How to Size Football Shoulder Pads

Hi. I'm Doug from SportsUnlimited.com. I'm here with Zach. He's about to start his first year of tackle football. Today we're going to show you how to properly size youth football shoulder pads.

The first step you're going to do is measure the player's chest circumference. Can you lift your arms up? You want to take your tape measure and wrap it around the player's chest just under the arms. You don't want to pull it too tight, but make it taut. It looks like we have 24 inches for Zach.

The next measurement you want to take is the player's shoulder width. Have the player lift up his arms. You want to feel for two indentations in the player's shoulder right at the end of their arm bones. Take the tape measure and put it on that first indentation. Then stretch it across to the other indentation and record the measurement. We have ten inches for Zach.

The last measurement you want to use to size your shoulder pads is the player's weight. He's about 60 pounds.

Once you have all your measurements you can go to the shoulder pad page on SportsUnlimited.com and either the View Size Chart link here, or scroll down and see the size chart and compare your measurements. Zach is a double extra small in the Schutt Y Flex shoulder pad.

After you receive your shoulder pads, fit the shoulder pads on the player to ensure proper fit. Place them over the player's head. Be careful not to scratch his face. Next, tighten the front tie straps. Then take the under arm straps and connect them. You want them to be tight but not cut off any circulation in the player's chest or arms.

Shoulder pads should fit comfortably on the player's shoulders, not pinch the neck or the collar bone. And then you also want to check that they extend about an inch off the end of the shoulder on each side. You want to check the coverage in the front and the back. Can you turn around? Make sure it covers both shoulder blades and the chest. And then if you could lift your arms up. And when the player lifts his arms up - straight up - you want to make sure the coverage remains once the player lifts his arms up. Okay. You can turn around.

Then you could have the player perform some football moves just to make sure the shoulder pads work right and fit right. And that's how you properly fit your youth shoulder pads. If you have any questions or concerns about the fit you can contact our football experts and they'll be glad to help you