Richard
I am a 48 year old high school and college football official and a dentist. I have a right sided hydrocele and it is not painful. I too, wonder if physical performance is degraded somewhat but don't see how they could logically be related. I have surgery scheduled for Dec 6 and while the surgery itself is simple, the recovery is pretty painful for several days. I would encourage your son to have surgery if it gets any worse and to make sure it is not causing any other problems with sterility, etc.