When you start your search for goalie gloves you’re going to realize rather quickly that the price range on this item is insane. You could find gloves for 30 to 50 dollars. In certain parts of the world there are actually gloves that go for much less than that which are usually manufactured by local brands. As you continue on this journey you’re going to find options that are around 200 dollars or even more in some cases. With this in mind, asking how much are goalie gloves, is a very valid question for starters. The reality is that there is no one straight answer. Actually there may be a straight answer that I can provide.
If you ask me how much are goalie gloves, I would say anywhere between 30 and 200 dollars! Now that we got that out of the way we talk about what makes a glove worth 30 or 200. What I’ve always felt is that there are good deals to be had at any end of the price range. You just need to know what to look for. Parents that have kids who are just getting into goalkeeping are probably going to get an unpleasant surprise when they realize how much all of the extra gear that comes with playing goalkeeper costs. The last thing that you want to do though is buy cheap things, just because they’re cheap, and put your kid or yourself at a disadvantage. As I mentioned there are deals to be had, and perhaps more importantly, good gloves at every price. You just need to know what to look for, and that’s exactly what I’m here to help you do!
What To Look For In Gloves In The 30 to 50 Dollar Price Range
What you’re looking for in this price range is a bit of a thicker glove that features a more old school cut. The problem with cheap gloves that have a modern design is that they usually aren’t made with quality materials or have a smart enough design to be able to protect you from the impact of a shot. What that means is that even with the glove on you’re going to feel the burn every time that a hard shot touches your hands. That’s virtually the first thing that you’re going to need your goalkeeper gloves to provide you with, protection. Grip, comfort, and things like that are nice, but if you don’t get protection why are you even wearing gloves?
That’s why in this lower price range I usually gravitate towards the thicker glove that’s going to do a fine job. I’ve said before that you can find gloves in this price range. For the casual goalkeeper or maybe if you’re looking for a practice pair of gloves there are deals to be had. For young kids my pick has been the Elite Stars Jr Goalkeeper Gloves for a couple of years now. The brand makes quality products and this glove can really provide that protection that you want for kids at a decent price. For older folks the PUMA Ultra Grip 1 RC Goalkeeper Gloves can be an option as well. There’s also the Elite WP glove; those would be my 3 picks for this price range.
What Makes A Glove Go From 50 to 100?
This shift is perhaps one of the hardest to identify if you will. What I mean by that is, the difference between 40 dollar goalie gloves and 60 dollar gloves can be non-existent to the naked eye. There are some comparisons though, where you can see the 20 dollar difference clearly, and that’s really when you know that you’ve got a bargain at 60 dollars. The same can be said about that 60 dollar range to that 80 to 100 dollar price tag. For me finding gloves that you like within this price range is really the sweet spot. I’ve only gone over that 100 dollar mark a couple of times in my life, and it was more out of curiosity than anything else.
Now that you know that within 50 to 100 dollars you’ll be able to find some of the best goalie gloves let’s look at what you should be looking for. In this range you’ll be able to find more modern cut gloves. Although a lot of the Adidas, and Nike options in this range are essentially still a cut below the premium models. For that reason I tend to gravitate towards Reusch gloves, Uhlsport gloves within this range, and of course Elite gloves. This is because you can find premium models from these brands within this price range.
One of the lesser known options here are the PUMA Ultra Grip 1 Hybrid Pro Goalkeeper Gloves. They’re a more modern cut glove, but a bit thicker, and that gives you more protection. You can find a ton of Elite models from their traditional cuts in this price range, these are good gloves. Another underrated option could be the Storelli Gladiator Elite 3 Goalkeeper Gloves. Again more on the traditional side being a thicker glove with decent grip.
Should Amateurs Buy 100 to 200 Dollar Goalie Gloves?
If you have the cash, and you don’t think that the investment is too steep then there’s really no reason why amateur goalkeepers can’t buy these types of gloves. Obviously, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re buying gloves that are worth the splurge. As is the case with gloves in the other price ranges that I talked about, you’re going to be in a better spot if you know what you’re looking for. Virtually all of the modern cut gloves that are worth it are going to be in this category. For me the one thing that needs to be off the charts with a pair of gloves to be able to consider buying them in this price range is grip.
