When you’re a goalkeeper you’re going to find that there are a ton of different ways that you’ll potentially be able to craft your outfit. You could go with just regular shorts and a t-shirt or goalkeeper jersey. We’ve all done this at one point or another, but I don’t think it’s a long term solution. These days it’s really popular to wear goalkeeper leggings and just any shorts above those. There are actually benefits to this that I’m going to get to that shortly. You can wear full pants or ¾ pants as well. Finally, you could look into goalkeeper padded shorts. If you hadn’t guessed it from the title, that’s what I’m going to be talking about today.
There’s no question that certain goalkeeper equipment goes through phases. At this particular point in time we could say that goalkeeper padded shorts aren’t exactly in fashion. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should completely disregard them as an option for your goalkeeper outfits. I want to go through the pros and cons of these types of shorts. While also exploring how you usually have to craft the rest of your outfit when you choose to wear padded goalkeeper shorts. What I’m also going to do is give out a couple of my personal favorites for you to take a look at. Not all padded shorts are made the same, and that’s certainly something that you should take into account before you make a purchase. In fact, you first need to figure out if you want to wear these types of shorts. So let’s get started there.
Do Goalkeeper Padded Shorts Really Protect You?
I’m going to be completely honest with this one, and the answer is yes and no. What happens is that there’s no set padded pattern that all shorts have. Essentially each brand is going to put pads on the part of the shorts that they feel you need protection in the most. The most traditional type of pads are just literally two pads on each side that run from below the waist through your thighs. The bad part about these types of shorts is that they protect an area that’s not as vulnerable. For the most part your thighs are going to be just fine even without added padding. It’s usually right below or on the hips even where you need the most help. Also in that lower back part down to the tailbone is where you can get really hurt.
When you’re buying padded goalkeeper shorts don’t just be ok with buying shorts that have pads. It’s always going to be a good idea to get a sense for what part of your body those pads are actually protecting. That could also influence the size of the shorts that you want to wear. This can be weird advice, but you may want to take into account that these shorts usually have an elastic waistband. So the size of the waist is not as much of an issue as how the pads are going to fit on your body. You may benefit more from shorts that are a bit tight. Even if you wouldn’t necessarily wear shorts in that size for other activities.
Knee High Socks Are Virtually A Must With These Shorts
One of the obvious setbacks that you have when wearing shorts as a goalkeeper is that you’re not going to be protecting your knees. A lot of times these are going to be the most vulnerable part of your body. If you want to go with a really old school look then you can choose to wear knee pads with your shorts. Even in that case though you’d have to wear long socks to make sure that your shin guards are able to stay in place. That’s something to see right there; you’d look like a goalkeeper right out of the 60s or 70s. Even if you’re not wearing knee pads, knee high socks are a good idea to make sure that you at least cover up that part of your body.
If you’re going to go with this type of look I would recommend buying goalkeeper socks from manufacturers that are accustomed to making goalkeeper gear. If you just go out and buy whatever you can find that’s branded a soccer or football sock there’s a chance that they’ll be a little bit short. Even if they are able to cover the knee area they may cover it slightly. That means that as you move in a game or training your socks are going to come down, and your knees are going to be left uncovered. As I said already, goalkeeper padded shorts do nothing to help protect your knees, so you’re going to be in trouble. If you’re going to wear shorts go with knee high socks and the old school look!
What Do You Want To Look For In Goalkeeper Padded Shorts?
It’s certainly going to be easier for any goalkeeper to shop for shorts, pants or any padded garment when they’ve played the position before. I kind of alluded to this already when I talked about getting shorts with pads in that tailbone area. By the way there are not a lot of goalkeeper padded shorts with padding in that area. My guess is that manufacturers feel that it can limit mobility. This is also something that you have to take into account when you’re shopping for padded gear. These days there are a ton of padded boxers, or sliders on the market. Not all of them are actually designed with soccer goalkeepers in mind. So what you can get is an item that really limits your mobility. That’s certainly not something that you want.
