Looking to buy your very first hockey gloves? I hope that you’ve got a good understanding of what you want and what you should be looking for!
But even if you’ve got a pretty solid idea of how much padding or breathability you need in gloves, sizing may throw you off quite a bit.
For me personally, picking size online is the most loathsome part of shopping for apparel. This applies not only to sports but also to stuff I wear casually. The reason for my hate toward picking sizes is because some brands have poor sizing instructions or even outright wrong sizing charts.
Still, picking your size right is extremely important. To hopefully help you spend your money well, today, I’m going to cover how to measure hockey gloves.
How To Size Hockey Gloves?
To determine the proper hockey glove size, you need to take specific measurements of your hands.
As a general rule, the right glove size would be double the distance between the base of your palm (where your palm transitions into the wrist) and the top of your middle finger. For instance, if you measure the distance and get 7 inches, the right size for you would be 14 inches.
If you get a non-integer result – e.g., 13.23 inches or 9.77 inches – you should round it to the nearest integer. This is because glove sizes are measured in whole inches.
Suppose your measurement has less than 0.5 inches over a whole inch, round the number down. As an example, 13.40 inches would be rounded down to 13 inches.
And if the measurement is more than 0.5 inches over a whole inch, round it up – e.g., from 13.55 to 14 inches.
If a brand doesn’t provide you with instructions on how to size the glove, you should follow this rule of thumb. If there is a size chart, follow its recommendations instead.
Hockey Glove Sizing Chart
Most makers of hockey gloves provide size charts to make picking a size easier.
Sizing is more or less similar across brands, but not always. If you are wearing a 10-inch glove from Bauer and want to switch to CCM gloves, don’t assume that 10 inches would again be the right size for you.
Manufacturers may define glove sizing differently, so you should always consult provided size charts.
Anyway, here’s a generic hockey glove size chart that should work for most gloves out there:
Generic Hockey Glove Size Chart | ||||
Glove size | Age | Player Weight | Player Height | Glove length |
8 inches | 4 to 7 | 40 to 60 pounds | 3’3” to 4’1” | 7-8 inches |
9 inches | 6 to 9 | 50 to 70 pounds | 3’9” to 4’7” | 8-9 inches |
10 inches | 8 to 11 | 60 to 90 pounds | 4’3” to 4’8” | 9-10 inches |
11 inches | 9 to 12 | 70 to 100 pounds | 4’7” to 5’0” | 10-11 inches |
12 inches | 11 to 14 | 80 to 110 pounds | 4’11” to 5’4” | 11-12 inches |
13 inches | 14+ | 120 to 160 pounds | 5’5” to 5’9” | 12-13 inches |
14 inches | 14+ | 140 to 180 pounds | 5’7” to 5’11” | 13-14 inches |
15 inches | 15+ | 160 to 200 pounds | 5’9” to 6’1” | 14-15 inches |
Among the brands that I know are using this or a very similar chart for sizing are Bauer and CCM. If you have a look at one of the gloves on the Bauer website, you’ll see that you can enter your age, height, weight, and the distance between the tip of the middle finger and the base of your palm to determine the right size.
Other brands – like Warrior – offer a slightly different sizing system:
Glove Size | Finger Base To Elbow | |
Youth | 8 inches | 7-8 inches |
9 inches | 8-9 inches | |
Junior | 10 inches | 9-10 inches |
11 inches | 10-11 inches | |
12 inches | 11-12 inches | |
Senior | 13 inches | 12-13 inches |
14 inches | 13-14 inches | |
15 inches | 14-15 inches |
I personally don’t like Warrior’s size guide, primarily because it’s more awkward to measure the distance between the finger base and the elbow. But if you’re shopping for gloves and come across such a size chart, you have no other choice than to follow it.
Now, it’s certainly nice to have a size chart to glance over when picking gloves. However, all these charts have one downside – they don’t take into account personal preference. And objectively speaking, they can’t do this – this is as accurate guidance as you will get.
Some people like their gloves to sit tighter, while others like to have more freedom around their fingers. Besides, a few people may have abnormally long or short middle fingers, which may throw off measurements as well.
Needless to say, in these cases, sizing charts may not be too accurate. So if you have some special needs or preferences, make sure not to ignore them.
How Should Hockey Gloves Fit?
Some people like loose-fitting gloves, whereas others prefer the gloves to engulf their hands more tightly. This merely is a matter of personal preference – the only thing that matters when choosing glove size is that your gloves should not interfere with your play.
Gloves that are sized too big may overlap with your elbow pads, limiting wrist mobility and annoying the heck of you. Overly long fingers may also flap around and restrict your dexterity.
In contrast, too small gloves will feel restraining on your hand and may even hinder blood flow. Small gloves may also not be able to protect you adequately.
First and foremost, you should make sure that your glove isn’t so small that it crushes your hands or is so big that it turns you into a clunky mess. Once you’ve got this sorted out, you may also play around with tighter and looser fits – choose whichever you feel is best for you.
Note that some brands are larger than others. Bauer, Easton, and CCM tend to have more snug gloves. In contrast, Easton Pro, Sher-Wood, and Eagle gloves are usually looser.
What Size Hockey Gloves Should I Get? Consult The Size Chart
So as words of parting, consult the size chart provided by the glove seller. If you don’t have past experience with a brand in terms of hockey glove sizing, there’s no better thing for you to do.
For the sake of simplicity, I would also recommend that you stick to one glove brand, if possible. Glove sizing is generally consistent within a brand, so if you decide to switch to new gloves from the same maker, you should be safe by choosing the size you’re wearing currently. Though there are, of course, exceptions.
