Have you ever been watching a soccer game on TV, and you see that at the end of the match the goalkeeper takes off his or her gloves, and starts ripping up tape everywhere? The fact of the matter is most pro goalkeepers wear tape when they are going to play. Now, I actually have an article on taping your wrists. Now I want to talk about the benefits that you can have when it comes to taping your fingers. Do you have to make a full tape from the wrist all the way to the fingers like a boxer? Actually no, that’s part of what I want to talk about. Ultimately there’s no one right way to set things up to obtain the most goalkeeper taping benefits. You have to find what works for you, and especially you have to know which benefits you’re shooting for.
Arguably one of the biggest issues that I have with taping is the fact that a lot of times it’s done kind of aimlessly. It’s not the same thing to want to tape your fingers as a goalkeeper as it would be if you want to tape your ankle. For ankles, you want the extra stability, and you can tape essentially as tight as you’d like because you don’t need too much sensitivity in the area. When it comes to your hands you want the extra protection, but you still need to make sure that you can move your hands enough to make clean catches. Therefore, you won’t want to have pounds of tape on like a boxer. So with that in mind let’s tackle the goalkeeper finger taping benefits.
Goalkeeper Finger Taping Benefits – What “Benefits” Can You Really Achieve
What you’re trying to achieve with taping your fingers is reducing the possibility of a finger injury. That’s going to include anything from a minor sprain to a full break. How is taping your fingers going to help you avoid injuries though? So basically one of the main issues that causes finger injuries is the fact that the glove is a bit too wide for your fingers. What happens is that the finger is more likely to bend inside the glove and then cause injuries. So what you want to do with taping is essentially adding support for your finger and that’s going to reduce the risk of injury. At least that’s what we’re trying to do.
When you have this type of situation where your finger is in fact a lot thinner than the glove finger adding that extra support is going to help you avoid injuries. When you’ve got a finger that really fills up the entire glove you’re not going to be at as much risk of injury. Why is it though that pro goalkeepers that seemingly have enormous hands still tape their fingers? It has to do with the extra support. A lot of goalkeepers have grown accustomed to that feeling. So they just keep tapping their fingers as part of their routine. Even if in theory the goalkeeper finger taping benefits are not as extensive.
How You Want To Tape Your Fingers
I mentioned before that as goalkeepers we usually don’t want to tape our fingers like a boxer would. What you’re looking for is that extra support or to just make your finger a little bigger. A lot of you are going to want to tape along the joint points because these tend to be some of the most fragile parts of the finger. At the same time though you don’t want to limit mobility too much to the point where the tape is going to be affecting your catching technique. The simplest form to tape your fingers would have to be using different pieces of tape to wrap it around the tip of your finger and then middle joint point.
When I’ve had fingers broken it’s exactly in these joint points where the breaks occurred. So essentially what you’re trying to do is strengthen those joints. You can go ahead and tape all of your fingers in those joint points. Sometimes it’s just one or two fingers that you need extra help with. The pinky can be extra vulnerable if you will. A lot of times for obvious reasons. It can be the finger that’s hanging out there loose within the glove. Don’t think that because your pinky is not as useful it’s not worth tapping it up. If you have a very specific issue on another part of the hand you may want to reach out to a specialist to come up with a taping method that works for you.
Does The Type of Tape That You Use Matter?
Yes, there are actually a couple of things that you’re going to want to account for. I’m not saying that you have to go out and get some special type of tape. I’ve ended up using all sorts of tape when I’m faced with an emergency. Usually though there are a couple of things you want to take into account. You want to use tape that’s going to hold up if you start to sweat. One of the things that happens is that because it can get hot inside the glove you start to sweat. Some of the tapes out there are not going to hold up well against slippery wet surfaces like your fingers can become.
Another one of the things that you want to account for is how thick a tape is. You could technically use tape of any level of thickness. The thing is, if you use a thin tape you’ll need to make sure that you wrap it around maybe a couple more times. If you’re using thicker tape then you’re going to be ok with fewer go arounds. Some tapes are not going to be friendly to someone with tiny finger hairs. That’s also something that you’re going to want to take into account. These are just kind of minor details though. Really you can make due with many different types of tape. That’s not to say though that all tape is going to feel just as comfortable or will be as effective for that matter.
