Senior and youth players alike wear shin guards during soccer matches for good reason.
This piece of soccer equipment is fantastic at acting as a protective barrier for the legs as athletes compete, especially due to the intense nature of the sport which has its fair share of crunching tackles.
Getting the best soccer shin guards that are the correct size for your needs is very important.
If you’ve got a size mismatch between this piece of equipment and your legs, you run the risk of a suffering a serious hit to an unprotected part of your leg, which could leave you out of competitive action for weeks, or even months!
So, to avoid that sort of threat, you want to get yourself shin guards that fit correctly.
Worry not, because you’re in the right place to have this need met.
Let’s get started.
What are the different shin guard sizes?
In a general sense, shin guards come in five different sizes that are visibly distinguishable from one another.
These are as follows:
- Extra small;
- Small;
- Medium;
- Large; and
- Extra large
Sounds pretty straightforward, right?
Well, not quite.
How can a person who typically buys clothes in either medium or large sizes know what size of shin guard to go for?
Should they pick the medium, or instead go with the large?
That’s the tricky question that we’re now going to answer.
How do you know what size shin guards to get?
There are two sets of criteria that one can use in order to determine their soccer shin guard size fit, which are:
1. Player height
How tall you are is the primary indicator for figuring out what shin guard size will be the correct fit.
In this case, what you’ll want to do is remover your shoes, if you’re wearing any, and get the tape measure out.
Stand with your feet slightly apart and have your back parallel to a wall.
Tell a friend to take your height reading from the floor all the way up to the top of your head.
Once that’s complete, take a note of the height in centimeters or feet, whichever unit of measurement is more preferable for you.
You’re going to refer to it later.
2. Player age
Another way you can find out your shin guard size is through your age.
But this is supposed to be used as a backup method in case you don’t know your exact height.
Your age is a less reliable indicator because people’s bodies grow at different rates as they mature.
For example, a 14-year-old soccer player could be almost 6 feet tall and have long legs due to genetics, or because they just had their teen growth spurt.
You wouldn’t expect them to wear the same size of soccer shin guard as a 14-year-old who is markedly shorter.
So, that’s why age isn’t the best yard stick for this.
Soccer shin guard sizes for major manufacturers
Soccer shin guards are sold by various retailers in today’s sports equipment marketplace, and a number of manufacturers have their own bespoke size guides that they’ve crafted to help buyers select the correct shin guard fit.
With your height now a known quantity, you can now refer to a shin guard size chart to get the correct fit.
Here are the shin guard size charts for some of the biggest soccer gear manufacturers in the world, which you can use to inform your own purchase decision when it comes to fitting.
Nike shin guard size chart for adults (source)
Adidas shin guard size chart (source)
Puma shin guard size chart (source)
Mitre shin guard size chart (source)
Final thoughts
Now you know how your soccer shin guards should ideally fit.
You’ll want to use your actual height as the primary yardstick for determining what size of shin guard to purchase, although you can also go by age just in case you don’t remember how tall you are!
Hopefully this article has served a useful purpose for you.
If you enjoyed the read and want to learn more about soccer shin guards, then don’t shy away from having a look at some of our related content pieces, such as:
- Our post on why soccer players wear shin guards during games;
- Our detailed product roundup on the best youth soccer shin guards;
- Our 6-step guide on how to wear soccer shin guards properly; and
- Our comprehensive guide on how to clean soccer shin guards the right way
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