Left Eye Got Smashed At!

[Joanne]

On Thursday I was playing badminton in school, preparing for the competition next week. My friend and I played against 1 elder girl. We played half court. I was standing in front, and suddenly when she smashed I didn't time to duck(kinda stupid of me) and it smashed straight into my left eye!

At first I held put my hand over my eye. First question that popped into my head was, "Am I blind?". I open it, could see but was really really dizzy when I opened my eye. The teacher told me to keep it closed. Then I asked, "Is there blood?". The teacher said no. Well the 2 vital questions were answered. But after that my vision was sort of cloudy for about 1 hour.

Now, 2 days after that incident my left eye is red, and I can't look at any bright light, as in I can't look DIRECTLY at any light. It's extra bad when I'm in the sun, somehow the heat really causes my eye to be painful. I not only have to close my eye when I walk in the sun, but I also have to use my hand to cover it to stop it from being so painful. If I look at any light, it becomes a darker red and my eye starts tearing too. And of course very painful.

I've not worn my contacts for 2 days already, my competition is this coming Monday already and I really have to hope that my eye heals fast, or else I'll have to wear my specs and play. And hopefully my eye can stand the hall lights in the competition.

Why did I post this? To warn all of you not to be as stupid as I was. DUCK when the shuttle is coming towards your eye! Or at least don't stand so in front, I was standing too much towards to front of the court because the teacher asked me to. Or else I'm sure I'll have managed to defend that smash and protect my eye.

Oh yeah, I didn't see a doctor. Don't think the doctor will be able to do much, I'm already using eye drops.

[haven]

Sorry to hear about your eye Joanne... :( Hope it
heals in time for your competition! All the best too!
Which competition is it may I ask? Inter-school?
or Open?

One of the things we always seem to forget to do
when we're in front of the net - keep the racquet
up! :D

Get well soon! :D

[wood_22_chuck]

I think it's best to see a doctor to rule out anything serious that's preventable. Tears/lacerations, infections that might need anything else that eye-drops doesn't address.

-dave

[Traum]

Ouch... sorry to hear that you got hit. Hope you recover in time for the competition.

In the future, have you considered wearing your glasses for badminton? I actually feel safer with glasses because I don't know how many times my glasses have been hit when I play. And in at least two occassions, it was a racquet that hit me, not just a shuttle! Since the lenses are made out of a composite material, I don't have to worry about them getting shattered upon a hit.

-Rick

[jkusmanto]

Very sorry to hear about your eye Joanne :(
I have over gotten what happened to you many years ago. Not left but right eye. All seems simular to what happened to you. The difference is I wore no soft lens/contacts. At that moment I used icebag to cover it.
Same as you, after 2-3 days my eye turned red, couldn't look at bright light and very painful.

I went to see a docter to get my eye checked. The docter said that many of the eye's blood vessels were broke. He gave me medicine and eye salve.
He applied my eye with bandage.
After 4 days, my eye became much much beter. And after about 10 days, my eye was recover.

So.... Joanne, I think you have to see a docter to rule out anything serious, preventive.

[viver]

Sorry to hear about this and wish you a very quick recovery.

Yes, playing in net is very difficult and need to be careful. I hope that your confidence to play in the net is not affected. You know, playing doubles someone needs to cover the net. In future when playing at the net, always remember to have your racquet up - try to cover your face or duck if you do not have time to defend. You can also reinforce this during your training sessions - ask somebody from your team to remind you if your racquet is not up when covering the net.

[assault38]

Sorry to hear about the unfortunate (and painful) incident.

I would highly recommend seeing an eye doctor after hearing your symptoms. Sudden forceful blows to the eye are particularly dangerous if you have high prescriptions...so dangerous that the blow can actually cause the retina of your eye to detach, which has more serious implications. This could lead to a multitude of vision problems and in some cases, blindness.

I am not trying to scare you but only direct your attention at the potential seriousness of the incident. I, myself, have had a minor retinal detachment in one eye that required surgery. This was not due to badminton but a high prescription. High prescriptions cause stress on the retina and make it more likely to detach. Since the surgery, I've been very careful about protecting my eyes, including when playing badminton.

