There are already a couple of articles about goalkeeper protective gear on the site. We’ve talked about head gear knee pads, padded jerseys even. It’s time that we put everything together into a guide to try and decipher what you should be wearing. When you look across the pro game you realize that there’s no one perfect outfit that you have to wear. Peter Cech wore the head gear for most of his career. Of course, that was out of necessity. It didn’t really catch on though. That probably has to do more with the importance that most goalkeepers put on feeling comfortable when they play. Rather, than a total disregard for their own safety. Although, it does sometimes help to have some of that.
In fact, we could make the argument that as a goalkeeper parent or someone close to a goalkeeper it could be a good idea to try and push some extra goalkeeper protective gear usage on your keepers. We have to be kept safe from ourselves sometimes. That’s a true story. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should go out and buy all of the gear that you can find and just see what you can incorporate into your playing style. As I’m writing this, I’m actually second guessing myself! What we’ll be covering in this article are the options that are there when it comes to gear. Trying to then add the tangible benefits from using said gear. Then looking at some of the negative aspects that could come your way. So that you can create your own checklist to see what extra gear you may want to incorporate into your goalkeeper outfits.
Goalkeeper Protective Gear – Headgear Yes & No
There is a full article on the site that covers this topic already. However, it’s fitting that we talk about it in this broader article. The thing with head gear is that it really doesn’t hurt you at all to wear it. For example, shinguards, you can make the argument that they make your legs heavy, and that gets tougher at the end of games. When it comes to head gear though with some of the modern materials you don’t even feel that you have anything on. The reason I stopped wearing it though is because it got a little itchy. Then again, I don’t even like wearing hats in my personal life.
So is headgear part of the goalkeeper protective gear lineup that you should have? Other than the fact that it probably doesn’t look all that cool there aren’t too many great reasons why you wouldn’t want to wear headgear. Also, it can get itchy and uncomfortable for some people. If you’ve had an injury in the past you probably want to incorporate headgear as part of your outfit. As I mentioned some of the other add ons you could argue that they hamper your performance. When you really look deep into it we’d have to say the biggest reason why not more goalkeeper wear headgear is because it doesn’t look great. We like to be raw tough guys. Which, is actually dumb!
Goalkeeper Protective Gear – Elbow & Knee Pads
There’s a lot of debate about this. What I never liked was any type of goalkeeper protective gear that limited your mobility. Now, I understand that if you have a preexisting injury these two can be perfect ways to go ahead and alleviate some of those issues. At the end of the day if you’re using them as part of an aide to prevent a particular injury after you’ve been hurt then it may be a good idea to listen to your doctor about what you should wear. Now, doctors aren’t goalkeepers so a lot of times they don’t understand the movement needed on the field. If you want to incorporate elbow and knee pads as part of your goalkeeper protective gear I would recommend that you go with stretch fit options. Don’t get the super hard elbow and knee pads that skateboarders would use!
You need something that is not going to limit your movements that much. Also, it’s important to point out that if you’re not used to wearing this type of gear it can feel awkward at first. I’ve told the story before about my dad buying me knee pads that I never wore. I was always very picky about adding anything to my outfit. Comfort is the number one that you’re going for. The best way to get comfort and protection is to buy gear that essentially doesn’t limit your movements all that much.
Wearing Pants or Shorts Could Alter The Gear In Your Outfit
The simplest example of this has to do with knee pads. Maybe you don’t love the flexibility that you have in your knees with knee pads on. What you do want though is that extra level of protection so that you don’t scrape your knees. A good middle ground in this dilemma could be to wear long pants instead of shorts. If you wear shorts though you may want to incorporate knee pads. The same situation could apply to the upper body. Maybe you’re going into a game where it’s really hot. So the long sleeve black jersey that you thought about wearing isn’t going to be a great idea. You could change that outfit and go with a short sleeve jersey with elbow pads.
For me what I learned to do, particularly to maximize the usage of my sports apparel in general, was to wear a long sleeve under armor shirt, the ones that are mainly used for the cold. With new dri fit tech you don’t get as hot in those as you used to. Although I do get that they are not for everyone. Maybe too tight for some people. Same with goalkeeper leggings with the lower body. I could essentially play with any sports shorts and shirt and wear leggings and the under armor shirt underneath. I’m getting the level of protection that I’m comfortable with without having to incorporate extra items or maybe always wear a long sleeve jersey!
