Goalkeeper Glove Wrist Closures

There are many different types of closures on keeper gloves, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

Velcro Hook-and-loop wrist closures are quick and convenient. However, they do not hold the glove in place as reliably. Also, they introduce a plastic piece behind the glove wrist which may be uncomfortable.

V-notch wrist closures are the least complex, most convenient in terms of applying an removing the goalkeeper glove, and least effective.

Bandage wrist closures wrap snugly around the wrist, and most high-level goalkeeper gloves use this type of closure. The disadvantage is that these gloves may be rather slow and difficult to apply and remove.

Goalkeeper Glove Palms

• The palm is the most important, fragile and expensive part of the goalkeeper glove.
• The goalkeeper glove palm receives the most wear, and it is the most important part to keep clean and moist.
• The level of grip in the palm area depends on the materials used to make the glove.
• Most palms of goalkeeper gloves are made of a smooth latex foam, which provides the best grip.
• Dimpled and textured latex gloves are also available. They offer more durability but their grip is not as great as pure latex foam gloves.
• Some manufacturers also employ chemical treatments to increase the tackiness of the latex foam glove.
• Typically, the better the latex, the better the gloves will perform.
• However, very high quality latex is extremely fragile, so high-quality goalkeeper gloves may deteriorate more rapidly.
• Cheap goalkeeper gloves tend to have lower quality, harder, and more durable foam.
• Therefore, many keepers use two pairs of gloves--one for games and one for practice.

Goalkeeper Gloves

Goalkeeper gloves are an essential piece of equipment for any competitive soccer goalkeeper. Goalkeeper gloves perform two primary functions. First, their soft palms provide cushioning, which prevents injury and makes it easier to catch the ball. Goalkeeper gloves also usually feature a tacky latex foam material on the palm that helps the goalkeeper catch the ball.

Best Goalkeeper Ever?

The IFFHS took a poll on the “World’s Best Goalkeeper of the Century”. The following are the top 20 goalkeepers on the poll.

1. Lev Yashin
2. Gordon Banks
3. Dino Zoff
4. Sepp Maier
5. Ricardo Zamora
6. José Luis Chilavert
7. Peter Schmeichel
8. Peter Shilton
9. František Plánička
10. Amadeo Carrizo
11. Gilmar dos Santos Neves
12. Ladislao Mazurkiewicz
13. Pat Jennings
14. Ubaldo Fillol
15. Antonio Carbajal
16. Jean-Marie Pfaff
17. Rinat Dasaev
18. Gyula Grosics
19. Thomas Ravelli
20. Walter Zenga

Communication Between Head Coach and Goalkeeper Coach

A soccer team which has a goalie coach is very lucky. If a soccer team is lucky to have a head coach and keeper coach who communicate their training objectives to one another, the goalkeepers and the team will profit greatly. Harmony and communication within the entire group, not just between the field players, is of the utmost importance to a successful team performance. The goalkeeper must develop a sense of responsibility within the team. He or she must be involved as a vital element of the team.

All players on a team are assigned crucial roles and it is important that they recognize how each other functions in order to form a cohesive unit. When we coordinate our efforts with the efforts of others we speed the way to the team goals. This type of cooperation builds success.

We all know that the goalkeeper is very distinctive and has special demands to confront in a match that are very different from the field players. So, the goalkeeper requires special training to meet these special skills. Training keepers on separate islands away from the team has some merit, however to maximize the keeper’s contribution to the team, the keeper must interact in all phases of team development.

As a result of the four step rule, back pass rule, and now the six second rule, the role of the goalkeeper is changing. These limitations not only affect the goalie, but they also affect the team as a whole.

Goalkeeper experts are not the best goalkeeper coaches. It is the game that is the best goalkeeper coach. However, a knowledgeable goal coach can guide the keeper by combining the assessment of technical efficiency, psychological makeup, and the physical aspects of training with the strategic aspects of matches.

When you fit the goalkeeper into the team training, you will be able to address such issues as: Shot handling and crosses under pressure, initiating the attack from the back, back pass strategies, defensive restarts, off side trap, spacing between the keeper and defenders, team communication, etc. It is also important that the goalkeeper’s voice is familiar to his or her teammates. Not only the tone of the voice, but the terminology as well. A well organized defense sees fewer shots and thus concedes fewer goals. This organization needs to be trained.

Choosing a Goalkeeper Camp

What should a goalkeeper should look for in choosing a keeper camp? I believe that the first factor in this decision is the age of the keeper. If he/she is High School aged and has plans to play college soccer, there are two things to consider. First, does he/she have an idea of what College he/she would like to attend? If he/she does then it would be an excellent idea for her to attend the camp of that college’s coach. This will give her an excellent opportunity to be seen by the head coach and the staff as well as give the keeper an opportunity to experience the staff’s coaching style. It’s one thing to hear about a coach’s style but another thing to see it and experience it up close and personally. For example, if I was a junior in high school and I was interested in attending Harvard University I would try to attend a Harvard Soccer Camp. If they did not provide adequate keeper training, or were disorganized in the running of the camp, then I would have to give a great deal of thought to whether that was the type of organization I want to be associated with.

