Shoulder Pads
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I got good advice about mouthguards for my son coming back to rugby, so thought I would try again about shoulder pads.
What are people's thoughts on them? Do they help kids with their confidence in contact? Are they comfortable to play in?
When the boy moved from Ripa to tackle, he was not having a good time with the contact. I wasn't fussed about what sport he played as long he was doing some sort of team sport, so we switched last year.
Now he's back wanting to play rugby with his mates, missing a year of tackle practice. So I'm trying to think of ways to keep in fun for him and to learn to enjoy the contact and not avoid it.
Thoughts?
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No idea for kids but I find them comfortable to play in (if you get decent ones). The most comfortable ones i had were well fitted and came down to just below the ribcage, others that are longer have been annoying as they always ride up unless taped strongly. They really do make a difference to the knocks though.
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TR Jnr used them for about 3 seasons, some say it gives kids a false sense of security, while others they simply protect.
He liked wearing them, was one kid that said he was soft for wearing them, but as I overheard I nipped that by pointing out ABs that were wearing them at that time.
All about comfort, plenty of kids wear skins or similar nowadays, and normal pads arent much more than that, unless you are Bryan Habana
TR Jnr hates headgear though.
I liked wearing them, especially in the UK, kept me warmer
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@taniwharugby said in Shoulder Pads:
TR Jnr used them for about 3 seasons, some say it gives kids a false sense of security, while others they simply protect.
He liked wearing them, was one kid that said he was soft for wearing them, but as I overheard I nipped that by pointing out ABs that were wearing them at that time.
All about comfort, plenty of kids wear skins or similar nowadays, and normal pads arent much more than that, unless you are Bryan Habana
TR Jnr hates headgear though.
I liked wearing them, especially in the UK, kept me warmer
That was another factor, I remember one game a few years ago where both teams turned blue. One left the field in tears, and nobody could catch a ball.
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@Kirwan said in Shoulder Pads:
@taniwharugby said in Shoulder Pads:
TR Jnr used them for about 3 seasons, some say it gives kids a false sense of security, while others they simply protect.
He liked wearing them, was one kid that said he was soft for wearing them, but as I overheard I nipped that by pointing out ABs that were wearing them at that time.
All about comfort, plenty of kids wear skins or similar nowadays, and normal pads arent much more than that, unless you are Bryan Habana
TR Jnr hates headgear though.
I liked wearing them, especially in the UK, kept me warmer
That was another factor, I remember one game a few years ago where both teams turned blue. One left the field in tears, and nobody could catch a ball.
You played in the UK too then?
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@Kirwan said in Shoulder Pads:
That was another factor, I remember one game a few years ago where both teams turned blue. One left the field in tear
well at least you dont have to play in bare feet
NRU, well Whangarei kids in boots this year from start.
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@taniwharugby said in Shoulder Pads:
@Kirwan said in Shoulder Pads:
That was another factor, I remember one game a few years ago where both teams turned blue. One left the field in tear
well at least you dont have to play in bare feet
NRU, well Whangarei kids in boots this year from start.
Flashback to playing rugby standing on white grass as a kid, in bare feet.
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Actually discussed it with my boy last week as he said one of the other kids in his team wears "armour" under his jersey lol. Phin said wasn't keen but has gone for head gear (mums request).
He's not a big kid but not small either and probably middle of weight range for his grade. Will be interesting to see how he goes. Could possibly be back here in a few weeks asking for recommendations
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@Kirwan How old is your kid?
I can't really remember size and power being any sort of issue until under 14s a little bit with the biggest kids - under 16s definitely.
If he's just graduated from Rippa rugby, I'd think it's more an issue with being taught a good technique.
Tackling around the waist and then just linking your arms and sliding down is very effective for kids. It won't cut it in the ABs, but it will stop most kids.
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@Chris-B. said in Shoulder Pads:
@Kirwan How old is your kid?
I can't really remember size and power being any sort of issue until under 14s a little bit with the biggest kids - under 16s definitely.
If he's just graduated from Rippa rugby, I'd think it's more an issue with being taught a good technique.
Tackling around the waist and then just linking your arms and sliding down is very effective for kids. It won't cut it in the ABs, but it will stop most kids.
He's 9 and he's fairly tall, but not overly heavy. Same size as most of the backs in his team.
He's a good 10kg lighter than the heaviest forward (one of the red socks players).
I'm thinking of ways of giving him the confidence to try and get into those right positions and not try and grasp the at the player.
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@Kirwan We didn't have such things as shoulder pads in the dark ages when I played.
But I was a very small kid and picked as an ace defender with my "wrap around the waist and slide down technique".
I can't really think that shoulder pads will physically do much good, but they might give some confidence.
I think a lot of it is more about getting your head out of the way of being kneed or kicked, so finding the right technique to get the head behind the tackle is probably a key.
Going a little bit higher (around the waist) removes the knees from the equation - though our coach's favorite expression was "Go Low"!!!
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I'm probably overthinking it and he'll be fine. It's a big jump from 7 to 9 (the last time he played).
Can't assess where he's at because he broke his arm three weeks go so can't watch him practice.
Way fitter than I thought he was, must run all day at school cause he sure likes his screen time.
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Do most kids in NZ wear headgear these days? My sons are 8 and 11 and only 1 or 2 kids in their teams don't wear it. My eldest being one of them because it messes up his hair. Facepalm.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Shoulder Pads:
Do most kids in NZ wear headgear these days? My sons are 8 and 11 and only 1 or 2 kids in their teams don't wear it. My eldest being one of them because it messes up his hair. Facepalm.
So he's a back? My condolences
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@Rancid-Schnitzel I dont see many kids wearing headgear, maybe 1 or 2 per team usually.
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I wore shoulder pads after I wrecked my shoulder the second time. Just lessened the impact a bit, and provided a bit of mental security as well i think.
Had the same pair of Canterbury ones for years.
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I guess it's different for everyone, and I can only comment from my experience of using them as an adult...but I found headgear and shoulder pads bad for technique. I found they gave me a false sense of security and I found myself becoming lazy around my tackling technique. This also became more pronounced as the game went on and I began to tire. I did find headgear worse in this regard, but in the end I gave up both.
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@booboo said in Shoulder Pads:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Shoulder Pads:
Do most kids in NZ wear headgear these days? My sons are 8 and 11 and only 1 or 2 kids in their teams don't wear it. My eldest being one of them because it messes up his hair. Facepalm.
So he's a back? My condolences
No he's a farking lock which makes it even harder to stomach.