The best way to go about this is to essentially figure out what hurts the most after training or games. I talked about maybe some of the areas that hurt me the most these days. It may not be the same for every goalkeeper out there for whatever reason. Once you have those spots sort of scoped out you can go ahead and look for either goalkeeper padded shorts or the padded boxer options to see which ones truly provide that extra layer of protection that you’re looking for. If not then you’re probably ok with wearing regular shorts. At least you wouldn’t really have a benefit from wearing padded goalkeepers shorts with pads that don’t cover vulnerable areas.
The Padded Boxer Option
If I’m being extremely honest this may just be the best option for someone who wants to wear shorts while playing goalkeeper, but wants that added padding. Don’t worry I’m still going to be talking about some of the different padded shorts that are on the market. Hear me out though about the padded sliders or boxers option. Essentially these are undergarments that you can put on instead of your usual ones, and they feature pads on them. I’ve heard that there are people who put their regular undergarments on then these. I never thought I’d talk about how to wear underwear on this site, but here it goes. For me, it’s better to have these sliders be your last line of defense. At times if you put something under them, it can feel bulky and uncomfortable.
At the end of the day you can do what feels best for you. The benefits that you’ll have with this option include the fact that they tend to feature more padding. I don’t know why that’s the case, but goalkeeper padded shorts in many brands have limited the amount of padding that they feature. With this padded boxer option you can find some with a ton of padding. As I mentioned though some of these aren’t necessarily meant for soccer. They could limit your movement, and that’s by no means ideal. Another benefit is that you’ll be able to turn any pair of shorts into padded goalkeeper shorts. It’s just that the padding will be on the inside.
Reusch Cotton Bowl Short
These Reusch shorts are like something out of a 90s or 80s goalkeeping catalog. For me that’s one of the reasons why you need to check them out. I’ve established at this point that the padded shorts look is something that’s kind of gone out of style. So if you’re going to be wearing these types of shorts you might as well go all out on a traditional look. These shorts are usually going to be a bit shorter than what you might expect from some options. The only thing that I would have to admit to not loving is the fact that the pads are small and don’t even cover your entire side.
What you need to pair with these shorts is a very colorful jersey. When I look at these shorts for some reason I’m reminded of the yellow and blue goalkeeper jersey that the Croatia goalkeeper wore at France 98. I don’t even know at the top of my head who was in goal for Croatia in that tournament. What I do know is that you’re not going to be getting a lot of protection from these shorts. In many ways they are an accessory at this point. Also, I would have to admit that they cater to a very limited audience. I’m old school. I would certainly buy a pair for myself to craft an old time outfit with one of the jerseys that I have from the time period.
Adidas Tierro Shorts
If you’re looking for a more modern cut these Tierro shorts are what you want to look into. They have the traditional Adidas design that has been made very popular by their tracksuits. One of the best things about these shorts is that they feature padding all the way up to almost the hip area. As I mentioned previously this is a part of your body that you’re going to want to protect. Not all of the goalkeeper shorts out there provide enough padding in that particular spot. In fact, this is an issue with leggings with padding, pants with padding and everything in between. Plenty of the shorts and pants that I’ve worn over the years have the padding start below the waist and that means that you’re leaving a very vulnerable part of your body unprotected.
Another thing that I feel is worth pointing out is that the price tag on these shorts is rather reasonable. They cost right around 30 dollars for kids and adults. When it comes to Adidas gear or Adidas anything it’s hard to find something within that particular price range. Especially shorts like these that can really be an asset for you as a goalkeeper. There are other options out there, but these are really the two that stood out to me. There are some Kelme shorts for example that maybe feature a little better padding than the Reusch option, but didn’t have that old school appeal.
Storelli BodyShield Unisex Goalkeeper Sliders
If you’re looking for gear that provides added protection to goalkeepers Storelli may just be the brand that you want to have as your first option. That can apply to knee pads, pants, elbow pads, and of course these goalkeepers sliders. There are actually multiple different versions of Storelli sliders. I would just say pick the one that features padding where you need it most. Some of their versions feature too much padding for my taste, and I hate running the risk of limiting my movement to give myself more padding.
Storelli has actually gotten so good at developing this type of gear that they’ve branched out and now offer their products for people practicing other sports, not just goalkeeping. That’s one of the reasons why you’ll see that some of their sliders feature way more padding than others. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad idea to get padding that’s maybe meant for another sport. Just as long as you feel comfortable and able to perform as a goalkeeper while wearing that particular item!
