I’ve done an article about what your outfit has to look like when you stop on the field, and you’re going to stand between the sticks. Yet, I still see a lot of keepers not really putting in the effort to gear up right. What do goalies wear in soccer then? Most of the times that I’ve talked about what you should wear, and the type of gear that is out there I end up saying that it’s about comfort. What I’ve seen happen over the years though with my own career is that in your younger years you’re looking for more movement so you usually end up going with less equipment, particularly protective gear. As you get older and the normal wear and tear of the game starts to eat away at you, you start wanting to feel safer.
There are other things that come into play besides age of course. For one, where you play really determines what you’re going to be comfortable wearing. I feel that goalkeepers that have always had the privilege of playing on great looking grass fields don’t really understand this because they can feel safe enough to go out and train in shorts and a T-shirt. What do goalies wear in soccer? I’m going to throw out the basics of an outfit, and then talk about some of the optional elements. Let’s get going so that you can have the perfect outfit the next time that you step between the sticks.
Gloves Are A Must Even If They’re Not Required Under The Rules
I have a whole article on this. The rules are very vague when it comes to the use of goalkeeper gloves. Ultimately it’s going to be up to you what you want to wear or not. In this day and age though it makes no sense to stroll out on the field without any gloves. I’ve recently been dealing with multiple hand injuries including a broken finger, and a sprained wrist. This all happened while wearing gloves. I’m thinking age has something to do with it. That’s neither here nor there though, wearing gloves is a must for goalkeepers. That’s the point that I’m trying to make. Even with goalkeeper gloves injuries can still happen.
Does it matter what type of gloves you wear? It does, you need to find the type of gloves that fit your hands the best. I’ve talked about this a lot on the site. You need to make sure that you find what you need and like out of your goalkeeper gloves. Sure it’s always a good idea to have goalkeeper gloves that are a little sticky. That can help you reduce those second chance opportunities that you could end up, giving up by deflecting balls that turn into bad rebounds. I would say it’s more important though to ensure that your gloves fit right and that either the gloves or the tape on your hands helps you deal with the stress on the fingers and wrist area.
At Least Put Yourself In A Long Sleeve Shirt
I keep seeing a lot of goalkeepers in Instagram videos just in shorts and a t-shirt. To a certain extent I’m a little jealous because if I would try to do that, even in the best fields the strain on the body may be a little too much. I always recommend that goalkeepers wear at least a long sleeve shirt, if you want to use a padded shirt that may be even better. There are certainly plenty of goalkeepers in the pros that go with short sleeve shirts for games. This is something that can confuse a lot of young goalkeepers. In games, you’re not going to go through the strain on your body that you’ll see in practice.
Sure if you practice on very nice fields you can keep the bumps and bruises to a minimum. Still, with a long sleeve shirt you may be able to avoid some of these scrapes for example. Burns on turf fields are also issues that you’re going to want to avoid. Sometimes even with long sleeve shirts you won’t be able to avoid some of the aforementioned bumps and bruises, but you can give it a shot. I’m sure that there are going to be people reading this that may think that I’m exaggerating things. As someone who’s seen the dark side of injuries through the years all I can say is that it’s usually better to be safe than sorry.
Shorts or Pants as A Goalkeeper
This is another topic that I’ve covered extensively on the site. It comes down to how you feel with one or the other really. Although again as in the case of wearing a long sleeve shirt I recommend pants for training. You’re going to be able to limit the bumps and bruises on vital parts of the body while wearing pants. While you can certainly tough it out with a scraped knee if you can avoid it, why wouldn’t you? I’m not even making this case to say that you should wear knee pads because I can understand if you feel that they limit your movement, and that could lead to worse issues, actually. I also recommend pants because they can be heavier and make it harder to move.
When they get wet pants will definitely get a lot heavier than shorts. There are very few things that anyone could say against that. They can provide an added challenge if you will when you’re out there training. Now, if you want to wear shorts in games because you want to maximize your movement then go for it. The thought process that a lot of goalkeepers have, is that they can go all in during games in a way that they maybe wouldn’t in training. I don’t necessarily believe that, but it’s a belief some people have. Another option that has become popular in the last few years are goalkeeper leggings. They can protect you while not limiting your movement as much as traditional pants.