In short, whatever the case may be, go see an eye doctor!

-38

[shiriblue]

wow... sorry to hear about what happened to you. i hope you recover very soon. think about it this way. at least you didnt get hit in the eye directly with a tennis ball like i did a few years back. that was really painful and my eye didnt move with my head. it would lag a bit..

[bluejeff]

I have seen a similar case on the news before.

A guy was hit like you 15 years before, and at that time, it was fine. However, he did not know that inside the eyeball, the "water" is already broken, and the reason he can still see was just because he was still young, and the eye ball can still hold its tension well, so that the water didn't break out.

After 15 years, he became blind, just because he got old, and the eye ball no longer could hold the tension well.

So, I strongly suggest you to go to a doctor to have precise check-ups!!

[bluejeff]

This is also refers to what I recommended before, always wear an eyewear (for sports) just for your protection :)

[ants]

Sorry to hear that.. better rest your eyes.. don't go for the tournament this Monday.. you will have alot of tourneys to participate in the future.. but your eyes last you a lifetime.. you cant afford not to rest your eyes.

[Z1985]

wow. i did get it last time. similarly, it was my left eyes, similarly, it was a girl who did that, but differently, i got hit when i turn back thinking it was an out. but my partner(mixed double) rush there and drove a ball straight into my left eye.. *slow motion* my racket dropped on the floor and both my hands are covering my eyes. "am i blind?" was the 1st thing tt come to my mind.. every1 was shocked and stood still for a while. then crowded around me. i said i am alrite and put down my hands. but.. i couldn't see anything. it was all White!! so i say i am not alright. it was at night and that girl accompany me to see doc. luckily, the doc says my eyes are alright.. but when i told him i cant see. he wrote a letter and ask me to go to eye surgury.. shocked again... when i came home(decided to go the folowing day) my father told me he also once hurt his eyes too. he told me its the lens that was hit and will recover by itselfs.. and amazingly, the next day i can see a slight outline of the objects although it hurts to see light. but withing 4 days i regained my vision. YEA** i hope i wouldnt be blind a few yrs from now. and i hope u are alright. :)

[Cheung]

Joanne,

you better see an specialist opthamologist to make sure nothing is wrong.

It sounds like you have soemthing called traumatic mydriasis. I have had the same thing after being fouled punched in a karate competition.

It hurts to go out in the sunlight because your pupil cannot contract in bright light like it normally should. For me it lasted about week and I suffered no long lasting effect. The same might not be true for you so you MUST see an opthamologist quickly to make sure everything is OK.

No contact lenses and probably best to leave any tournaments to the next day.

For me, that injury was the day it dawned that martial arts tournaments were not worth the trouble. I did enter a couple more halfheartedly. Then went on to complete my dan grade instead.

[Dill]

The weird thing is that many people see smashing directly at the lady on the net as a valid technique for gaining the upper hand in a game of mixed.

Now it just brings home the true nature of what can happen :eek:

Speedy recovery

[evylgrynn]

Joanne,

GO SEE AN EYE DOCTOR!!!!

I cant stress this enough, a similar incident happened to me awhile ago, got hit in the eye, after I was dizzy, etc, similar symptoms to you. I decided to tough it out, after awhile I started to lost the vision in the eye (like a curtain being drawn down) I finally went to see an eye doctor, and was in surgery the next day for a detached retina
the doctor told me I was close to losing the vision completely in the eye, and not getting it back, he said I was lucky to be able to see again.
Just my experience, be extra careful and get it checked out before your tourney

[Jumpy]

Hi Joanne,

what you describe is *exactly* what happened to me quite recently. It lasted for 4 or 5 days..

When I checked my eyelid, it actually had a mark on it, so it wasn't a direct hit on the cornea.

[Cheung]

Sheesh, I forgot to write down that with my injury, I got it checked out by two doctors. One from the casualty department the same day, and then a couple of days later back in my local hospital.

