Youth baseball cups and sliding shorts: when a kid needs one, how it should fit, and why it sticks out

When a kid needs a cup

• Tee ball and coach pitch: optional. Some leagues require it for the catcher position even here.
• Kid pitch (roughly 8–9 and up): yes, every player. A pitched ball, a bad hop and a throw in the dirt are all reasons.
• Catchers: yes, at every age, every inning, and most leagues write it into the rules. A catcher takes foul tips in the exact spot a cup covers.
• Infielders and pitchers: yes; ground balls and comebackers.

The rule of thumb: the day a real baseball is thrown by a kid, the cup goes on. Check the league's equipment rule; it is usually listed with the helmet and the catcher's gear on the equipment checklist.

How a cup should sit

Flat against the body, directly over the groin, with the wider end up and the narrow end down between the legs. The edges should sit on the pelvic bones, not float on the stomach or ride down the thigh. It should not move when the kid runs, crouches or slides. Shock Doctor describes its youth cups as “bio-shaped” with a “comfort-flex perimeter for a natural anatomical fit”: the curved edge follows the body so it does not dig in at the thighs.

Why it sticks out (and the fix)

Brief, boxer brief or sliding shorts

Whichever you choose, the pocket is the point. A garment without a pocket is underwear.

Sizes

Cups come in youth (sometimes “pee wee” for the smallest), teen and adult; the garments come in youth S/M/L by waist. Buy the youth cup for a kid under about 12 and size the garment by the waist measurement on the maker's chart, snug enough that the pocket holds the cup flat. The Shock Doctor youth picks below are sold as a cup-plus-garment pair, which removes the mismatch problem; the maker's pages list the youth sizes available.

Two youth picks