Do You Still Need Knee High Socks?
This is what I would call the closest thing to a fashion trend that goalkeepers have ever had. Well ok, no that’s a lie a ton of jerseys in the 90s were true fashion statements. In any case, these knee high socks were used by goalkeepers, you guessed it, to be able to cover their knees from bumps, scratches and bruises. Goalkeeper equipment manufacturers realized that regular soccer socks were no longer that long. So they started making goalkeeper socks that were extra long to be able to cover the knee area. However, this is not something that is as popular today as it once was. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is the use of leggings.
If you have leggings then you really don’t need your socks to be that high. Another reason is because some goalkeepers literally don’t think that it looks cool anymore. As you can probably guess I’m still someone who is in favor of knee-high socks particularly for games. Here’s the reason why, I usually don’t love wearing leggings with shin guards. Because what you have to do to get that done is wear a sock over the legging to keep the shin guards in place. That’s too much gear for me in a vital area, the legs, that I want to keep as fresh as can be during games. I do feel the look has fallen out of favor because it just doesn’t look as cool as it maybe once did for some of us.
What Do Goalies Wear In Soccer – Extra Padding Yes or No
Again a topic that has been covered on the site. As is the case with anything that we could use to answer the question of what do goalies wear in soccer, it comes down to comfort. So goalkeepers are going to wear padding or not wear it because they feel comfortable with certain gear. This can actually change throughout your career, and we’ve seen it with pro goalkeepers. Maybe Petr Cech is the poster boy for this. He’s remembered for the helmet that he wore in the middle to late stages of his career. A lot of people don’t know that he started to wear the helmet because of an injury in a game. Even at the recreational level if you start getting some aches and pains you may start looking for the extra padding.
Knee pads tend to be a common “extra padding” that goalkeepers will add to their outfit over the years. I do get the sense that some elbow pads that are on the market these days offer much better protection without limiting movement as much. When I started out all of the extra pads almost felt like skateboarding gear. They used to limit your movements so much that wearing them wasn’t much of an option. Although knee pads were used in the early days of goalkeeping quite a bit. They tended to fall out of favor as fields got better. You didn’t need the extra padding if you felt that you were landing on softer grass. The decision to add any extra padding to your outfit though, again comes down to how comfortable you are performing while wearing the extra gear.
Shin guards Are A Must, But Some Of Us Don’t Like Wearing Them
Do soccer goalkeepers wear shin guards? Do you want me to tell you a little secret? A lot of them probably don’t. It’s weird to think about because when you look at the landscape in other sports there’s been a considerable shift towards safety. Even sports like basketball where contact wasn’t as brutal have implemented rules to literally limit contact between players. In soccer, we’ve seen some smaller fouls being called in some leagues, but when it comes to the use of shin guards which were in a sense the only protection field players wore, the rules have softened up. I could remember growing up the referee checking that everyone have on all of the necessary equipment. I don’t feel that it’s something that we see as much these days. In fact, you see players come out with socks at their ankles.
The question could potentially become, should you want to wear shin guards? I do feel that in a sense that’s a much deeper conversation. At the end of the day though, they are there for your own good. Maybe what you want to do is get light shin guards that are made from modern materials that really mitigate a potential impact. In doing so, they don’t limit your movements or become uncomfortable like other types of shin guards. For goalkeepers, I would make the same recommendation.
What Do Goalies Wear In Soccer – Conclusion
The outfit of a goalkeeper for an actual game has to include a jersey that is a different color than that of his teammates. Cleats are obviously going to be a must, and as I mentioned before, in this day and age gloves need to be included on the list. From there, virtually everything else that you can think about that would fit into an answer to the question of “what do goalies wear in soccer”, is really optional. Shin guards may be the only exception to the rule. If you get a very strict ref commanding the game he or she may demand their use.
From there though, it’s all about what makes you more comfortable. I do believe that as a goalkeeper you should take advantage of the opportunity to craft an outfit that is comfortable for you. The reality is that field players are not necessarily afforded that luxury. A lot of times they end up playing with shorts and socks that maybe don’t fit right. If you’re serious about getting into goalkeeping I would strongly encourage you to essentially craft your own outfits. Also keep in mind that what you wear for training can be different from what you’ll be using in games.
