What should you really be looking for in a goalkeeper jersey? I’ve made the argument on other articles on the site that goalkeeper gloves seem to be designed at times by people who never played the position. What happens in those cases is that we end up with gear that isn’t going to cover the goalkeeper’s basic needs. However, a lot of parents and older keepers are going to go out and buy it because it has a Nike swoosh on it! In learning how to choose the right goalkeeper jersey for you, you’re certainly making a decision that’s less consequential to your play and your risk of injury than when you’re picking your gloves. Still wearing a jersey that fits right and has padding on the right places can certainly help you enjoy the goalkeeping experience more.
The reason why I want to talk about how to choose the right goalkeeper jersey for you, is precisely because goalkeeping is such a personal journey. I truly hate having to make definitive statements when it comes to the type of gear that you should wear. Even throughout my career and my ruin with other goalkeepers in life I’ve realized that we all like different things. That’s one of the great things about the wide variety of options that the market gives us. Each goalkeeper can find what he or she is looking for. In this case though, I am going to be giving some tips and tricks on how to go through this buying process. Particularly for people and their kids that are just getting into goalkeeping.
How To Choose The Right Goalkeeper Jersey For You – Long Sleeve or Shortsleeve
This is without a doubt the first thing that you have to decide. For me the decision comes down to a couple of factors. Number one is where you play, if you play on a near perfect field, and you’re going out for a game then short sleeve shirts are going to be fine. I would be a little more reluctant to wear a short sleeve shirt for training just because you’re going to be hitting the ground a whole lot more than you typically would in a regular game. Even if it’s perfect grass that you’re falling on the amount of times that you’re going to have to hit the turf may lead to some bruising around the elbow which is typically what we want to avoid.
I’ve said multiple times on the site that I admire the goalkeepers that for some reason are usually ladies that wear shorts and a t-shirt to training. I cringe even worse when I see them do that on hot turf fields. It’s not a cringe of you shouldn’t be doing that, it’s a bit of that nervousness and admiration on my part. Because I know what tends to come after that, and those turf burns and the bumps and bruises that you get are no joke. With those in mind in particular I would definitely have to say that in how to choose the right goalkeeper jersey about 90% of the time choosing a long sleeve jersey makes more sense.
Does The Shirt Need To Have Padding?
I’ve established a preference already so there’s really no turning back. Now, do I think that the shirt must have some type of padding? I would actually go with a no here, and there are a couple of reasons for this. Number one is that not all goalkeeper jerseys that feature padding really give you any type of added protection because of that padding. In some cases what I’ve seen happen is that the padding can more or less help soften the blow when you hit the ground. However, if you have to drag your arm through the turf, which you may have to do quite a lot to make saves to low running shots, you’re really not getting much help from those pads to prevent minor or even major scrapes.
Basically what I’m trying to say is that many goalkeeper jerseys out there just have that padding is a bit of a decor more than actual asset. Knowing this though, I do still recommend long sleeve shirts, and I guess having certain pads doesn’t hurt either. Ultimately some protection is better than no protection. Maybe I just walked back on what I said in the first paragraph, but maybe a tangible example can help. If you see a goalkeeper jersey that you like because of the colors and the patterns and how it can go with your outfit, but it doesn’t have padding on the side, I wouldn’t trade that up for a jersey that I’m not crazy about just because it has some light pads on it.
Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Padding?
Parents of young goalkeepers are likely going to want to go out and get them all of the gear that they can find. I’ve talked about this in other articles, really what you’re looking for is a bit of a balance. There’s nothing wrong with wanting your kid to be safe on the field, but at the same time you don’t want the gear that they are wearing to ultimately limit their movements. So in that regard I would have to say that there is such a thing as too much gear. I’ve seen kids go out and get padded undershirts that are at times better suited for American football than real football. The problem with those is that they may actually limit how much you can lift your arms! That’s definitely not something that you want for your goalkeeper.
On the other end of the spectrum though, something I’ve also said is that if you want to get used to wearing more padding you should start early. In this case it goes certainly beyond this guide of how to choose the right goalkeeper jersey for you. I’m talking about wearing extra elbow pads, and knee pads. Trying to adjust to something like that later in your career can be more of an issue than to just grow up wearing more greatness. In fact, with this idea in mind you could opt for a lighter goalkeeper jersey with no padding, but wearing an undershirt with padding and maybe some elbow pads. That may very well be the perfect outfit for you.
