Best Skate Pads (2026): Wrists Break First

Why wrist guards come first

Falling forward, you put your hands out. It is a reflex, it happens faster than thought, and the force of your body arrives at a joint that is not built to take it — usually with your wrist extended, which is the worst possible position.

A wrist guard works by splinting. A rigid plastic or ABS plate runs along the palm and often the back of the hand, so the joint physically cannot bend past a safe angle, and the plate slides across the ground rather than gripping it. The energy goes into sliding and into your forearm rather than into the wrist.

That is also why the palm plate is smooth and slightly curved: grip is the enemy in a fall. A padded glove that grabs the concrete stops your hand while the rest of you keeps going.

The same logic applies to knees and elbows. A hard plastic cap slides, spreading the impact over time and distance. A soft foam pad grips and stops you dead, transmitting everything into the joint. Soft pads are fine on wooden rink floors and the wrong choice on outdoor concrete.

If you buy one thing, buy wrist guards.

Sizing, which is not done by your clothes size

Skate pad sets are almost always sized by the wrist guards, and Triple Eight publish exactly how: measure around your hand at the knuckles, then match the number.

On their scale, Junior fits roughly 6.0-7.0 inches around, X-Small 6.5-7.5, Small 7.0-8.0, Medium 8.0-9.0 and Large 9.0-10.0. Brands differ, so check the specific chart rather than assuming.

Get a tape measure rather than guessing from your glove or shirt size, because those correlate poorly.

Knee pads have their own failure mode. Too loose and they rotate on impact, so the cap ends up beside your knee rather than on it, and you land on fabric. Too tight and they cut circulation and get taken off after twenty minutes. Straps should be firm enough that you can hop without the pad moving.

Check the cap covers the whole kneecap when your leg is bent, since that is the position you land in. A pad that looks well placed standing up can slide clear when you kneel.

And wear them over thin clothing, not thick jeans, or the geometry changes.

Learning to fall, which is free and works

Pads reduce injuries. Knowing how to fall reduces them further, and skating instructors teach this in the first lesson for good reason.

Fall forward, not backward. Backward falls put your tailbone and the back of your head at risk, which is much worse. If you feel yourself going, get low and rotate to land forward.

Get low first. Most of the energy in a fall comes from height. Dropping into a crouch before you land converts a fall from standing into a fall from a foot or two.

Land on the pads. Knees and forearms, in that order, sliding rather than stopping. That is what the plastic caps are for.

Do not stiff-arm. The instinct to catch yourself on a straight arm is what breaks wrists — even with guards on, a locked elbow sends the force straight to your shoulder.

Practise on grass or carpet. Falling deliberately a few times, in pads, at low speed, replaces panic with something like a reflex. Ten minutes of that is worth more than the difference between any two pad sets.