Like any racquet sport, pickleball has some obvious risks: players sometimes fall, or they injure a shoulder, arm, or leg through the game. Now a study published online on October 16, 2025, by JAMA Ophthalmology suggests that because the variety of athletes has increased, so have eye injuries. Using a nationally representative sample of hockey-related eye injuries by emergency departments, the researchers estimated that these injuries increased by about 400 cases per yr, from lower than 200 in 2021 to 1,262 in 2024. Most occur at or near the attention level in people who find themselves older or near the involved eye level, retinal detachment, or fractures. The actual variety of sports-related eye injuries might not be underestimated on this study, because it only counted cases from emergency departments. Although playing pickleball may increase the number of people that experience eye injuries, the general incidence is low. So, these results don’t mean you should not play. However, chances are you’ll want to think about wearing safety glasses on the court, especially if you happen to are at high risk for eye problems – for instance, with a family history of retinal detachment.
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