within arm's reach. Anecdotally this is what padel coaches warn about more than the ball.
Neither risk is high per hour played. Both are the kind where the rare bad outcome is severe and permanent, which is the profile where protective equipment normally earns its place.
What other racket sports do
How the enclosed racket sports treat eye protection.
| Sport | Position on eye guards | Standard cited |
|---|---|---|
| Squash | Required for juniors and in doubles in many countries; widely worn | World Squash Federation approval, ASTM F803 |
| Racquetball | Required in sanctioned play in several federations | ASTM F803 |
| Padel | No requirement anywhere; very rarely worn | None — no padel eyewear we found cites a standard |
Squash
- Position on eye guards
- Required for juniors and in doubles in many countries; widely worn
- Standard cited
- World Squash Federation approval, ASTM F803
Racquetball
- Position on eye guards
- Required in sanctioned play in several federations
- Standard cited
- ASTM F803
Padel
- Position on eye guards
- No requirement anywhere; very rarely worn
- Standard cited
- None — no padel eyewear we found cites a standard
The practical consequence is that a padel player who wants real eye protection buys squash or racquetball eye guards. They are certified, they are designed to take a racket to the face, and they look like sports goggles rather than sunglasses. What they are not is padel equipment, and no padel brand sells them.
If you want protection, what to look for
Ignore the sport name on the product and read for a standard. A genuine protective eye guard will cite ASTM F803, EN 166, or World Squash Federation approval on the manufacturer's own page. If those words are absent, you are looking at sunglasses.
Beyond the standard, the things that matter are a polycarbonate lens rather than glass, a frame that holds the lens in place under impact rather than letting it push through, and a strap or fit secure enough that the guard is still on your face when you lunge.
If you just want sunglasses for an outdoor court
That is a different and entirely reasonable purchase, and the padel-branded eyewear on the market serves it fine. Polarised lenses cut glare off wet glass, anti-fog coatings help in humidity, and a wraparound fit stays put. Expect to pay between about €50 and €105 from the brands that market to padel players.
Just buy it knowing what it is. A polarised lens is a comfort feature. It is not a reason to stand closer to your partner's backswing.
This page has no affiliate links
Everywhere else in our gear section we compare products and earn a commission if you buy through a link. We have deliberately not done that here.
The honest conclusion of this research is that the products we could have listed are not what a reader searching for padel eye protection is looking for, and several are not stocked on the retailers we work with anyway. Recommending them would have meant earning money for answering a different question than the one being asked.
If you want to understand the sport that creates the risk, our guide to what padel is covers how the game works, and padel court dimensions explains the enclosed court that makes it different from tennis.
Common questions
Do I need eye protection for padel?
No governing body requires it, and almost nobody wears it. The risk is real but uncommon: a ball travelling at speed in an enclosed court, and a partner swinging a racket within a couple of metres of your face. If you have had eye surgery, sight in only one eye, or you simply prefer to manage the risk, protective eyewear is a reasonable choice — but you will be buying squash or racquetball eyewear, because padel-specific protective eyewear barely exists.
Are padel sunglasses the same as eye protection?
No, and this is the distinction that matters. Almost everything sold as padel eyewear is sunglasses for outdoor courts — polarised lenses, sun filters, anti-fog coatings. Protective eyewear is certified to withstand a specific impact and says so, citing a standard. Of the padel eyewear we surveyed, not one product cited any impact standard at all.
What standard should protective eyewear meet?
In racket sports the recognised marks are ASTM F803 (the American standard written for racket-sport eye protectors), EN 166 in Europe for personal eye protection, and for squash specifically, World Squash Federation approval. If a product is genuinely protective, the manufacturer will name one of these. If the page only says the lens 'resists impacts' without naming a standard, it is a marketing phrase, not a certification.
Why does squash require eye guards when padel does not?
Squash has a smaller, harder ball moving faster in a smaller enclosed space, and junior and doubles play in many countries mandates eye guards as a result. Padel's ball is larger, softer and slower, and the court is bigger, so the sport has not reached the same conclusion. The racket is arguably the bigger hazard in padel: in doubles your partner swings close to you.
Can I wear normal sunglasses to play padel?
On an outdoor court, yes, and plenty of people do. Be aware that ordinary sunglasses are not designed to take an impact — some lenses shatter rather than deform. If you are wearing them for sun rather than for safety, that is a reasonable trade; just do not mistake them for protection.
What about prescription glasses?
Ordinary prescription lenses are the worst case in an impact, particularly glass ones. If you play in glasses, it is worth asking an optician about polycarbonate lenses in a sports frame, which is the same route squash players take. This is a conversation for an optician, not for a comparison table.