You have to be really careful though because a lot of gloves are advertised as having incredible grip. Sometimes that’s just because they put a glue-like substance on them for those demonstrations. What happens is that the grip drops off drastically after one or two uses. You want to make sure that you clean the glove regularly and properly to have the grip last. Particularly if you’re going to be spending so much on a pair of gloves.
There’s the Adidas Predator Pro goalkeeper gloves in this range as the cutting edge modern glove. Reusch has some interesting options as well in this price range. I can’t get myself to back some of the Nike gloves though because I just feel that they’re not necessarily offering much. Particularly for this price range where you’d want your gloves to almost block the ball by themselves.
The Top Brands Command More Money, Without Necessarily Offering Better Quality
If you’ve been on this site before you know that I’m usually not a super fan of certain brands. Adidas, and Nike primarily are the two brands that I usually won’t recommend too much. The reason for this is that Nike’s never really produced great goalkeeper gloves. They’re a great brand when it comes to other products, I would never dispute that. My issue is that they have never seemed to put a ton of effort and money into goalkeeper gear. Adidas is actually completely different. It was actually a pioneer when it comes to goalkeeper gloves, it was certainly one of the first brands to develop and mass produce the product. That may have a lot to do with the fact that they are a German brand whereas Nike is an American brand.
I’ve always felt that Nike was trying hard to make their gloves futuristic and attractive to the eye, but they’ve never been really effective. It kind of seems like they don’t even have goalkeepers really testing their products to see what we may like or not like. When it comes to Adidas I feel that they’ve fallen behind in development. Their modern cut gloves did revolutionize the market again like they did with their Fingersave models back in the day. Ultimately though I feel that many of their gloves have a lot of issues. Which leads me to believe again that they are not necessarily made with goalkeepers in mind. They make products to look cool, but not necessarily to be overly useful.
Craft Your Ideal Glove & Go From There
This is something that I will always recommend. It could take some years and trial and error, which obviously means you may spend a lot more money than you’d like. Ultimately though, you’ll get to a point where you know what you want out of your goalkeeper glove. One of the examples that I always use is to say that I usually like thicker gloves. I’m not a fan of gloves that don’t have a decent strap. This is because I don’t have large strong hands. So what happens for me is that with thin gloves or gloves without a good strap the glove is too loose for me. At this stage in my career I’ve dealt with wrist and finger injuries for the sake of “trying new gloves”.
Here’s some advice then that I should’ve taken earlier. Because of the size of my hands and fingers I need a thicker glove that’s going to help me deal with harder shots. With thinner gloves which have become very popular in newer models I don’t feel that I get the protection that I need. So I tend to avoid a lot of the modern glove options. That also seems to be a sign that I’m aging, but I chose to ignore it most times! Maybe the type of glove that fits you is completely different to what I described. In fact, I would say I described what I don’t like. So you could either know what you like and what you don’t like. In any case, use that information to pick the glove that you want to buy.
More Expensive Gloves Aren’t Always More Durable
More expensive gloves are not necessarily going to be better overall or more durable. I want to highlight the durability part because that could be the worst case scenario. You’re trying to upgrade your glove game, but you realize that not only are you having to pay more for new gloves, you’re having to pay more, more often!
The problem with that is, that a lot of times what we end up doing is going back to the cheaper glove. As you can see there are a lot of things that you’re going to want to account for when buying gloves. Obviously I’m also presenting the worst case scenario in a lot of these instances. The fact is though, you can’t necessarily expect to play better because you have more expensive gloves. At the same time these gloves could come with their own issues that you maybe didn’t have to deal with beforehand!
How Much Are Goalie Gloves – Conclusion
There’s something for everyone out there. In most of the articles that I’ve covered on the topic what I end up saying is that you can find decent gloves at any price range. Particularly when you know what type of glove you’re looking for. Also, having realistic expectations for the glove allows your experience to fall into place properly. For example if you go out, and you buy 30 dollar practice gloves, and they last 3 months, and you have a good feeling when playing with them that can be a great deal.
Maybe that won’t be the glove that you use come game day. For that glove you may have much higher standards. Back when I was playing I used to buy gloves that were like 15 to 20 dollars from a local brand. They served me real well for practice because I knew that I was going to dump them after about 2 months. Yet, at that time I was having trouble finding game gloves. The buying process can be completely different depending on what you want to use the glove for.
