Over the last few years there’s been a bit of an evolution of soccer goalie pants. When I started playing the game about 20 plus years ago we’d just gone from the old school baggy pants that you saw Stallone wear in Rocky. Many goalkeepers still trained with those types of pants into the early 90s. Then pants with more of a stretch fit made from materials that were better suited to exercise in started making their way on the market. Those types of pants are essentially still around today. The main upgrade if you will is that now we have leggings. I have an article on leggings already though, so this time around I do want to cover just soccer goalie pants.
One of the first things that you’re going to notice when you’re out there buying pants is that there are different lengths to the pants. For many years now the ¾ pants option has been very popular amongst goalkeepers. I have to say I’ve been one of those goalkeepers who certainly embraced this fashion trend whole heartedly. There are some down sides though to these types of pants. Particularly if you’re playing on a very rough field and you are looking for an option that’s going to help you cover your knees. Could you go ahead and use knee pads to solve that issue? Sure, that’s an option, but maybe you just would want to use the full length pants instead.
Can You Use Soccer Goalie Pants In A Game?
The answer to this is yes, pretty much across the board. In fact, there are still some goalkeepers that wear pants on a consistent basis. Although to be honest those goalkeepers like myself are on the brink of extinction. This is something that happened to me recently in a game, and it can serve as a good learning point particularly when you’re dealing with picky refs. Technically the fact that you’re wearing pants doesn’t mean that you are able to not wear shin guards. You can probably imagine my surprise when a ref in the old timers Sunday league 7v7 game didn’t want to let me play in my usual outfit. In fact, the issue was that I wasn’t wearing socks, not even shin guards.
When you’re wearing full pants you’re going to be able to hide that fact much better. In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to do this week because I left all of my socks back at my parents’, because I never use them. When you’re playing more competitive football there’s of course an even bigger chance that you’re going to come across the ref that actually wants you to pull up the long pants to see if shin guards are there. The answer is yes to wearing them in games. You may want to make sure though that you’re also wearing socks and shin guards.
Pants vs Leggings – What’s A Better Option?
I did a whole article on leggings already, and what I keep coming back to is that comfort level is so subjective. It’s a shame sometimes because if the big brands decide that leggings are in and pants are out they start making it harder for people who want to stick to the old trend to find the type of apparel that they like. In any case, I feel the good thing about leggings is that since they are tighter the pads that you have on those leggings actually stay in the right place. With sagged pants like the ones we wore back in the day at one point the knee pads started covering my shins. That was also because I was a bit smaller back then, but you get the picture.
In the same breath though I can understand if someone feels like they can’t really move all that well with tights on, (that’s essentially what leggings are). I like the fact that you can use the leggings for the extra protection and still complement your outfit with some shorts. When you’re just wearing the black soccer goalie pants then you can’t really mix and match your outfit all that well. If you feel fine having to wear something that is a little bit tighter than what you may wear on a daily basis, and you feel that you can move just fine then leggings may be the better option for you. When that’s not the case then there should be no shame in looking into goalkeeper pants. It’s really as simple as that.
Places Where You Really Should Be Wearing Pants
I think I’m going to die alone on this hill, because I keep seeing amateur, and professional goalkeepers playing and training in turf fields with regular shorts. I’ve said this before, a lot of the girls that do this surprise the most. They wear shorts that would make the old time goalkeepers proud not even getting close to their knees. People who do this could use my own arguments against me. It’s a comfort thing and I just don’t feel comfortable wearing soccer goalie pants. Fair enough, but I just can’t see how you’re going to be able to consistently train hard in those types of fields with short shorts. Yes, the old timers did it, and look where it got them! Wear soccer goalie pants on hard fields, as well as hard, and hot turf fields.
That’s my advice, you can take it or leave as is the case with anything and everything on this site. When you’re training as a goalkeeper even if you’re not at a pro level you’re putting the hurt on your body from time to time. In my perspective it makes sense to want to protect yourself more so that you can literally live to fight another day. Now, again my arguments could be used against me. I’ve said I’m not a big fan of knee and elbow pads. If the ground you’re playing on is literally a rock by all means go and try to find ways to make things more manageable. Now that I’m getting close to 30 the toll that training takes on my body is much steeper than it ever has been. Make things easier on yourself from the beginning.