[cappy75]

Speed Recovery, Joanne:(! It's best that you go to an eye specialist for a checkup and leave no rooms for regret. Vision is one of the most important senses we got and it shouldn't be neglected. Forget the tourney and focus on getting back. Badminton will still be there for you when you recover.

Net players already have less time to react to shots in the front, having the racquet up and in front should be second nature for all players... especially those who like to play infront.

[Loh]

Joanne

Sorry to learn of your recent accident to your eye. The impact must be quite great since you are standing so close to the net. I hope your opponent was smashing from further than the mid court.

Like many others, I think it is important for you to go for a check up. Cheung has given very good advice and being a 'medical' professional, he should know better. The eye is precious, please promise to see a specialist.

Your competition is today. I think since your eye still hurts and you can't really stand the light, forgo your contest today for there will be many more to come.

As advised by viver, please remember to protect your face with your racquet when you're close to the net and duck quickly.

Hope you'll recover soon and enjoy your training.

[Joanne]

Wow, been so busy lately no time to come on here.

Anyway, would like to say that my eyes are much much much better, today my left eye is no longer red, it's the normal colour, I rested it for 2 days, wearing spectacles. The whitish cloud over my eye was only for about 1-2 hours, my vision was clear again after that. Sure, my eye was red over the weekend and was teary, but by Sunday night it was much better, I wore my contacts to the competition today and no problem. Maybe the girl's smash wasn't that strong after all.

The main reason why I wear contact lens is because I find spectacles get in the way of my game. Besides, I usually play singles, this incident just reminded me why I don't really like doubles. ;)

Haven, it's an inter-school competition, also known as MSSD. Check out the thread I started under Inter-School Competition.

[cappy75]

Hey Joanne,

Glad things turn out alright for you. But still, just to be sure... have it checked:(. Was the impact right into the eye or near the eye?

[Joanne]

Hmm... nearer to the end of the eye. I doubt my parents will bring me to an eye doctor anyway if they see my eyes are okay already.

[cappy75]

Damn! It must have been a hard smash from far or kill from mid court to affect your eye like that:(. Eyes are really tricky things though... they might be fine now, but a few years down the road might be a different matter, it's best to be safe:(.

[LazyBuddy]

Joanne,

Sorry to catch this thread late. Myself was dying in my Vancouver torture sessions.

It's good to know that ur eye seems recovered well. However, if u don't feel comfortable somehow, still better to let it checked. Sometimes, with proper instructions and procedures from the doctor, injuries could be treated more properly, which means better recovery.

[Joanne]

My partner didn't clear the shuttle right the base line you see, we were just practising not that serious. Oh well, that's what I thought anyway. Next thing :eek: and my eye got it.

My eyes are back to normal, as comfortable with contacts as ever, not even red anymore. Thanks for your concern though :)

[wilfredlgf]

I was hit twice on one night last year on the left eye. My glasses broke. :(

[Traum]

I was hit twice on one night last year on the left eye. My glasses broke. :(
Good thing you had your glasses on, you know?

-Rick

[wilfredlgf]

Good thing you had your glasses on, you know?
-Rick
In a way, yes, in another way, no.
Yes because it offers some protection or my vision may get cloudy like Jo's, no because some small pieces of shard did fly to the eye, but I closed my eyes in the nick of time, so nothing hit eyeball. His lady partner was so distressed and helped me clean it it up.

Too bad she's married to him... ;)

[Joanne]

Good thing you closed your eyes... but kinda dangerous if it DID go in your eyes, your eyes might have bled... yikes. Wearing glasses are dangerous too, without them it's dangerous too. What's the solution? Protect your face at all times? Now whenever I'm in front of the net and the opponent is going to smash, I get ready to duck. What else can I do? When my eye got smashed at it was kinda frightening you know. :(

[Albert]

Hello. Just discovered this site whilst shopping for a new racket. I am from Malaysia but currently working in UK.

