Depending on where it is that you play this can be a real issue. To be honest field players may have an easier time keeping their hands warms in a cold game. Since they are going to be able to wear gloves that are meant to keep their hands warm. Not gloves that are built to save shots. In this article I want to explore some tips and tricks of the trade on how do goalkeepers keep their hands warm. Really the type of game that you’re dealing with is going to have a major impact on this issue. Is it just cold or is it wet? Are you just standing around or really active during the game? Your options to stay warm could vary depending on the circumstances.
Should you look into wearing specific types of goalkeeper gloves for cold weather games? That’s actually a good idea. Just a quick example would be to try and avoid the gloves that feature a dry fit mesh type covering. Particularly for wet games. If more water gets into the glove you’re bound to feel colder. Especially as the heat of the moment starts to pass. No question looking into gloves that feature a tighter grip around the wrist area, and are completely enclosed could be a great idea. That brings up another issue though. How much grip or hand movement could you sacrifice in favor of wearing something that keeps you warm? This is really the main debate that goalkeepers come across when trying to keep their hands warm.
How Do Goalkeepers Keep Their Hands Warm – Using A Hand Warmer Pouch
The simple question here is can goalkeepers use a hand warmer patch? The short answer is yes. That being said, you have to be rather careful with how you’re going to be using these patches. Typically, when people use hand warmers when skiing or just being out in very cold weather you can put the pouch inside of the glove. With goalkeeper gloves you can’t really do that because it’s going to alter the grip. That’s definitely an issue that you’re trying to avoid. At the same time these pouches can get really hot. You may not be able to take off your gloves mid-game to be able to deal with this issue.
If you want to use a hand warmer pouch you can have it by the post with your water and a towel. You know how a lot of pros come out with a towel, and water? Just have it there and come back to it when you feel that your hands are getting really cold. Plus, using a towel can be a great way to hide the pouch. There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t use them. You never want to run into that referee though, that takes their job way too seriously, and wants to give you a hard time about using one of these patches to stay warm.
Gloves You Shouldn’t Wear In Cold Weather
This is something that we hinted at already, and it’s very logical to want to do this. Many gloves these days have some type of mesh covering around them. This actually comes in handy for people who play in very warm weather. Since it allows for better air circulation throughout the glove. Potentially helping to make sure that your hands don’t smell that bad in the process. The problem with that in the cold is that you’re going to get cold air running through your hands. When you’re playing on wet cold surfaces you could be looking at double trouble. The water is going to go into the glove, and to your hands. Once that happens getting warm is going to become more and more difficult.
For cold games even if you don’t use different gloves you may want to tighten the wrist strap a bit more than usual. Taping your hands even if that’s not something that you normally do could also be an option. Naturally you don’t want it to feel uncomfortable. What you do want though is to make sure that you can block a lot of the water and cold air from getting in. Does this mean thicker gloves are a good idea? That depends, a lot of these thicker gloves are also known for holding a lot more water than other gloves. That can certainly be another problem to contend with.
Pregame & Half Time Rituals That Can Help
Things can get harder on goalkeepers when we’re dealing with a wet ground. It’s not just that the ball is going to be slippery and harder to control. Something, that obviously brings forth a tougher challenge. When it’s cold and wet though, you can be dealing with more finger numbness for sure. Using the hand warmers is going to help. What you may also want to do though is take your gloves off at half-time and dry your hands out. Perhaps the best thing that you can do is wear another pair for the second half. It’s going to be hard to dry your gloves in that short 15 minute span. Going out there with cold wet gloves can really make the second half a challenge. Not just with getting good grip. At the same time keeping feeling in your fingers is going to be tough.
What you can do pregame is maybe put in a pair of gloves that you won’t be using in the game. This is naturally not something that I would recommend under normal conditions. Typically, you want to make sure that you have the same fit, and feelings in warm-ups as you do in the game. I would go so far as to keep my gloves on if I liked the fit. Especially with certain gloves that it was kind of hard to know how tight you wanted the wrist strap to be. In these tough conditions though if you walk into a game with wet gloves, and then you stand there for a couple of minutes before having to deal with the first shot. That could spell disaster for sure.
