“Come on, man! You can not be serious!” Anyone who watched tennis great John McEnroe play in the 1980s will remember his temper tantrums toward the unfortunate umpires. Was the ball in or out? With the tennis world turning its eyes to two of its biggest events, the French Open and Wimbledon, now is a good time for us to take a look at tennis eyewear.
Bollé actually makes a Tennis Collection; its Competivision Lens enhances optical yellow so the ball can be seen faster and more clearly. According to the company, their lenses should only be worn when playing tennis and never when driving. Other sunglass manufacturers make lenses that enhance contrast; for example, Rudy Project’s green Tennis 100 lens or Tifosi’s Extreme Contrast smoke lens designed specifically for golf and tennis.
So, whether your client is a tennis pro or an enthusiastic amateur, here are several options to ensure they ace their serve every time.
Tifosi Optics
CRIT model with a golf/tennis extreme contrast interchangeable smoke lens.
(877) 530-0815, tifosioptics.com
Vision Ease
Coppertone lenses in an O’Neill frame.
(800) 328-3449, visionease.com
Bollé
Tennis Collection Bolt S frame with Competivision Gun lenses.
(800) 222-6553, bolle.com
Marchon Eyewear
Nike Skylon Ace XV frame with Nike Max Optics Lens Technology.
(800) 645-1300, nikevision.com
Rudy Project
RYDON sports eyewear with RP Optics Racing Red lenses.
(888) 860-7597, rudyprojectusa.com
Liberty Sport
Ultimate Play polycarbonate grey/green lens in a Bayou shiny black frame.
(800) 444-5010, libertysport.com
Smart Ways to Sell Tennis Lenses
Brigitte Paulick
Friedrich’s Optik, New York City
“We have clients looking for sport-specific eyewear, whether it’s for shooting, cycling, running or golf and tennis, which go hand-in-hand. We’re known for doing high quality eyewear, so it’s something we like to offer. When we get requests for sport-specific eyewear we mainly recommend Rudy Project. They have mastered the prescription clarity of a lens in a wraparound frame. They make these high quality colored lenses that have a good amount of yellows and greens to enhance contrast so that a ball can pop against the tennis court or golf course. They’ve developed a great green lens for tennis (Tennis 100) that eliminates blue light reflecting off the court and comes in a lightweight frame. Rudy’s lenses are impact resistant and shatter-proof too. As an Ironman athlete, I wear Rudy Project eyewear myself.”
Shannen Knight
A Sight for Sport Eyes, West Linn, OR
“The most popular tennis lens we sell is Bollé’s tennis-specific Competivision. It can enhance the yellow ball and is particularly aimed at performance enhancement. It comes in Bollé frames and we get great feedback about it. We sell about five tennis lenses a month. Our other options for tennis are Rudy Project’s green-based lens and Liberty Sport’s Switch sunglasses, which let you swap out your lenses using a magnetic system. These two are neutral sunglass styles, rather than aimed at enhancing your game. I ask my customers what’s more important to them: performance or protection? If they want a sunglass for safety then I recommend Liberty Sport’s goggle for protection.”
This article originally appeared in the June 2017 edition of INVISION.