Buzz
Sometimes it’s just a blob of grease, and other times it’s a synthetic patch. We've all seen baseball and football players with black stripes under their eyes on sunny days, which is believed to help cut down on the sun’s glare and assist athletes in tracking the ball better. But does it really work?
The idea behind eye black is that it minimizes the glare hitting your eyes because the black color absorbs most light wavelengths. In theory, the extra light from your peripheral vision will be absorbed by the black, boosting the contrast of the objects you are directly focusing on.
Several studies have been conducted in the past ten years, including ones by the University of New Hampshire and Yale University. Although these studies, along with others, started with doubt and produced slightly varying outcomes—considering factors like eye color and gender—they all agree that traditional eye grease made of beeswax, paraffin, and carbon does reduce glare and enhance contrast sensitivity. They all also concluded that anti-glare stickers and petroleum jelly have no effect.
"We initially expected to find that it was more about psychological advantage, like war paint, than anything else," Dr. Brian M. DeBroff, the lead author of the Yale study, told The New York Times. "We were surprised to discover a benefit from the grease."
Though the effect was somewhat modest, DeBroff has adopted an 'it can't hurt' perspective on its use in high-intensity sports situations.
"In football and baseball, where tracking a fast-moving ball is crucial, any edge could be valuable," DeBroff explained.
However, researchers are still uncertain about how much the reduction in glare and enhanced contrast translates to a tangible on-the-field benefit. Dr. Kenneth Fuld, chairman of the University of New Hampshire’s psychology department and the sponsor of the study conducted by the university, highlights that tennis players perform at a high level without using eye black.
"I would be very skeptical about it having much of an impact, if any," Fuld remarked.
While it's entirely reasonable to chalk it up to coincidence, it’s interesting to observe that last year's top two NFL receivers in receiving yards, Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions and Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans, both consistently wore eye black during their games.