How Do Goalkeepers Keep Their Hands Warm? – Do You Have To Sacrifice Grip?
Do you or should you? It really comes down to the type of gloves that you wear on a regular basis. If you play in a place where it gets cold and wet frequently then you may want to look into glove models that really wrap around your hand well. Avoid those gloves that feature large mesh areas. That way you can adapt to the type of grip that you get with a glove model that you like. Now, if it’s a one time thing that you’re going to be doing playing in the cold, that’s a different story. There’s an argument to be made that you may not only want to sacrifice grip you may want to adapt your playing style.
You have to account for the fact that your hands may get numb. When that happens trying to catch balls cleanly out of the air is going to be more difficult. So you could look for better ways to attack shots to make sure that you deflect them correctly. It’s better to be safe than sorry sometimes. When you’re warming up in these conditions you really want to test out different scenarios that could occur. When it comes to changing gloves and sacrificing grip this is a real possibility. Particularly again, if the gloves you usually wear are going to let a lot of water in, and it’s going to become a challenge. It’s like when you go to a snowy place with tennis shoes on. You want to wear boots because you don’t want your feet getting wet! The same thing goes for goalkeeper gloves.
How Do Goalkeepers Keep Their Hands Warm? – Movement Is Usually Your Best Friend
I just talked about what may be a complex scenario. You want the team to win, so if you’re not overly busy during the game that’s a good sign. When you’re in a cold weather game though, you have to be way more active to make sure that you’re ready when a shot does come. You may want to keep moving your hands may be even elevate them when you can. If you just let them hand by your side blood flow may not be optimal. Obviously, things like blood flow in your hands are not natural concerns. When you’re in these types of games though, you are going to find yourself needing to account for things that you probably don’t look into regularly.
A personal trick that I would have is that I would hit my hand against my thigh, when I thought it got too numb. You want to make sure that you keep the blood flowing. What I was really concerned about was that numbness. Because when your hands are numb is gets much harder to be able to catch the ball cleanly. You have to understand though that in fact your hands are numb. That’s why I talked about maybe not going for clean catches with certain shots. Keeping your hands up, and opening and closing them constantly are ways to retain your sense of touch even. Which, can really get hampered in the cold.
What To Do With Gloves After The Game
Glove care is certainly one of the popular topics here on the site. So, it’s important to talk about what you want to do with your gloves after these games. Particularly if it’s a wet cold game. If you’ve gone through a dry cold game you can actually keep your same glove care routine. Washing your gloves regularly is still a good habit. When you’re in a cold dry game though, the good thing is that the gloves may dry out rather quickly. Just make sure that you dry them out as you normally would. With wet cold games, you may just want to stick the gloves in the washing machine as quickly as you can. They’re going to smell real bad if you don’t get proactive with this.
The reason why I talk about the washing machine, and not the dryer is just because you’re going to want to clean them first. If the weather is going to stay cold you may want to look into some alternative drying methods. I’ve actually covered a couple of those other times on the site. The one that comes to mind, and can really work well particularly when you’re out of town at a tournament is using a hair dryer. Get that hot air in there, and get them dry quickly. If you just hang them out to dry they may not be ready for the next game. You could see grip levels drop, and just wearing them can become an uncomfortable experience.
How Do Goalkeepers Keep Their Hands Warm Conclusion
Hand warmers can be a game changer for really cold games. When it’s a wet cold game there are also other things that you can do to help yourself out. Movement is going to be key. As I mentioned before you probably want to see the team doing well, and you having a boring time. If that happens though, you need to be more concerned with your hand placement and your movements. The problem is you’re going to be stiff if the ball ever comes. Even doing some stretching, and things like that during a game can help. Just to make sure that you’re ready when you’re called into action.
For kids, and other folks who need to play a couple of games in quick succession it’s important to dry out the gloves as best you can from game to game. If you keep putting on those wet gloves you’re going to be losing a lot of the grip. There’s no question that this is not ideal. Glove care, as well as hand care in this case is key. Naturally, the more you play in these conditions the more things you’ll be able to pick up. I would say it’s much better to be over prepared than other prepared. No matter what happens!
