Lacrosse Goalie Leg Protection Stack
When the new lacrosse parent takes a look at the average goalie’s legs, they typically have one question.
Where’s the padding?
The truth is most goalies don’t wear much leg protection. Unless you count a 0.5 cm thick pair of sweatpants.
There are many reasons why lacrosse goalie don’t wear leg protection but two of the most common are:
- I prefer to be super mobile
- It looks stupid, so I’ll get heckled
As I set out to find the best goalie leg protection, remaining mobile and remaining cool were very important criteria.
Awhile back on a Lacrosse Goalie Summit session I was talking about the ultimate leg protection for lacrosse goalies and envisioning a batman suit for the legs.
Protective enough to ward off small rubber bullets. Flexible enough to not interfere with running. Stylish enough that a young goalie would be proud to wear them. Someone in the chat called them the Damonators™ .
But until my Damonators are ready, here is my current recommendation for lacrosse goalie leg protection.
Lacrosse Goalie Thigh Protection
We’ll start with protecting our thighs. These are from Thigh Pro.
Originally developed for baseball catchers, the ThighPros are a pair of compression shorts with thigh padding built it.
They are sleek, feel comfortable and while a shot to the thigh while wearing these will not go unnoticed it will definitely protect against those multi colored bruises.
If you’re a goalie, you know what I’m talking about:
You still wear your lacrosse goalie jock over top of the ThighPros.
What I like about these is that they not only protect the top of the thigh but also a little inner thigh where us lacrosse goalies are susceptible to getting hit as our hip opens up to make a save leaving the meat of the inner thigh very exposed.
Some other lacrosse goalie pants put padding on the outside hip which I think is unnecessary. I played 4 years of college lacrosse and don’t recall getting hit on the outside of the hip once.
In many girl’s lacrosse leagues, padded pants are a requirement by rule (they’re just recommended – by me – in boy’s leagues not required by rule) and the ThighPros satisfy the rule while keeping you incredible mobile and comfortable.
The good folks at ThighPro were kind enough pass along a discount code to the Lax Goalie Rat community too.
Use coupon code LGR for 10% off any order of Thigh Pros.
Shin and Knee Protection Goalie Protection
Now that our thighs are protected, we’ll move downwards to the knee and shins,
By the way, is there anything worse than a shin blaster?
This protective device is called the Pro Slide.
It’s a compression sleeve that gives you knee and shin protection.
These were also originally developed with softball players in mind to cover the knee and shin during sliding on hard dirt.
However as it turns out the sleek design and knee/shin padding are perfect for lacrosse goalies looking for mobile lower leg protection.
Here is Lax Goalie Rat intern Madi Gardner modeling her Pro Slides:
Like the Thigh Pros, you’ll still feel it if you get hit in the knee or shin but it won’t hurt like raw rubber on skin contact.
Plus they come in a number of colors so they look incredibly cool. Remember style is a must for goalies to be willing to wear leg protection.
The good folks at ProSlide have given me a discount code that I can share with you!
Use coupon code LGR for 25% off – ProSlide.
Lacrosse Goalie Leg Protection Stack
So there we have it.
Combine the ThighPros with the ProSlides and you get thigh, knee, and shin protection all while staying relatively mobile and cool looking.
These is going to be a lot more comfortable and mobile than the traditional setup of bulky “lacrosse goalie pants” and baseball style shin guards:
Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Until next time,
Coach Damon
PS – Anyone else using something else for lacrosse goalie leg protection that I should know about? Leave me a comment down below.
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