Goalie Equipment Sizing

Leg pads are sized by measurement, not height. Take two: mid-ankle to mid-knee (outer ankle bone to the centre of the kneecap), which sets your base pad size, and mid-knee to mid-thigh, which indicates how much thigh rise you can carry.

Where your knee should land

On a senior pad, sizing with about 1.5" of growing room keeps control while leaving space to grow into. On intermediate, junior and youth pads the knee stack is smaller, so aim for the centre of your knee roughly 1" below the centre of the stack. Measure to the centre of the knee, not the top where it meets your thigh — get that wrong and you will miss the stack entirely in the butterfly.

If you have finished growing, land directly in the middle of the knee stack.

Start from your age and the measurement from the heel of your palm to the tip of your middle finger, then confirm the fit by hand.

Catcher

Your palm has to line up with the glove's palm so the trapper closes without excessive force. If you have to squeeze hard to close it, the break sits in the wrong place for your hand — a different model will suit you better than a different size.

Blocker

Your fingertips should sit close to the seam, or within about half an inch if you are still growing. The wrist strap belongs across the wrist bone rather than above it.

The job is complete coverage without limiting range of motion, so start from the chart and then check four things on your body.

The arms should end just before the wrist bone, so your catcher and blocker cuffs close the gap. There should be a small gap between the collar and your neck — you should be able to look down freely in your ready position. The belly should stay covered when you drop into the butterfly, and nothing should ride up over your collarbone.

A unit that fails those checks is the wrong size regardless of what the label says.

Goalie pants carry far more protection than player pants — reinforced hips, squared-off thighs, and a beefed-up waist — and they are built for lateral movement rather than skating back and forth.

Match your waist to the chart on the product, but do not treat an exact match as essential. Many goalies deliberately wear pants wider than their waist for net coverage, mobility and comfort, held up with suspenders or by the pads themselves.

Some brands list an oversized waist. Where they do, add roughly 8" to 10" to your measured waist to find your size.

Measure your head's circumference about 1" above your eyebrows, keeping the tape parallel to the ground the whole way round. If you are using a hat size, use a fitted hat that is neither tight nor loose.

Four checks for a proper fit

The temples and cheeks should sit snug against the foam, with little or no visible gap either side, so the mask cannot shift laterally. The chin should be cradled without pressure. Your sightline through the cage should be clear and unobstructed in your stance. And the backplate should tension evenly without pulling the mask off your face.

Fit beats price here: a well-fitted entry-level mask outperforms an ill-fitting premium one.

Paddle height is the measurement that matters — the wide section, from the heel of the stick to where the paddle meets the shaft. It sets your depth in the ready stance and positions your blocker.

Stance depth varies far more between goalies than height does, which is why this is the most subjective sizing on the site. Younger goalies in particular often end up on a taller paddle than their height suggests, because their stance is not yet as deep.