How Common Are Finger Injuries?
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but they are fairly common. It’s one of those awkward situations where not all the goalkeepers that you’ll meet will be able to boast having been through a broken finger issue. Just kidding, that’s not something that you want to boast about! However, most of the goalkeepers that you’re going to meet who have been doing this for a while are going to have crooked fingers. Some of the crooked fingers are just insane, some are more manageable. Having crooked fingers is a sign that you’ve played between the sticks for a while. As I mentioned you can have crooked fingers without ever going through a broken finger problem. At some point you’re going to have a finger that bends wrong, and maybe it’s a sprain, and you’ll end up playing through it.
Usually I’m the type of person that would recommend being extra careful with injuries to goalkeepers. A lot of times though some of these finger issues are as second nature to the position as some of the bumps and bruises in knees and elbows. If you can’t play through some of that finger pain or wrist pain it’s going to be hard for you to play competitively. I don’t want to be that old school guy that just says tough it out. Many finger issues though just happen regularly and so it’s just not feasible to sit out every other training session. Especially if you’re trying to get to a high play level. There are sacrifices along the way. Having crooked fingers in the long term is one of them.
Should This Influence The Type of Gloves That You Wear?
Yes it certainly should! There are certain gloves that are not going to benefit you because of the type of hands that you have. There’s a simple rule when it comes to goalkeeper gloves. You don’t want to be wearing gloves that are too tight on your fingers whether that be because they’re a size too small or they are too thin. What happens in that case is that when you go to make a save the ball is going to strike your fingers directly, and they are going to be more prone to bending. As I just mentioned it’s not just broken fingers that you want to be cognizant of. All sorts of small injuries can take place if you don’t wear the right type of glove for you.
If the glove is too big or too wide for you what that causes is for the finger to be floating around within the glove. Impact on the ground or with the ball can end up making it easier for it to twist. As you can probably infer by now that’s why it’s so important to find the right glove for you. At times some parents and some goalkeepers who came into the position a little late don’t give it the importance that it needs. Sure, you can be ok for a while, but the thing is it just takes one bad shot for you to find yourself in the X-ray machine to see what’s wrong. I know this situation well, I’ve had two broken fingers in my career. Actually it’s the same finger twice!
Finding A Taping Method That’s Replicable
The main reason why I talked about a very simple method of taping your fingers to get that extra support that you’re looking for is because you want to make sure that the taping method that you use is easy to replicate. If your taping method is too complex then there’s a chance that you won’t be able to nail it exactly as you like it. This can make it uncomfortable. Also, if you can’t tape your fingers quickly enough then there’s a chance that you’re just going to forgo the process, at least from time to time. Taping your fingers should be a habit that you get into and that you replicate for games and training. That way you always feel the same way when you train or play.
It should also ideally be a method that you can get done on your own. Unless you’re already at a point in your career where you can get help from a trainer to be able to put the tape on. If you need professional help to be able to get the tape on, and you don’t have consistent access to that type of help there’s a good chance that you should look for another method.
Goalkeeper Finger Taping Benefits – Should You Tape Your Fingers?
Would it be a wise decision then to tape your fingers if you’re going to stand between the sticks? It depends really on how consistent you can be with the taping, and if you can get a technique that fits you. If you really haven’t had a lot of trouble with your fingers in the past there’s an argument to be made that it’s more important to choose the right type of glove. Then it would be to try and figure out a way to tape your fingers. It’s one of those things that’s probably not going to hurt you if you do it wrong. Unless you put too much tape all over your hands to the point where you affect your grip.
The question that you need to ask yourself is whether you feel an actual benefit from taping. Some people really don’t because the glove by itself just feels right. If you are looking for that extra protection tape is going to be your top option. There really aren’t too many other things that you can do to get added protection to your fingers. Other than maybe going with goalkeeper gloves with finger spines or extra finger support. That in itself though can bring forth other issues.