If you are selecting a camp without regard for college exposure and experience the most important factor to consider is the training you will receive at the camp. Fancy facilities and swimming pools and things like that are nice, but they won’t affect the training at all. It really comes down to who is doing the training and what exactly they’re teaching. I’ve been to some big well known soccer camps where the keeper training was completely inadequate. The first day of camp, I have seen keepers diving over each other to show their ability to extend on dives when these keepers didn’t know how catch the ball properly. The uneducated observer might think it was pretty cool to see the keepers doing that but I believe it’s borderline negligence. If the coaches don’t coach within the capabilities of the campers then they are not doing their job. In choosing a camp, check out the keeper coaches. Are they qualified? Are they simply college players with no background in coaching who are following a schedule without regard for the level of the campers? Are they capable of coaching different players at different levels at the same time? Unfortunately, none of these are easy questions to answer. What makes a coach qualified? Certainly not coaching licenses since there are too many coaches running around with A licenses who don’t know a damned thing about keepers (or about field players for that matter). I guess the best indicator is history. Has the keeper coach successfully coached quality keepers in the past? In using history as an indicator, there is always the qualifier that is used in investments "prior success does not guarantee future success" but it is probably the best determination. If at all possible, check out the keeper coaches in a training situation prior to signing up for a camp. I realize this is difficult to do but it’s the best thing I can think of at the present time.

One of the difficulties with some of the big camps out there is that the "name" coach doesn’t show up often or doesn’t do any of the coaching. This does not mean it’s a bad camp but rather it just means that you have to do more research to find out who will be doing the training and find out about them. If you contact a camp to find out who will be doing the training and the camp wont tell you then in my opinion; this speaks volumes about the camp.

There are a lot of arguments for and against isolated keeper camps Vs keeper camps connected to field player camps. Rather then getting into it here, I will simply say that you need to determine what is best for you. I have worked at both and think both types can be very effective if done properly.

When it comes to talking about big keeper camps, there really are two. They are Tony DiCico’s SoccerPlus and Joe Machniks Number One Goalkeeping Camp. Both are very intense, high level camps that are also very expensive. I believe most people leave the camps feeling they were worth the cost but when I say they are expensive, I am talking about $600-800 dollars per week.

Weight Training and Goalkeeping

Many goalkeeper coaches will advise top-level goalkeepers against serious weight training. The reason is that it can result in excess bulk, which slows down the goalkeeper, and it also can decrease flexibility when not done correctly. For goalkeepers it is especially important to have flexible latisimus dorsi or "lats", in order to achieve full arm exension.

The stretch that this goalie achieves depends on the flexibility of the muscles in his arms, chest and back.

Figuring Out Your Glove Size for Goalkeeper Gloves

To find out your goalkeeper glove size, measure (in inches) around your hand with a tape measure across your palm. You should use your dominant hand (the right if you are right-handed, and the left if you are left-handed).

Step 1. Measure around the hand at the widest part
Step 2. Measure from the tip of the middle finger to the base of the hand
Step 3. Use the BIGGER of these two measurements for the correct size glove
Step 4. If you are RIGHT handed, take measurements from your RIGHT hand
Step 5. If you are LEFT handed, take measurements from your LEFT hand.
Step 6. The number of inches measured equals the size of the glove

Example: A 7" measurement equals a size 7 glove

Use the goalkeeper glove sizing chart below.

How to Wash Goalie Gloves

Knowing how to wash your goalie gloves can improve the life and performance of the gloves, and prevent odor. There are two major reasons why proper goalkeeper glove maintenance involves regular washing.
Mud and other material accumulates in the foam palm of the glove, which reduces its grip, and may cause drying of the foam.
Sweat accumulates on the inside of goalie gloves, which causes them to stink.

Washing the Palm of Goalkeeper Gloves
STEP 1: Run lukewarm water over the surface of the glove.
STEP 2: Squeeze the glove to release dirty brown water. Do not wring or twist, because the goalie glove foam is very fragile.
STEP 3: Continue until water squeezed from glove runs clear.

Washing the Inside of Goalkeeper Gloves
STEP 1: To combat odor, focus on the inside of the gloves. Many goalie gloves don't breathe, so that’s where the smell gathers.
STEP 2: Run lukewarm water.
STEP 3: Lather up using a MILD soap. Do not use a powerful detergent or bleach. Reusch makes a special soap just for goalkeeper gloves, but it's just an ordinary mild detergent.

STEP 4: Avoid getting too much soap on the outer palm. Place soapy water in the inside of the glove. Pull on a glove, cleaning the inside by wiggling your fingers around.
STEP 5: Rinse gloves thoroughly.
STEP 6: Repeat for other glove.
STEP 7: Let the gloves air dry. One good idea is to use the Velcro wrist closure to strap them to the shower curtain rod.