We generally spend a lot of our time talking about football boots and football shirts. That’s only natural, because they are a footballer players most important tools- There is however one man on the field, who has an item he depends on even more. I’m obviously talking about the goalkeeper and his gloves. Well it’s time we shine some light on it here.
If you’re an experienced goalkeeper, then you probably already have a favourite goalkeeper glove. Maybe you already know the different technologies; which cut you feel most comfortable with, which latex construction you like the best, how much protection you need and which fit you suits you best. If however all of this seems like a little too much at once, then you need our help.
Let’s just kick things off right away by saying; to figure out and understand the different goalkeeper glove technologies is very confusing, but I’ll try to take you through all the essential points to look at, when you are on the lookout for new gloves. Through the coming weeks we will be looking at different elements and this week we are checking out the glove construction, also known as the gloves cut.
The cut mainly affects two things: The fit and grip you have on the ball. There are tons of different ways variations, but basically they all come from the most popular cuts, which are the Flat/Traditional cut, Rolled/Gunn Cut, Negative Cut, or Hybrid Cut. All the other constructions you may have heard about all stem from these.
Flat/Traditional Cut is the completely traditional construction with a flat palm and backhand. The fingers are stitched together on the sides, with outer stitchings and gives you the same feeling a traditional glove would.
Among the gloves you find the:
Precision Schmeichology Flat Palm
Negative Cut basically means that the stitching is placed inside the glove. This gives a tighter fit around the fingers and a more natural grip on the ball.
Among the gloves you find the:
Uhlsport Ergonomic 360 Supergrip HN
Uhlsport Fangmachine Absolutegrip Finger Surround
Precision Schmeichology 5 Negative Contact
Rolled/Gunn Cut is the construction that gives you the most latex to ball contact. Here the palms latex is wrapped around the fingers and gives you a larger area, with grip on the ball. This construction is considered the most popular with keepers currently.
Among the gloves you find the:
Hybrid cut is, as the name implies, a mixture of different cuts. Here the Negative cut and rolled cut are often combined to give an even tighter fit around the fingers.
Among the gloves you find the:
Precision Schmeichology 5 Hybrid
In this blog post I have focused on the different cuts, which are most commonly used on goalkeeper gloves. In the next episode I’ll be looking at the latex used by the brands. How do you like your goalkeeper gloves to fit - Tight, or do you like your fingers well protected?