Quidditch is not yet played enough to have equipment catered to it.  Quidditch players must use gear from a variety of other sports to help their quidditch play.  This article will explores which features will be adopted by quidditch specific equipment.  

Pads

Soft pads are allowed under the USQ rulebook but currently, players rarely wear them.  Light pads covering a player’s chest, ribs and/or shoulders would spread out impacts without impeding throwing. 

Some gridiron football players were padded compression shirts under their hard pads.  In the future, similar pads could be common equipment, lessening injury risk from tackles.  

Gloves

Some quidditch players wear gloves to help catch and throw.  As the sport grows, more gloves will become standard equipment in quidditch, like they are in gridiron football.  

Football gloves have significant grip to allow one-handed ball handling.  They allow greatly assist catching with one or two hands.  Some players will find the added grip helps them throw, others will prefer wearing just on glove on their non-dominant hand, and throwing with the other.  

Quaffle

The current quaffle is a slightly deflated volleyball, which, due to size and smoothness, is difficult for many players to grip.  The quaffle could go through a similar evolution as the team handball which started as a soccer ball.  Over time, it shrunk for better one-handed handling.  The team handball also added tack to it’s coating, making it easier to catch.  

The netball has also been suggested as a quaffle option.  It smaller than a volleyball, but not as small as a team handball.  It also is tackier than a volleyball because it’s designed to be palmed.  

Either change to the quaffle would aid offenses, as ball-handlers could better fake throws and disguise hand-offs.    

Cleats

Nearly every quidditch player wears cleats, and most are soccer cleats.  These are not the ideal quidditch cleat because quidditch features more lateral movement and contact than soccer.  

The ideal quidditch cleat would support the ankle with a mid-cut to limit stress while moving laterally and playing through contact.  Soccer cleats are all lower cut, meaning that the cleat offers no ankle support.  A mid-cut cleat provides more ankle support without overly restricting ankle movement.  A high-cut would be too restrictive for quidditch.  

The ideal quidditch cleat would also not have a toe stud.  Soccer cleats lack a toe stud, unlike football or lacrosse cleats, to help players control the ball with their foot.  The toe stud helps players push off the ground from a bent positions, which is not common in quidditch.  Removing this stud also lessens the chances of stepping on another player’s fingers.  

Conclusion

Quidditch equipment will likely evolve in surprising ways but the ideas suggested in this article will likely come to pass.