He took his shin pads off in the car park. Every single Saturday, before we had even reached the car.
Six things a soft shin guard gets right that four seasons of hard plastic got wrong, written down by a parent, not a coach.
Nancy Brooks · Customer · Melbourne, VIC · 5 min read
My son is sixteen and he has played Saturday morning football since he was seven. For nine of those years, the last thing that happened every week was the same: full time, handshake, and then him sitting on the kerb by the boot of the car peeling his shin pads off before we had gone ten steps. Sock down, tape off, pads flung in the bag. Every week.
I had put that down to him being a teenager. Then in April I stood behind him at training and actually watched what those pads were doing, and I realised it was not him at all.
What we use now is a soft one-piece guard from Cute Home, a small Melbourne outfit, and I have watched him play a full winter in them. He has not once taken them off before the car. Six things they get right.
The reason they slide is the shape, not the straps
Here is what I finally noticed. A hard shin guard is a flat-ish curved plate, moulded to one generic leg. My son's shin is not that leg, and neither is anybody else's. So the plate touches at the top and the bottom and gaps in the middle, and every step he takes it rocks slightly against those two contact points. That is the rubbing. That is the sliding. All the tape and grip socks in the world do not fix it, because the problem is that a rigid shape is being asked to sit on a shape it does not match. A soft contoured sleeve does not have that problem — it takes the shape of the leg it is on.
"Four seasons of my daughter saying they hurt and I thought she was being dramatic. She was not."
One piece, so there is nothing to tape
Our old routine was a plate, a sleeve to hold the plate, tape over the sleeve, then the sock. Four things, every match, and at least one of them always missing on a Saturday morning. These are a single sleeve you pull on like a long sock. The padding is inside it. There is nothing to slot in, nothing to strap, nothing to tape, and nothing left behind at the ground.
"No more Saturday morning hunt for the second sleeve. That alone was worth the money."
Two ounces, and he stopped noticing them
The pair weighs about sixty grams. That is roughly a slice of bread, split across both legs. Whatever you think about how tough kids are, a sixteen-year-old absolutely does notice weight strapped to his shins for ninety minutes, even if what you get about it in the car is mostly a grunt. He has not mentioned them since April, which from him is the highest possible review.
"He forgets he has them on, which means he actually keeps them on."
The padding spreads the hit instead of concentrating it
The pad is EVA foam moulded into a honeycomb of small hexagons rather than one solid slab. What that does is give the material somewhere to go — the cells compress and stiffen where the impact lands and spread the load sideways across the rest of the pad, instead of the whole force landing on one narrow strip of bone. It is the same idea as a bike helmet liner. I am not going to tell you it makes a kick painless, because nothing does. What I can tell you is he has stopped coming off with those long red welts down his shins.
"Fewer bruises after a heavy game. That is the whole reason I bought a second pair."
They go in the wash
If you have a football bag in your house you know exactly what I am about to say. Hard plastic pads do not really wash — you wipe them and put them back in a damp bag and by round nine the whole car smells. These go in the machine with the kit and they are dry by the next morning. That is a small thing that turns out to be a weekly thing.
"They wash. After eight years of football bags I cannot tell you how much that matters."
Sizes from three years old to adult, and seven colours
They run from XS for three to six year olds all the way up to XXL for adults, which means the same pair works for the under-sevens and for whoever in your house plays social on a Thursday night. Seven colours, including a camo one that my son chose immediately and which I suspect is doing more for compliance than anything I have said in this letter.
"Bought a pair for both boys and one for myself. Mine get more use than theirs."
One honest note before the price
Check with your club first. These are a soft contoured guard, and while ours have been fine all season, some competitions and some referees will only accept a rigid guard on match day. It is a two minute question to your team manager and it will save you a Saturday morning argument at the gate. For training, for the younger age groups and for social football, they have been perfect.
Soft guards, against the pads already in the football bag
We have owned six pairs of the hard ones. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
- A moulded plate that fits one generic leg, not your kid's
- Rocks and rubs because it only touches at two points
- Needs a sleeve and tape to stay put at all
- Four separate bits to lose before every match
- Cannot be washed, and the bag knows it
- A contoured sleeve that takes the shape of the leg
- Stays where it is put, with nothing to tape
- One piece, pulled on like a sock
- About sixty grams the pair
- Machine washable and dry by morning
About the price
I will be straightforward, because the price is what made me hesitate. They are $39.99, down from $79.99. That is more than the cheap plastic ones at the sports shop and less than the good plastic ones, and I had already bought six pairs of plastic over the years because he outgrew them or lost one.
Cute Home say the sale pricing is about selling direct with no middleman taking a cut. That is their arithmetic, not mine. Mine is that we have made it through one full winter on a single pair, which is one more season than any previous pair managed.
If your kid is peeling their pads off before they reach the car, it is worth knowing that is not just them being difficult.
— Nancy
FLEXGUARD ELITE SHIN GUARDS
- One-piece contoured sleeve — no plate, no straps, no tape
- Hexagonal EVA foam that spreads impact across the pad
- About 60g the pair, so they stay on and get forgotten
- Machine washable and quick drying
- Six sizes, from age 3 through to adult XXL
- Seven colours including a limited camo
- Free Australia-wide delivery · 30-day money back guarantee
About the writer. Nancy Brooks lives in Melbourne, VIC. She writes occasionally about the small things she has actually kept using. She is not affiliated with Cute Home beyond being a customer.
This page is an advertisement for Cute Home. Nancy's letter is shared with her permission. Cute Home · An Australian start-up from Melbourne · Free Australia-wide delivery · 30-day money back guarantee.