Stripper shorts

With recent strides in technology and production, hockey kit producers have been able to design a pair of shorts that best suits the goalkeeper’s needs; using strips of strong foam around the leg (with thick padding at the hip and body area to cover when sliding or going down to block), providing a hybrid of quality protection with the flexibility needed for explosive movements in jumping or diving, as well as helping leg movements for kicking, given the active nature of the position.

 

The ‘stripper’ short design has pieces of foam that wrap around the keeper’s leg to fix to the individual’s leg width (for best fit), with a velcro strapping system to hold them in place, leaving gaps around the groin/thigh to allow for the groin guard to fit within the shape without interference (as shorts can often become tighter as they stretch to fit the jock; limiting your chance to move), which maximises the movement possible for forward and sideward drives. There is thinner and flexible padding inside to cover the inner thigh and groin as well.

 

Obo’s Hot Pants design is the pioneer of this unique design, matching the keeper’s playing needs for enhanced movement as well as strong protection. The TK GX 1 padded short, is actually a stripper short, with the leg padding attaching together separately. Gryphon have also produced something similar, as have Monarch, along with Mercian’s international shorts.

 

strip_short

 

Pros

  • High level of protection for the top levels of play

  • Work well with the keeper’s ‘box’ to help stop possible interference when moving

  • Great speed of movement provided, without the cost of shot stopping safety

  • Easier to take off and put on when padding up due to the strapping design of linking the parts together – you can ‘tie them’ on when standing, rather than having to pull on the shorts!

 

Cons

  • Only problem is the cost!

3 thoughts on “Stripper shorts”

  1. i love my robo hot pants to bits. one small question to OBO about the price – how come they cost £195 now? when i bought mine 2 seasons ago, they were only £140. i don’t understand how the same product can go up by almost 25%, even with inflation etc.

    1. Most of the change would probably have been due to the high value of the New Zealand dollar (NZD, the currency we trade in) relative to the GBP. The NZD increased in value by 20% against the GBP! resulting in a price increase we of course have no control over.

  2. A problem i have with the stripper shorts is how to keep ’em in place. I really don’t feel very confortable with them as i allways have the feeling of them slipping away downwards. So they come in conflict with my legguards and also the protection is not in the right place. A teammate reported me about the same problem.
    My question is: are we alone or is anybody out there with similar problems ?!
    For me the solution was getting a Yahoo bored short which i really love. The only problem is, that they don’t give the same protection to the upper leg as a Robo short! So my wish to OBO was to have a short in the style of the bored shorts with the protection of the Robo shorts 🙂

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