¾ or Full Pants What To Go With
On a personal level the ¾ pants are a favorite of mine. I do recognize though that there are plenty of disadvantages to this type of apparel. For example, when I used to wear it for training, and I wasn’t wearing knee high socks, scraping your knees like you would with just your regular shorts was common. Since the pants don’t necessarily wrap around anything they used to lift up rather easily. So your knees are left uncovered. That has changed with some of the newer models out there. They now have a tighter end that kind of wraps around your calf muscle. If you have some built up calves then these types of pants would work great for you. It’s like the best of both worlds, the movement of shorts, and the protection of pants.
The traditional long pants are part of my apparel for indoor games, and other spots where I know that I’m going to be playing on fields that are a bit rougher. Just so that I don’t take any chances. They are also a great outfit for those morning training sessions when it’s a bit chillier. You may feel that the pants start to get a bit heavy. Especially if the grass is wet, and that can take a toll on you later in the training session. That could be a good thing though, making your sessions extra challenging. Training and very rough fields are spots where full pants are a good idea in my book.
Brands of Soccer Goalie Pants What Works Best
Should you be looking for particular brands of soccer goalie pants? Here are a couple of things that you may want to account for regardless of what brand you end up buying. As someone who has worn clothes from brands on every end of the spectrum I feel the difference is obviously in the quality of the pants themselves, but sometimes it pays to wear cheap pants. Currently I have pants from two Mexican brands called Rinat and Buffon. Rinat is a more established brand, and provides a little better quality products. Buffon, not as established, and the pants even feel harder. Guess which pants I wear to the rougher surfaces where I play? The Buffon hard pants of course.
What I’m potentially trying to get at with this analogy, is that you’re going to look better in the Adidas, and Nike options. Puma had some very unique designs back in the day. You may be better off though looking into options from Reusch, Uhlsport, Storelli has presented some very interesting options in recent years. Look for something that you can mix and match with your outfits, but that is going to provide the right type of protection for you. Especially if your plan is to use these pants for your daily or weekly training sessions. There’s no shame in going out there and buying some utility clothes from brands that you may be aren’t too familiar with at this point.
Do You Still Need Extra Protection In Spite of Wearing Pants?
This is going to depend on where you play, and also previous injury history. You may find, as I have, that later on your career things start to hurt a bit more. There shouldn’t be any shame in trying to look for options to minimize your pain. I had a knee issue a while back for example. So I opted to use more of a knee brace than a knee pad. What I was looking for at the time was extra protection right below the knee cap. I found something that Nike offered which was a good option for me. To be honest though I wore that around with ¾ goalkeeper pants. I didn’t necessarily want to wear it over or under the full pants.
As is the case with many of the things that I’ve said about goalkeeper equipment in general, Ideally you’ll want to find things that you’re comfortable with. You want to make sure that whatever you’re wearing doesn’t limit your movement, and therefore your ability to play. Sometimes though, safety comes first, and you may need to sacrifice some movement. Particularly if you’re going to go play on a very rough field where you are afraid that you’re going to hurt. Sometimes adding that extra layer of protection can provide the peace of mind that you were lacking. Again, there’s no shame in needing or wanting to use extra protection. It all comes down to a personal preference though.
Soccer Goalie Pants Conclusion
Ultimately it’s about finding what works. In other articles on the site I’ve been an advocate of using pants, particularly if you’re training on a daily basis. It’s usually a good way to limit the bumps and bruises that come with the territory of playing in goal. For those people who are training on a daily basis at a high level they know that limiting some of the damage is something that you’re always looking for. You can try other avenues like using leggings. This is an option that a lot of people would argue gives you better movement than regular pants. Particularly if you have pants made from older materials that didn’t necessarily favor movement all that much.
On the other side of the argument though, there are goalkeepers out there that find leggings way too tight! Some of the old school keepers have had a rougher time adapting to new gear. Everything seems to be getting tighter and smaller. Even if you’re fit, and you look good in that type of gear you may prefer something a bit more baggy for comfort. Whatever the case may be, I would prefer pants or leggings over shorts any day. Especially for daily training just because of the number of times that you’ll be hitting the ground that day.
