Product Review: Nike T90 Shin Guard

Recently, I was approached by the good guys at SoccerPro.com, an American based website who specialise in selling football gear, to put several products through their paces.

This opportunity couldn't have come at a better time. Having just played in a five-a-side match, I had the misfortune of being kicked in the shin, bloody hard I hasten to add, by one particularly enthusiastic opponent. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem had I been wearing shin guards, but repressed memories of wearing flimsy pieces of plastic which made my legs move like a Cyborg's meant I hadn't actually worn any for over a decade, despite playing pretty much daily during my teenage years.

As a result, I decided that enough was enough. My stubbornness had gone on for far too long and something was now telling me that I should give in and get a pair.

So, whilst browsing through the vast amount of products available on SoccerPro's comprehensive website, I came to the shinguard section and selected a pair of Nike T90 Air Maximus shin guards

The first thing that attracted me to this pair was the fact they were made by Nike, a company who have produced the goods time and again when it comes to sportswear and sports products. The blue and silver design looked smart, and the ankle protection was also a key selling point for me, as it ensured that the guards would stay in place on my leg.

Yesterday afternoon the products arrived, an impressive two-week delivery time considering the distance that the products had to travel, from the USA to the south east of England. As luck had it, I was due to play five-a-side again that very evening, and am now able to give my own thoughts of the products strengths and weaknesses after playing for 90 minutes last night.

The shin guards wrapped around my leg snugly, with an almost perfect fit. The simplistic design made it easy to slip on, and the quality of the product meant that it didn't feel like I had two broadsheet newspapers stuffed down my socks.

The ankle protection was also a bit of a novelty, and the fact that they're removable means that if you don't fancy the added feature you can simply take them off as they're conveniently attached by Velcro. For me personally, I opted to wear them, and for some strange reason that I couldn't quite fathom, the added ankle protection gave me the false confidence of feeling like a professional football.

I was dressed like Ronaldinho, I'd surely be able to play like Ronaldinho!

Well, not quite... I did at least score, but was sadly lacking in any sort of Samba-esq flair when I took to the AstroTurf. The fact that I didn't transform into a Brazilian football God because of my new shin guards shouldn't be attributed as a negative point for the product, they done their job perfectly.

Running around like a headless chicken, I forgot that I'd had shin guards on at all. Even when I was teed up for a volley, hitting the ball felt totally natural, and when I did receive a bit of a kick on the pitch, the shin guards protected my leg and saved me another embarrassing episode of rolling around on the floor like an Italian footballer who'd just been snipered.

10 years on from my Sunday league shinguard fiasco, I have now been reconverted thanks to the Nike T90 Air Maximus shin guards

I'd thoroughly recommend them to anyone thinking about investing in a pair of shin guards, and at just $23.75, or roughly £14 in British money, it'd be hard to get such good value for money elsewhere on the market.