How Much Padding Should Be On A Jersey?
When a young kid wants to play goal it’s rather natural that parents are going to want to put as much protective gear as they can on their kids. About 10 to 15 years ago padded undershirts started appearing in American football, and folks also wanted to use them for football/soccer goalkeepers. Traditionally goalkeeper jerseys had padding just on the elbow area. Some old school jerseys also featured padding on the shoulder area. What works best? A shirt that literally has padding all over the place? Just the elbows? The simple answer would be to say that it’s just about fit and what you’re comfortable with. However, I want to dive a little deeper and talk about the areas of the upper body that tend to hurt when you’re playing goalkeeper.
The elbow pads are more or less a must. At the end of the day though, where you play has a lot to do with how much it’s going to hurt to dive really. The shoulder pads I would say really don’t make a ton of difference anyway. The pads won’t really protect you at all if you fall hard on the shoulder area. If you are diving correctly you shouldn’t be falling on your shoulder area. Those injuries are usually freak plays that won’t be avoided with pads. For me the skin around my hip area took a beating! The pants were further down to be able to cover that part, and jerseys don’t have pads there. If I had to say where I would add pads it would be that hip area.
Shin Guards Are Must, The Type Can Vary
I’ve talked about shin guards in another article. I mentioned that I was never a fan, I always wanted to wear mini shin guards. The bigger ones put more weight on my legs. Late in games when you need your legs the most, and when they may be gone, you don’t want that extra weight. Now, some of the materials that are used to make shin guards make it so that they’re not as heavy. So you can afford to get shin guards that offer more protection without necessarily having them be a burden on your legs late in games or even training. Should you get the ones with an ankle guard? That’s more of an issue of cleat fit actually. If you have cleats that fit a bit loose adding the ankle protection can help you get a tighter and better fit on cleats and have more protection.
There’s no question that shinguards can help. When you collide with someone and they get you right in the shin without shin guards you’re going to understand why reffs mandate them. When it all comes down to it though it’s all about fit. I was willing to forgo some of that protection to make sure that I was still light on my feet late in games. Luckily, up until now I haven’t had a major injury in that area because of this decision. I do understand though that my decision to wear small shin guards and sometimes none at all leaves me more vulnerable to injuries. Freedom of movement over protection is essentially the debate that you have to have with yourself. If I am honest that is the premise of the whole article!
What’s The Most Important Thing To Buy?
You can potentially spend a ton of money buying goalkeeper gear that you’ll never use. There’s one main factor that will determine what type of goalkeeper protective gear is the most important. If you play on rough dirt fields the last thing that you’re going to want to do is show up in shorts and a T-shirt. No offense to the folks who do this. More power to you! The fact is though, it can take a toll on your body, particularly in the long term that isn’t necessary or healthy. Having said all of this though, I would say the most necessary gear is gloves! There’s really nothing else that is more necessary than a good pair of goalkeeper gloves.
If you play on a relatively soft field you can more or less mitigate some of the wear and tear on your body through proper diving technique. Also, freak accidents can happen no matter what you’re wearing. Gloves though, are a necessity for the modern goalkeeper. That’s the area of your body that is essentially going to be suffering a direct impact on every single play that you’re involved in. Even with the best gloves we can still end up with crooked fingers! That’s also part of the deal, I don’t feel I’m that bad in this department. I do have a broken pinky though with a mind of its own.
Goalkeeper Protective Gear Conclusion
I mentioned that the most important type of protective gear that you need to account for as a goalkeeper are goalkeeper gloves. I would definitely add different items to the list depending on where you play though. Sitting here and saying you can play in shorts and short sleeve shirts wherever it is that you play would be a total lie. There’s no other way to explain that. At the end of the day though, that list of goalkeeper gear items that you’re going to use is going to be personal. You can’t really try different types of gear unless you buy it or someone lends it to you. I don’t don’t know of a better way to figure out what type of gear you need than to try and play a certain way and keep adapting your outfit.
If you want to be raw about it you can go and play in short shorts and t-shirt. To then come back and figure out what hurts the most. From there, you can start crafting your list. It’s also valid to incorporate certain items for specific fields. I’ve seen goalkeeper wear knee pads or elbow pads only on hard turf. If you know that the environment that you’re getting into is literally going to be harder than what you’re used to, don’t be shy about adding more gear to your outfit. It would certainly make sense to do so!
