Page 18 - The Hockey Academy News June 2018

THE SHOULDER PAD IS CONNECTED TO THE SHIN PAD:
How do I know if my player’s gear fits?
Your hockey player is probably growing by leaps and bounds these days, and the expense of new hockey equipment is probably overwhelming at times. The need for new skates and sticks may be obvious, but what about the rest of your player’s gear? Brendan Sheehy, owner of TSR Hockey, has some great guidelines to answer that very question.
According to Sheehy, Pants are probably the piece of equipment that is often the most misfit and the player is wearing the wrong size, yet pants are among the most imperative to protect your player. The length of the pant is key to protecting the front and back of the lower thigh from pucks, stray sticks, and even the scary skate blade during a collision. However, the most important job of hockey pants
is to protect the player’s ribs and kidneys. Pants should cover up to the mid-chest region to correctly protect those vital organs. A player’s pants should fit from mid-chest to the knee and be loose enough to not restrict a skater’s stride. Pants do have different cuts so take a look at each brand to see which best accomplishes covering from mid-chest to the knee of your player.
A player’s shoulder pads provides protection - from the sternum to the collarbone - against pucks, sticks, and any other direct contact. Shoulder pads should fit tight to the collarbone down to about an inch above the belly button. The easiest way to tell if shoulder pads fit correctly is if the top of the pant and the bottom of the shoulder pad overlap. A player’s shoulder protection plays into elbow protection. On today’s shoulder pads, the bicep pad is adjustable and helps with the overall fit and comfort of the elbow pad around the arm. There should not be a gap between the bicep guard and elbow pad.
Wearing well-fitted skates has come a long way in recent months with foot scanners that take a 3D image of a player’s foot and suggests what fit family is best for the shape of the foot, instep, and heel. The most important aspects of fitting skates is not the length of the foot; instead, it is both the width and height of the foot that affects how well a skate fits.
A skate boot should wrap around the top of the foot and keep a player’s foot
securely locked in. A too shallow boot on the foot doesn’t give enough support and can cause the laces to dig into the top of the foot resulting in “lace bite,” a painful pressure point on the top of the foot and/or front of the ankle. A too deep boot on a shallow foot causes a sloppy fit which hinders agility and makes the boot break down quickly.
Once your player’s skate boot is fitted correctly, proper alignment of the foot/ankle is imperative for conserving energy, and preventing both joint pain and muscle fatigue while on the ice. If your player can feel the end of the skate with his/her toes, then it may be time for new skates. Skate stretching is an option that can make your skates last a bit longer. It is available at all TSR stores and can stretch your skate boot up to a half-size. Further adjustments can help relieve any hot spots on your foot and ankle.
While easy to tell when your player has outgrown their sticks, keeping in mind the guidelines above makes it easy to tell when they’ve outgrown their protective gear as well. Still unsure of fit? TSR is always available to help size your player and will recommend the fit family best suited for your player.
18 JUNE 2018 | THEHOCKEYACADEMY.COM