Eye and face protection: a rule in the UK, and for US juniors.

In the UK, the HPA's 2026 rules make eye protection compulsory for every player, and it is compulsory for juniors in the US under the USPA's 2024 rules. This page sets out each rule with its year, what the American test standard for helmet-mounted guards involves, and the related advice on gum shields.

Why the eyes need protecting

NOCSAE, the US body that writes the polo helmet and eye-protection standards, set its test speed at 90 mph (40.2 m/s). Its ND055 standard says that figure was confirmed in January 2001 by measuring 100 used balls hit with an offside forehand from 60 yards, with the horse moving at about 12 mph, and that ball speed at times went above 90 mph. The South African Polo Association's equipment guide describes balls travelling at nearly 100 mph. Either way, the ball is hard, small and fast, and other players' mallets are swinging close by.

The rule, body by body

This is one of the clearer differences between the two main rulebooks: the HPA requires eye protection for everyone, while the USPA's 2024 rules require it only for under-18s. The USPA revises its rules each year and its 2026 book was not reviewed for this site, so players in the United States should check the current edition. Clubs can be stricter than their national body, as the California Polo Club notice shows.

We found no FIP or AAP eye-protection rule in a readable primary source.

Glasses, goggles or a face guard

The HPA, Pony Club and SUPA rules treat all three as meeting the requirement. We found no test standard for glasses or goggles named in these rules. The Pony Club's safety section recommends face guards or goggles. The St. Moritz Snow Polo World Cup programme (2023) describes goggles or glasses as now a regular part of every player's kit there, and says interchangeable lenses are useful where light conditions change quickly, as they do on snow.

Face guards and NOCSAE ND055

In the US, the standard for helmet-mounted guards is NOCSAE ND055 (the version read is DOC.055-11m19, modified December 2019). It is written around the helmet the guard is fixed to:

• Test samples are mounted on helmets that meet NOCSAE's ND050 polo helmet standard and carry the NOCSAE logo.
• A polo ball approved by the USPA, new for each model tested, is fired at 90 mph at the front, at 45 degrees and at a random point, at room temperature and at low temperature.
• The ball may not touch the eye area, and the guard must not craze, crack or break.
• The packaging must list the NOCSAE-certified polo helmets the guard was tested on, with a warning that the guard is not NOCSAE compliant unless attached to one of those listed helmets bearing the NOCSAE polo logo.

In practice, that last point means a guard and a helmet are certified as a pairing. A guard fitted to a helmet that is not on its packaging list is outside the standard, even if it bolts on. NOCSAE's ND050 helmet standard records that in December 2019 its references to "face protectors" were changed to "eye protectors".

The USPA's 2024 rules do not say that eye protection must meet ND055, and the HPA's 2026 rules do not name a standard. Follow the helmet maker's and guard maker's instructions on which combinations are approved.

Gum shields and other face protection

• HPA 2026 (Part 2 Rule 2.3d(v)): gum shields are recommended, not required.
• Pony Club 2026: gum shields are recommended, and its safety section recommends having them fitted by a dentist.

Neither rulebook makes a mouth guard compulsory, and we found no USPA 2024 rule on them.

What to check

• The current eye-protection rule of your governing body, club and tournament. Junior, school and club rules can be stricter than the national book.
• For a face guard, the packaging list of helmets it was certified with, and whether your helmet is on it.
• That your eyewear matches the rule's wording. The HPA, Pony Club and SUPA rules name sports glasses, goggles or a face guard.

Eye protection works with the helmet, not instead of it. The helmets page covers which helmet standards each body accepts, and the balls page covers the ball the standards are built around.