Why Is It That I Still Scratch My Elbows If I’m Wearing A Long Sleeve Jersey?
This is something that is going to happen so I want to get ahead of it before I start hearing complaints. I just talked about how the pads protect a bit from the direct impact from the ground. When what you’re doing is sliding across with your arm sometimes the sleeves even come up and you’re essentially taking a direct hit. Those fit issues are very real, I’m going to get to those in a bit. Coming back to this pad issue though, that’s why I mentioned that it shouldn’t be the end all be all in your decision. At least that’s what it seems like to me.
When push comes to shove though I do think that we would have to admit that the fact that the jersey has an elbow pad can minimize the damage. It goes back to what I was just talking about earlier. Would you rather not have anything softening the blow, or at least have something that’s going to help you out? In my experience having at the very least the long sleeve shirt can certainly minimize the damage. However, I’ve seen scrapes occur for goalkeeper who were all decked out in gear. A lot of times you just have to come to terms with the fact that it’s part of the game. The sooner you realize whether or not you’re willing to take the punishment the easier it might be to look for another position.
How To Choose The Right Goalkeeper Jersey For You – Does The Color Matter?
Normally people are going to tell you that the color does not matter, but I’m here to tell you that this is not the case. Color matters quite a bit, because you want to have at least a couple of outfits that can contrast with the color that your regular team plays with. Otherwise you’re going to be wearing the bibs in goal which is something that just doesn’t look the part, and it messes up the fit issue which is certainly something that’s important. That’s the obvious one though, you don’t want to have jerseys that match your team colors, you at least want to have a couple that don’t.
The maybe not so obvious reason why color matters is that you’re going to have to wash some potentially very dirty jerseys on a consistent basis. It’s harder to get grass stains out of white ones, there’s really no way around that. So if you’re going to be using a particular goalkeeper jersey for training the last thing that you want is to have a white one. This is coming from someone who has had a white training jersey that has essentially lasted my whole career. My secret is my mom does some amazing washing, and when I can I still bring that jersey back to her! I have to be completely honest about that one. For the most part though, go with colors where stains won’t be as evident.
It Needs To Fit Just Right
Plenty of parents would love to have their kids grow into equipment so that they don’t have to pony up more cash for next season. I go through the same trials and tribulations of having to pony up cash for new equipment and it hurts sometimes. The thing with forcing particularly younger kids to grow into equipment is that in the process if the goalkeeper jersey for example doesn’t fit right then you’re not getting the benefit of the pads at all. When you dive the pad may end up covering your forearm and not your elbow. So in that case what good is a padded shirt anyway? With that in mind I would say that you really need to make sure that in the process of how to choose the right goalkeeper jersey for you, you understand it has to fit just right.
The pad thing is the most relevant situation with regular goalkeeper jerseys. For some of the padded undershirts that are out there fit is even more important. When something is too big or even too small, particularly if it’s meant to fit tight, the pads aren’t going to be where they are meant to be. Also, it can limit your movement a lot. I used to wear the typical under armour undershirts under my short sleeve goalkeeper jersey for example. When I grew a belly out I had to stop wearing those types of undershirts because I just couldn’t move. So I went to something a bit more loose. It’s not just kids that deal with this issue!
How To Choose The Right Goalkeeper Jersey For You – Conclusion
There are probably plenty of things in this article that you hadn’t even considered. To be fair not all of them are going to have a major impact on performance. For example, I know I just said that you shouldn’t have your kid grow into jerseys. At the same time if they are constantly playing on a perfect grass field, having that pad on the forearm for a little while isn’t going to be the end of the world. It’s all about perspective though, if they are playing on a hot turf field or literally dirt give them all of the help that they can get.
When it comes to designs and colors, I only have one piece of advice, go for it! I love to mix and match colors and wear certain outfits that maybe I’d be too shy to wear out in public. When it comes to goalkeeping they can actually help you stand out. If you’re trying to be seen to get a chance to play at a hired level, being dull and bland doesn’t necessarily help. At least with some bright colors on the jersey they are more likely to remember you!
