A leg pad (e.g., a hockey leg pad) for protecting a leg of a user, in which the leg pad is designed to enhance protection and freedom of movement (e.g., during skating strides), such as by providing flexibility of the leg pad proximate to a knee and optionally an ankle of the user (e.g., for extension and optional retraction of one or more parts of the leg pad) to better follow natural movements of the user's leg (e.g., bending of the knee and optional flexion of the ankle of the user).