heres just a quick question...would you rather have a shinguard that is lighter with less protection or a heavier, bulkier 1 that offers great protection i personally like the light shinguards, i use the nike j guards right now, but i also use a pair of osi shinguards against rough teams...what do people here use
I like protection myself. Getting guards that fit are more important for speed then weight (within reason of course). Actually, now that I think about it I havn't gotten hit on the shins for almost a year. But that hit was very serious - if I wore a wimpy guard, I might have broken my leg.
ya, i like the guards small because to me, the larger ones get in the way if i am trying to trap a ball from the air and i hit it a little bit up my shin. i usually don't get hit in the shins, but if i do, it hasn't been too painful...haha the other day this ref told a bunch of our players who had osi shinguards that we were not allowed to wear tehm because we needed the entire lower leg covered. I don't think he knew what he was doing.
i have adidas osi guards... kids sized ones. the perfect size... smaller the better when it comes to guards.
the small ones for sure. i have had several refs tell me they were too small, but I have yet to get hit hard enough were the shinguards caused me to be injured. I have been wearing them for several years now and play alot so it has worked for me and I will continue to wear them.
Looking to try the Nike OSI's...anyone know of a place to buy them online??? Eurosport was sold out of the size I wanted (M)...
I have Nike OSi's, but I got 'em too big and they drive me nuts. Unfortunatly, I'm on a tight budget (as in i have 15 bucks) and can't buy new ones. If I did, I would get OSi's w/o the stupid "extra protection" thingy in the middle and the S instead of the M. I wouldn't get any other kind besides OSi b/c I like the whole molding it to you leg thing.
I prefer the smallest and lightest pair I can find. I have noticed that bulky shinguards drastically effect your play on the field, but I can understand where some people would prefer the protection. Shin injuries are serious and very painful.
i don't know the kind i have but it has plastic that goes over the actual pad for extra protection. well i don't remember getting hit in them but i must have and hard cuz there is a crack down the plastic almost half way. they seem big and bulkie but when i have them on i can't tell. also i seem to remember being kicked in the ankle more then in the shin this maybe cuz i am a wing defender so sometimes i get kicked when the player followes threw on a shot or cross but that in my opinion hurts more then in the shin they need to work on ankle gaurds that you can't tell your wearing, the pair i got with my shin gaurds are terrible to wear and i have only done it twice cuz it is so uncomfortable.
These days I tend to go for protection first, having already had my left ankle broken twice by vicious tackles and having taken plenty of hard hits in both shins. I currently use Mitre Pro Spectra.
I think the OSI company went out of business. I heard Nike and adidas were going to come out with some OSI-like shinguards soon but haven't seen anything. I think the large Nike OSI guards at Eurosport are the only OSI's anywhere.
Thanks for the info. I picked up a pair of Puma Hyodoh guards, a tad bulky but very light and conforms to the leg well...we'll see how they play.
i thought that osi was a technology, and not a brand, i have some osi shinguards which are nice, but i like the really small 1s better
I have OSi genisis. I think they are 8 or 9", not sure. They are comfortable, not to bulky at all. I've got a friend that plays forward, and he wears some little 4" crap taped up halfway between his ankle & calf. I told him he was crazy and was going to get his legs broke, but he said he needed more speed.