My name is Albert and I am a badminton fanatic :p

Anyways, just wanted to say hi and no better way than to describe what happened on one fateful day:

I was playing with a beginner and as I was backing up to get an overhead shot on my side of the court, my partner smashed from behind and his racket hit my face from behind. I was wearing those plastic specs and they snapped, and the frame cut into my T-zone, in between my eyes. I still have an inch scar to show for it! was bleeding over the court!

that was the worse badminton accident i have seen (been in)...sigh... lesson learnt.

and oh...forgot to mention...broke his new racket on impact as well. and my friends are still jokingly say that i should pay him back for his racket :mad:

[novl]

I was hit twice on one night last year on the left eye. My glasses broke. :(

Your glasses are made of glass? I didn't know they still existed. If you see that your opponent is going to kill off the shuttle at the net and you're standing close just like a sitting duck, you should bend your head down, facing the floor. The worst that can happen is that you get hit at the back of your head or neck.

[haven]

If u keep your racquet up, you will be able to take advantage
of the situation should it arise... you'll be able to push/drive
back the shuttle to anywhere in the court if your racquet is
ready :D Of course, if u get hit by a racquet like Albert, it'd
be different :p

[Albert]

agreed Haven. It is good practice to keep your racket head up while in front of the net.

But how do you defend against attacks from the back?! :eek:

[wiers289]

Trust your partner and don't turn your head. :D

[Dill]

Otherwise you'll get smashed in an eye, which one depends on which way you turn round. :D

[cappy75]

Someone at one of the clubs I played in Edmonton actually lost sight in one of his eyes courtesy of his partner. He turned to avoid a near-miss smash from an opponent only to get hit in the eye by his partner's racquet. I have also unfortunately hit my lady partner on her ear when I attempted a low drive that went alittle cross-court.

I think one should try to avoid looking back and just trust the partner since s/he has the best field of vision at the backcourt. What partners do are sometimes more unpredictable than your opponents. At least you got the net to protect you from opponents' errant shots, partners' screwed shots could hurt you more as there's nothing to protect you except his/her good sense and (hopefully) skills.

[Albert]

Point taken. But in my case, i didnt even turn around. my partner smashed above me and his racket came from behind and smashed my face! how unfair is that?!

[cappy75]

I guess it really depends on the level of your partner and how often you played with him/her. I am very reluctant to back up a partner who couldn't drop/smash properly. I won't even bother with proper doubles rotation since the coordination itself requires some time for instruction and more practice to adopt. One could find out how good the players are just from the way they hit in warm ups.

If I get paired up with a newbie/lower intermediate, I could either avoid swinging at ambiguous shots and stay the hell away from him/her or I could just clarify issues before we start... namely, emphasize that s/he stay at the front and only back up to one side to defend when I lift. If s/he doesn't heed my advice, that'll be the last time I play with him/her. I usually don't have to go through all these hassle because there's more intermediates/advance players than beginners where I play.

[Neil Nicholls]

The weird thing is that many people see smashing directly at the lady on the net as a valid technique for gaining the upper hand in a game of mixed.

The lady shouldn't be at the net though, if the opposition are in position to smash. Many of them just stay at the net though...sigh

[cappy75]

Probably just an instinct for them to seek the protection of the net:(.


The lady shouldn't be at the net though, if the opposition are in position to smash. Many of them just stay at the net though...sigh

[Gollum]

More likely it's a trained response that has been inculcated in them by many men players who don't like the lady to "interfere" with the game. Keep her at the front where she won't get in the way ;)

[Joanne]

Hahaha talking about doubles... in my game yesterday when I was covering the back court, the opponent tapped to the base line and somehow I managed to retrieve it. My partner in front of my had turned her head to look behind, she thought that the shuttle had died. Next thing, the shuttle was smashed into her head! Lol. And after that she thought that I had smashed the shuttle into her from behind! Lol, she didn't know that it was the opponent until I told her. :rolleyes: But perhaps it's a good thing she turned her head, or else the shuttle might have smashed into her eyes.

I did smash into my opponents eye once during the doubles game. Good thing it wasn't that hard, she could continue the game as usual. If I'm not mistaken it was her right eye.

