How to Put Goalie Pads On

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 28, 2021 References

Goalie pads are an essential part of a hockey goalie’s gear. They prevent your legs and feet from getting injured by the puck when you’re blocking shots. Before you can put on your goalie pads, make sure to wear the appropriate base layers and additional protection like goalie jock pants and knee guards. After you put on your pads, top it all off with a chest and arm protector to keep your upper body safe and you’ll be almost ready to hit the ice! With the right protection, you can feel confident getting in front of a fast-moving hockey puck.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Putting on Your Base Layer

1
Put on comfortable pants and a shirt for your base layer clothing. Put on leggings, track pants, or sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt or moisture wicking shirt. These are the base layers that you wear underneath your pads.^{[1]
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- Goalies don’t usually have to wear hockey socks under their pads.
- Make sure your base layer is comfortable and breathable, since goalies tend to sweat a lot, but not baggy either.
2
Pull on goalie hockey jock pants and pull the straps to tighten them. Step into the pants and pull them up around your waist, then tighten them using the straps. Goalie hockey jock pants have more padding and offer more protection than the regular hockey jock shorts that players wear.^{[2]
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- Goalie hockey jock pants have a built-in jock as well as other built-in padding. These will protect your groin and midsection from the puck.
- This applies for female players as well. The jock protects female players’ pelvis region.
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3
Strap on your knee guards. Place your knee pads over your knees. Secure them tightly in place using the attached straps.^{[3]
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- These provide additional protection for your thighs and knees underneath your goalie leg pads.
- Don’t put shin guards on underneath goalie pads.
4
Get into your goalie skates and tie them. Place your feet into your skates. Lace them up and tie them onto your feet tightly.^{[4]
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- Make sure there are no loose ends of the laces that will drag on the ice or get stepped on.
- There is no special way to put on your skates as a goalie. It is the same as putting on regular hockey skates.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Strapping on Leg and Chest Pads

1
Orient the leg pads with the logo to the outside of each leg. The side with the goalie pad brand’s logo has thicker padding and always goes towards the outside of your legs. This provides the most protection for your legs when you go down on the ice to block a shot.^{[5]
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- Putting the pads on the opposite legs can result in injury because the thicker padding is not in the intended place.
2
Tie the toe laces of the pads through your skates. Sit down on a bench and lay a pad out, frontside-down, in front of 1 of your skates. Weave 1 of the 2 laces attached to the bottom of the pads through the holes in your skate blade, then weave the second lace through the holes in the opposite direction. Tie the laces together on top of your skate using a double knot. Repeat this for the other side.^{[6]
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- The toe laces help keep your leg pads centered securely on top of your skates to protect your feet and ankles.
- The leg pads have 2 laces coming out of the very bottom of the pads where they sit over your toes.
3
Feed the bottom straps of the pads through the backs of your skate blades. Kneel down on top of the goalie pads. Put the strap at the very bottom of 1 the pads through the back hole in your skate blade, pull it to tighten it all the way, and buckle it on the other side of the pad. Repeat this for the other side.^{[7]
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- Make sure that the loose ends of the straps are tucked away and can’t slip underneath your skate blades.
4
Buckle the rest of the lower straps loosely from the bottom up. There are usually 3 more lower buckle-style straps. Wrap these around the backs of your legs loosely and buckle them into place on the other side of the pads. Make them just tight enough to hold the pads on your legs, but loose enough that the pads can rotate side to side.^{[8]
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- Stay kneeling on the pads while you buckle the rest of the lower straps up.
5
Sit up and buckle the remaining straps from the lowest to the highest. Get up from the kneeling position and sit on a bench. Buckle the remaining 2-3 buckle-style straps behind your knees. Press any additional Velcro-style straps into place behind your knees.^{[9]
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- The upper straps should be tight enough to hold the knee covers in place and not let them flop down, but loose enough that the pads can still rotate side to side.
- Different leg pads may have slightly different straps that secure different components like thigh and knee pads in place. However, all the different pads are always attached to the same leg piece, so tightening all the straps will fasten all the components in place.
6
Slide your chest and arm protector over your head and arms. Lift the chest and arm padding up over your head and arms and slide it on over your torso, so it rests on your shoulders. Pull on all the straps to tighten them and secure it in place.^{[10]
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- Your chest and arm protector should cover your entire chest, abdomen, shoulders, kidneys, and arms right down to your wrists. There shouldn’t be any areas that aren’t protected by padding.
- This is the last piece of padding that goalies wear. All you’re missing now is a jersey, a helmet, and a goalie stick!

Warnings

Make sure that there are no loose strings or straps after you put on your goalie pads that could get caught under your skates.

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