Shin guards
Fifteen minutes before kickoff is the wrong moment to figure out how shin guards go on. Tight fabric, sticky velcro and a sock that has to slide over everything take longer than expected. Use the visual support below to practise at home in calm.
Shin guards
A pair of blue shin guards.
About this visual support
It would be easier if shin guards could be practised in calm. In reality they appear in the car on the way to the match, with five minutes left and a coach waving the team in. The material is tight, the velcro is sticky from last training, and the sock has to slide over without the guard tilting. Three things that need to land at once.
A visual support doesn't help by being fast — it helps by moving the learning from the car to the kitchen table. Lay the cards out one evening with no time pressure and let the child rehearse. A concrete tip: put the guard on while the sock is bunched at the ankle, then pull the sock up over the guard in one clean motion. Same logic as a long sock over a knee pad — nothing slides.
If you want to assemble the whole match-day routine — bag, kit, water, guards, boots — you can set it up visually in the Routined app and print the picture cards at no cost.