[haven]

:p

I've smacked a guy in his left eye before :o
He thought I was going to drop but I drove the shuttle
instead.... It put him out of the game and all other
games for the rest of the night...

I felt so terrible :(
I spent the better part of the rest of the night apologising
to him... He'd recover eventually (Thank God!) and was
playing again after a couple of days... phew

[wilfredlgf]

Your glasses are made of glass? I didn't know they still existed. If you see that your opponent is going to kill off the shuttle at the net and you're standing close just like a sitting duck, you should bend your head down, facing the floor. The worst that can happen is that you get hit at the back of your head or neck.
Well, yeah, saving cost as well as reducing overall thickness. My vision is 525/500 the last time I remember and a plastic of this degree would be quite thick and expensive.

The problem that day was in underestimating the opponent. The guy was fast, the lady a great setter up front and him the power guy. You can say that my partner, being a good player himself, likes to play around by putting cross court drops and I was hit twice because of that.

I am a very straightforward kind of person in this, as I follow the conventional way of 'channel attack' and 'sustained pressure' as well as 'offensive mentality' very much, while him, being a singles player, likes to do shots which could be quite dangerous in doubles. I was on guard at the net, the shuttle went high behind me, I was expecting him to execute the three methods of play above since I have spoken to him a lot of about the formation and strategy but instead he placed a slow drop cross court in which most decent to great players would have no trouble pouncing.

It happened again on the second set and this time, it broke.

Perhaps it's my fault also as I was too slow to look away but it happened.

Oh well. Perhaps I expected too much from my partner to follow all that.:rolleyes:

[cappy75]

It seems that the instinct to look away or duck is stronger than just bringing the racquet up to the face. Even when I had the racquet right in front of me, I would still look away after being caught by surprise when the opposition pounced on my partner's slow crosscourt drops.

[Joanne]

It seems that the instinct to look away or duck is stronger than just bringing the racquet up to the face. Even when I had the racquet right in front of me, I would still look away after being caught by surprise when the opposition pounced on my partner's slow crosscourt drops.
Very true, I was never afraid of standing in front of the net when playing doubles until my eye got smashed at. Now if my partner makes a mistake and give a high ball at the net, the first thing I tend to do is look away AND (not OR) duck. Must take hold of that fear and get rid of it, I'll never be able to defend taps and smashes in doubles at this rate. Perhaps I'll soon forget this smashed at eye incident and be prepared to defend whenever the shuttle is high at the front of the net. :confused:

[cappy75]

Yes, best to move on and be more careful next time. Perhaps you should get a sports goggles for yourself when playing doubles.


Very true, I was never afraid of standing in front of the net when playing doubles until my eye got smashed at. Now if my partner makes a mistake and give a high ball at the net, the first thing I tend to do is look away AND (not OR) duck. Must take hold of that fear and get rid of it, I'll never be able to defend taps and smashes in doubles at this rate. Perhaps I'll soon forget this smashed at eye incident and be prepared to defend whenever the shuttle is high at the front of the net. :confused:

[Joanne]

Actually, I concentrate more on singles than doubles. Only reason why I play doubles is that my school team only has 3 girls in it while the guys have about 10 so I usually enter for both events, and another reason is my friend wants to be a doubles player, so I partner her in any doubles event :p.

[cappy75]

Ah, so that means you'll be playing more doubles then:). Does your coach help you out in doubles as well? If you're playing more, might as well get the strategies and tactics down for both disciplines.


Actually, I concentrate more on singles than doubles. Only reason why I play doubles is that my school team only has 3 girls in it while the guys have about 10 so I usually enter for both events, and another reason is my friend wants to be a doubles player, so I partner her in any doubles event :p.

[Joanne]

Yeah my coach coaches us both on doubles and singles. But I don't really like doubles because I can't co-ordinate too well. And my service in doubles isn't good, it's sometimes too high :eek:. And... well a lot more. My eye being at risk is another thing. Any idea how to get rid of that fear? Now whenever the shuttle is high at the net over the opponent's court I just DUCK!

