Arm Guards - Tight or Loose?

[LaxUnited]

My son is 9 and is plays D and Attack. His old arm pads got too small, so we having been shopping for arm guards.

He likes the Warrior 5.5 guards, but according to the size chart, he should be wearing mediums. The mediums really don't fit snugly around his arms and, in fact, slide down with a gentle tug. The smalls fit, but the elastic is really tight around his arms and I assume he'll outgrow it really quickly.

I know it comes down to personal preference, but is it better to have arm guards that are loose or ones that are tight? When I say the smalls are tight, they are tight even when the velcro is barely tightened. They aren't killing his circulation or anything, but they are tight.

Thanks.

[spike191]

For a kid that young, and pads that are kinda high end, i would recommend you get the bigger pads. He will have time to grow into his pads, and if you buy them small you will just end up getting him a new pair the next year. Kids his age aren't really hitting that hard, any way so i would probably go with a regular arm pad rather then the guard. At the age of 9 you don't know if they are going to play the game the rest of thier lives or quit tommarow, so save the money.

[LaxIzKool]

Agreed!! Unless he's planning to play for like 4 more years get him mid end. But a great buy for them is the RBK 5k and 7k, i have the 9k absolutely love em!!!

[LaxUnited]

Thanks. I wasn't sure about the fit. I don't mind having to buy a new pair sooner, but wasn't sure if a tighter fit was better than a looser one.

I was hoping he could still wear his cheapo arm pads, but he's moved up to U-11 now, and the hitting/kids are much bigger.

Any other suggestions out there?

[spike191]

Ok, at the U-11 level there still isn't any amount of hitting that will injure him, would say he should probably stay with the pads he has unless he really needs new ones. There is a great way to convince him to stay with his small pads.

Show him this picture
http://www.lax.com/bimages/1888/42

Say this, "This is paul rabil, he is the best college player right now. Look at how small his pads are, and he plays against the hardest hitting players there are. It seems that tougher players play with smaller pads". That would probably cause him to stay with what he has.

[BeaverFondu]

The overall fit is not that important if you ask me really. When it comes down to it, if they are too big you can just use white atheletic tape to tape it down smaller. If he ever gets too big, depending on the pad you can cut a few parts of it make it fit more comfortably.

[HVlaxa7]

you should just get him a pair of cheapies

[LaxUnited]

Well, I definitely have to get him something new b/c the arm pads are way too small for his arms now.

[kevidinho]

Ok, at the U-11 level there still isn't any amount of hitting that will injure him, would say he should probably stay with the pads he has unless he really needs new ones. There is a great way to convince him to stay with his small pads.

Show him this picture
http://www.lax.com/bimages/1888/42

Say this, "This is paul rabil, he is the best college player right now. Look at how small his pads are, and he plays against the hardest hitting players there are. It seems that tougher players play with smaller pads". That would probably cause him to stay with what he has.

you can't really compare a kid that is 9 and probably under 100 pounds to someone that is like 22 and 220

plus if you say look at paul rabil, wear what he does the next thing he will say is dad i want the k18 shoulder pads arm pads and gloves because you told me to wear what the best players wear