American football is a semi-extreme sport as we know it. The game requires immense strength, stamina, and well-built muscles along with passing and kicking practice. Also, shoulder pads for football feature more safety measures and protective gear than any other global sport, which makes it apparent that American football is a serious deal, and certainly not for the faint-hearted.
When hit during the play, the magnitude of injuries could be anything from bruises, bleeds, or broken bones to internal bleeding and organ damage. Although there have been ample precautionary measures put in practice during football games, the injuries somehow happen to hurt players frequently during the game.
Football players are loaded top to toe with protective pads, groin cups, and helmets to reduce the chances of serious injuries. For fresh players, the principal lesson would be to take care of their protective pads and to make sure that the pads are put on correctly. Let’s explore the procedure on how to put on the shoulder pads fittingly.
What’s Inside the Shoulder Pads?
Most commonly, shoulder pads for football have a plastic-made exterior with resilient foam padding beneath the outer shell. There are multiple sizes and qualities to select from when purchasing these pads. Make sure to find the best-fitting shoulder pads from trusted retailers for maximum safety and product quality.
For shoulder pads, the protection area comprises the shoulders, chest, and rib region. The pads are somewhat longer from the backside and shorter from the front. The fastening straps are wounded through the back and must be attached with the buckles located in front. The shoulder wings are completely made of plastic and protect players’ bodies from direct collusions.
How to Put on the Shoulder Pads?
Putting on the shoulder pads is the simplest of all the protective gear. Here are stepwise beginners’ guides on how to put on the shoulder pads correctly.
- Purchase a shoulder pad accordingly with your body size. Generally, a shoulder-to-shoulder measurement would suffice to get a perfect fit.
- Hands-on, unbuckle the straps.
- Now, wear the pads with a longer side (which includes straps) to the back and a shorter side (with buckles) to the front side.
- Hold on to straps from the backside and fix them with the buckles
- Tighten the straps unless the shoulder muscles are completely fixed with the pads. Simply move the shoulder muscles when fastening and adjust until they stop moving.
- For beginners, it is important to have an experienced player or a coach around to test the fitting. Ask them if it fits well before entering the field.
More Tips to Fit your Shoulder Pads Perfectly
After putting on the pads, make sure that the shoulder pads’ fitting holds with the rules described underneath:
- The wings or shoulder caps must line up with the acromioclavicular joint (a joint in the shoulder where two bones meet). The shoulder caps must not stay inward from the AC joint which indicates that either the size does not fit (too small or compact for the player’s body), or it must not be drawn outward from the shoulder joint (which means that the costume is of larger size and won’t fit well with the body).
- The frontal portion must cover the entire chest region. When putting on the shoulder straps, make sure that it entirely covers the sternum. If not, replace it with the one that does.
- The backside of the pads must protect the entire shoulder blade region to guarantee maximum safety.