[cappy75]

Joanne,

First thing you need to do is get a protective goggle for yourself. At least wear it while you recover from the terrible experience and while you play doubles. The wonderful thing about doubles is that you really have to work on coordination and rely on your teammate. After you get past the initial learning stage, you'll have so much fun playing it:).

Second is to work on your low serve, like Cheung and others said, it's the most important shot of the game. Try backhand service to lower the trajectory, trust me, it's easier than serving forehand.

Third, get into the habit of keeping your racquet up... always until the rally is dead.

Rotation is easy once you get used to your partner. Always start with offensive formation. Whoever on your team serves low, she stays at the front while the other person covers the back. Only change to side to side when one of you lifts/clears to the other side... that includes flick serves. The net player MUST choose a side of the court to defend FAST when the opponents go on offence, all the other person has to do is cover the remaining side. If either of you smash or drop, the other must cover the front.

[wood_22_chuck]

I used to wear an old pair of glasses while playing. Until it broke at the nosebridge area. I got smashed at in the face but the shuttle landed on the nosebridge part of the glasses ... it happened twice in the span of a month, I think. Then last week, I put my finger up to the nosebridge to nudge the glasses up, and it buckled and broke :D

I don't think I'd like my eyeball to sustain that kind of trauma, since I only play recreationally.

I'm getting some new protective eyewear soon, either sports goggles, or nice Oakley ones, depending on availability.

The drop-ins I play in, you get different levels of play, very rarely at competition level, so getting set up by your partner happens quite often :(

Also, you get guerrilla players, who take "killing at the net" to a stupidly ferocious intensity. I remember my partner at the back doing a slow crosscourt drop while I was at the front, and seeing my opponent running forward while doing a full-roundhouse windup. HOLYYYYY! And it didnt look like there was going to be a lot of control in that shot, so I just turned away.

Wear protective eyewear. They might be a nuisance. You'll be glad when you actually need 'em.

-dave

[chungg]

I have similar experience, maybe even worse, I got hit by my partner! :mad:

When I played men's double with my partner, we took front and back, then the opponent hit to the middle court and I can't reach it, I turn around and run to the back court to see if I can get it, but my partner was there! only 1 foot from me and he hit the birdy right to my left eye! Just as Joanne, my first thought is, "Am I going to be blind because of badminton?" Surprisingly, after 10 seconds, when I opened my eyes, I can still see things clear(I think my reflection to close my eye in time save me). Of course, I got a very red eye, but putting ice on it is really helpful. After 1 hour of taking ice, it looked only a little red, although I felt a little dizzy and somehow headache for a couple days, I fully recoverd from it.

My sincere advise is, never look back when your opponent is there! Losing a game is nothing, and health is priceless

[cappy75]

Hey Chungg,

Damn. That's really unfortunate. When I first started playing doubles I had the urge to go for shots that were just a little beyond me. In the heat of the game, we often try to go beyond what we could reach. I have clashed and bumped into partners so many times going for questionable shots. After awhile, I learnt to resist the temptation to overstretch myself by trusting my partners more. By remaining unambiguous about shots I could take (ie. prior discussion, proper positioning, calling of shots, backcourt player has priority of questionable shots), I minimize confusion among us. Best to always face the front, at least you can see where the shots are coming from:). Yeah, quite a bummer to get hit by friendly fire:(


I have similar experience, maybe even worse, I got hit by my partner! :mad:

When I played men's double with my partner, we took front and back, then the opponent hit to the middle court and I can't reach it, I turn around and run to the back court to see if I can get it, but my partner was there! only 1 foot from me and he hit the birdy right to my left eye! Just as Joanne, my first thought is, "Am I going to be blind because of badminton?" Surprisingly, after 10 seconds, when I opened my eyes, I can still see things clear(I think my reflection to close my eye in time save me). Of course, I got a very red eye, but putting ice on it is really helpful. After 1 hour of taking ice, it looked only a little red, although I felt a little dizzy and somehow headache for a couple days, I fully recoverd from it.

My sincere advise is, never look back when your opponent is there! Losing a game is nothing, and health is priceless