Itech’s player jocks are something of a standard these days. While a few guys are still using the old style jocks and a garter, most players have switched over to the new style jocks with Velcro to hold up their socks. Of these Itech’s loose fitting shorts probably have close to half the market with WSI’s compression jock shorts taking up a big chunk as well. While the jock short is a great idea for forwards, they might be . . . well, an immensely painful decision for a goalie.

A bit about goalie jocks and why this one isn’t good
A traditional athletic supporter, which has no padding, replies solely on the cup for protection. While this is enough for players who might get am occasional love tap in the . . . uh, down yonder area . . . it simply doesn’t suffice for goalies. A thin piece of plastic isn’t nearly enough to keep a rock hard puck moving in excess of 70 Miles per Hour from . . . well, causing serious issues on the home front. Thus, goalie jocks use a hard plastic banana style cup in a heavily padded supporter. They protect not only the goalie’s . . . er, bits . . . but the entire pelvic area.

The idea of putting the cup in a pair of shorts with Velcro was a good idea for forwards as it combined two pieces of equipment and there was no call for additional padding. However, very few goalies wear hockey socks, and even if they did, the leg straps on their pads do a fair job of holding them up.

This isn’t the major issue in the Itech jock goalie. The lack of padding is. The shorts themselves have no real padding. They are a thin, ventilated, polyester material – similar to athletic shorts. The various straps that hold the cup in place are attached to the inside of the pants. More detrimental than the lack of padding is the lack of a hard cup in the shorts.

Instead, Itech’s jock shorts have a soft foam cup that covers the goalie’s . . . uh, cherished body parts. This piece of soft foam is about ½” thick and intended to cover the entire pelvic area. Not only is it too small to do this as effectively as a traditional goalie jock, the fact that it is soft makes it completely worthless in its most important duty.

In a position where I have had grapefruit sized bruises through ¾” thick foam that is much denser than what Itech uses in their jock, there is no way that I would consider protecting the future of my unborn children with this product. A foam cup is the most foolish idea that I can imagine.

Recommendations
I would very hesitantly recommend this product only for very young children playing goalie, as they will not face hard shots. However, I think that a generic cup and supporter would not only serve them better, but is much cheaper. For the rest of the world, unless you don’t care about your . . . royal gems . . . don’t even think about buying these. Oh, and if you’re wearing hockey socks at the goalie position, I would recommend a pair of Under Armour heat gear pants instead. They’re more comfortable and you don’t need a garter belt.

© Scott Noble – Unauthorized use prohibited

Recommended: No