Buy Sports Gear That Fits the First Time
Posted by Burghardt Sporting Goods on Oct 2nd 2026
How to Buy Gear You Won't Have to Bring Back
Ten minutes at the counter in New Berlin beats a second trip with a receipt and a shoebox.
Every fall we watch the same thing happen at the counter. A helmet that fit in the box does not fit the kid, a glove turns out to be an inch too big, and a jersey order gets placed off a guess instead of a sizing sample. Most of it is avoidable in the store, in about the time it takes to find parking. Here is how we help people get it right the first time, and which purchases are worth slowing down for.
Know which purchases are final before you buy
Some of what we sell can come back and some of it never can, and the split is not obvious from the price tag. Anything we decorate for one person is made once and has no second buyer, so there is no version of that order we can undo after the press runs.
Comes back easily
- Footwear and apparel in resalable shape with tags on.
- Gloves, bags, balls, and protective gear inside 90 days.
- A sealed bat still in its shrink wrap, inside 30 days.
- Anything you are swapping for a different size.
Final once it is yours
- Anything with a name, number, or logo on it.
- Team and roster orders placed through a program.
- Special orders brought in for one customer.
- Opened mouthguards and supporters, used bats, gift cards.
Four things worth doing before you buy
None of these take long, and each one heads off the most common reason gear comes back to us.
Bring the player
Sizing charts are a starting point. A 12 year old can be two sizes apart from the chart depending on shoulder width and where they are in a growth spurt. Fifteen minutes in the store with the athlete present settles it, and we would much rather sort a helmet fit here than have you drive back on a Saturday.
Swing the bat before you own it
The Demo House sits right inside our batting cage area and lends bats and helmets free of charge. A player can take real cuts with a bat in one of the tunnels and find out whether the balance suits them before any money changes hands. It is the single best use of ten minutes in the building.
Ask for a sizing sample on any custom order
For team uniforms and decorated apparel, we can put real sample garments in front of a roster before production starts. Cuts run differently by brand and by men's, women's, and youth lines. A sizing session at the start of a team order prevents the one thing we cannot fix later, which is a printed jersey in the wrong size.
Keep the receipt and the packaging
Proof of purchase is what separates a clean refund from in-store credit at the lowest selling price. Hang onto the box for footwear and the wrap on a bat until the season is actually underway. An order confirmation email works as proof too, so search your inbox before you assume it is gone.
The growth spurt problem
Buying a size up so a kid can grow into gear works fine for a warmup jacket and poorly for anything protective. A helmet that shifts, shoulder pads that ride, or cleats with a thumb of space at the toe all change how a young athlete moves. Buy protective gear to fit now and plan on replacing it. Ask us about what will last two seasons and what will not.
Where people get tripped up
A few patterns come up often enough that they are worth naming. Bats are first. A bat cannot come back once the shrink wrap is off, which surprises people who have opened one to look at it on the kitchen table. Our sizing guide on choosing and sizing a youth bat covers length and drop weight, and the Demo House covers everything a chart cannot tell you.
Gloves are second. Pattern and position matter as much as the number stamped on the thumb, and a glove that is an inch too long never quite closes for a young player. Our post on glove sizing by position and age walks through it. Third is league legality, which no return policy can rescue. A bat or a helmet that does not carry the certification stamp your league requires is a problem discovered at the plate, so check the rulebook before the purchase rather than after.
We would rather spend fifteen minutes fitting it than fifteen minutes refunding it.
What to have with you when you come in
A short list that makes a fitting visit go quickly.
Bring this along
- The athlete, in the socks and base layer they actually play in.
- Current height and weight, and the gear that no longer fits, for reference.
- Your league or conference rule sheet if certification is in question.
- For a team order, a roster with jersey numbers and a budget per player.
- Any gear that needs repair instead of replacement, since we relace gloves and restring lacrosse sticks in house.
Custom orders deserve the extra care
Screen printing, embroidery, sublimation, and heat press all happen in our own shop in New Berlin, which means we can look at artwork with you, show you how a logo will sit on a chest, and hand you a sample garment to try on. That access is the advantage of ordering from a store you can walk into. Everything about how an order moves through the shop is on the services page, and our team sales staff will build a sizing run for any program that wants one.
Try it in the cages while you are here
Our four tunnels are walk-in with no reservations on the BSG Cage Card system, three standard and one HitTrax. Families use them as a fitting room for bats as much as a practice space. Borrow from the Demo House, take a round, and swap for a different length if the first one feels long. The batting cages page has hours and how the cards work.
Come get fitted in New Berlin
Bring the player, bring the questions, and leave with gear that fits.
15333 W National Avenue, New Berlin, WI 53151
Phone: (262) 790-1170
Hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM–9 PM, Sat 9 AM–7 PM, Sun 10 AM–6 PM
When you love the game like we do, you can't beat Burghardt! Since 1881.