GK Gloves

pewpew

SILVER ELITE
I'll start a new topic.
Gloves. What brand is your GK running. Reasons why. Price. Etc.
My GK is currently wearing West Coast GK. Used to wear HO. I would order straight from HO in Spain. Usually I'd order previous year's model at a discount price. Can't tell the difference with the colorways and I could get a higher level glove for less money.
We switched over a year ago on the recommendation from another GK parent to the WC brand. Haven't looked back since and she couldn't be happier. She also runs their long sleeve padded undershirt and I must say that thing is as durable as a tank. Gets used 3-4x a week and gets washed equally.
Their glove selection is great and they always have stuff on sale. Every cut available. Sign up for their emails for sale updates.
Customer Service is AWESOME!!
They made a mistake on a glove ID for a pair I ordered. The bad pair came on a Thursday. I contacted them Friday. I was really surprised to see a new pair in my mailbox the following Monday!! (They sold me the mislabeled pair for 50% off-another good practice pair)
Sale price from $45 (great option to stock up for practice gloves) to regular prices around $75 for a great quality glove that includes removable finger savers.
 
We've been buying J4k (https://j4ksports.com/) for a few years.
Good options for different types of cut/fit (roll, flat, negative, etc.) and prices range from $45 to $60 for gloves that would cost double or more for a "name brand." They often discount their older styles representing fairly good deals. We have been very happy with the quality, which is typically 4mm of good latex. The boy washes his gloves religiously (if you define religiously as an "avowed atheist who hasn't been to church in a decade or more"), so rarely and only before a big tournament or game and after he has been told too wash them 20x times.

A pair will make it through the season or more because he mostly practices and plays on grass.
 
Don’t laugh but my 05 daughter loves the adidas fingersave jr gloves. She doesn’t like change, and feels these gloves give her the best feel for the ball. She has tried a few but many are too bulky. She plays basketball and her hands and touch mean a lot to her. The problem is she is up to their largest size a #8. They don’t hold up that long sadly.
 
Don’t laugh but my 05 daughter loves the adidas fingersave jr gloves. She doesn’t like change, and feels these gloves give her the best feel for the ball. She has tried a few but many are too bulky. She plays basketball and her hands and touch mean a lot to her. The problem is she is up to their largest size a #8. They don’t hold up that long sadly.
Our experience is that those gloves are critical for feel / touch of the ball at the early ages, but once that ball starts really coming at them, it's time to transition to something bulkier. Gotta protect those hands, my DD needed her gloves this weekend playing the boys, some rockets being fired at her.
 
We've had a similar overall positive experience with West Coast GK. The variety of gloves, cuts, and reasonable prices just make sense for my GK.
We have too. The feel and durability has been the best with WC gloves. We tried several different types of gloves and none of them were a match to the West Coast gloves.
 
Someone needs to invent GK gloves that are incapable of smelling. I would be all in on those gloves!
My DD is a keeper and my oldest DD's teammate we carpool with is one as well. Someone open a window when those girls take their gloves off after practice!

The best thing you can do is create good habits for washing their gloves, as if that will ever happen...

With my DD I've actually been able to find some excellent hand wash she has to use before getting in the car. Remembering the days of getting under the hood of the car with my pops, I immediately turned to the auto repair aisle of my local store and have tried several heavy duty hand washes that I empty into a travel size shampoo / lotion dispenser with a pop lid.

Goop - Orange / Cherry / Grape / Etc.
Gojo - Orange / Cherry / Grape / Etc.
Fast Orange
Cherry Boom

My DD currently uses a grape scented wash and it does the trick. The travel bottle is conveniently small and we've bought her one that can be clipped onto her backpack as well.
 
My son swears by Aviata gloves. Great price (with good discounts available), strong customer service, relatively durable, and lots of styles for juniors.
 
After going through years of Select and Puma's our DD loves WC. They hold up and she hasn't looked back. One note is darker palms seem to wear better.
 
My son swears by Aviata gloves. Great price (with good discounts available), strong customer service, relatively durable, and lots of styles for juniors.
Another vote for Aviata. Price point is great for players going year round club-HS-club. We can usually get by on 2 new purchases every year. Sometimes 3 if we aren't diligent about glove care...and by "we", I mean me. I can't wait to get the text from her in college whining about having to clean her own gloves.
 
For the youngers, there aren't a whole lot of great choices and there never are any at the soccer stores (always have to buy online and you never know with online sizing). My son uses Reusch...good enough for his purposes but they don't last very long (on already 2nd pair of the year)...more a default from limited choices...for the littlest keepers there's not a ton of stuff out there.

Anyone have an opinion on the finger saver v. non finger saver? I've made him use finger saver because slender fingers can be easily broken at this age and he sometimes plays against players 1-2 years older in futsal. He's been complaining though now that he's started to punch/clear that they make punching much harder. His trainer kicks hard though and I'm sure at least twice the finger savers have stopped a broken finger just from practice.
 
My DD is a keeper and my oldest DD's teammate we carpool with is one as well. Someone open a window when those girls take their gloves off after practice!

The best thing you can do is create good habits for washing their gloves, as if that will ever happen...

With my DD I've actually been able to find some excellent hand wash she has to use before getting in the car. Remembering the days of getting under the hood of the car with my pops, I immediately turned to the auto repair aisle of my local store and have tried several heavy duty hand washes that I empty into a travel size shampoo / lotion dispenser with a pop lid.

Goop - Orange / Cherry / Grape / Etc.
Gojo - Orange / Cherry / Grape / Etc.
Fast Orange
Cherry Boom

My DD currently uses a grape scented wash and it does the trick. The travel bottle is conveniently small and we've bought her one that can be clipped onto her backpack as well.
Bought 64 oz. bottle with pump orange citrus flavor for $8.62 with tax from Amazon. I am looking forward to not gagging anymore. Thanks Technician72 for the info.
 
Anyone have an opinion on the finger saver v. non finger saver? I've made him use finger saver because slender fingers can be easily broken at this age and he sometimes plays against players 1-2 years older in futsal. He's been complaining though now that he's started to punch/clear that they make punching much harder. His trainer kicks hard though and I'm sure at least twice the finger savers have stopped a broken finger just from practice.
1st few years my DD played in goal, U6-U9, no finger saves to get a feel for the ball. Past 3 years finger saves have been a must. Once they're broken in properly punching is a non issue.
 
Bought 64 oz. bottle with pump orange citrus flavor for $8.62 with tax from Amazon. I am looking forward to not gagging anymore. Thanks Technician72 for the info.
If it can get rid of the smell of gas and oil from working in the garage, goalie stink "should" be no problem.
 
For the youngers, there aren't a whole lot of great choices and there never are any at the soccer stores (always have to buy online and you never know with online sizing). My son uses Reusch...good enough for his purposes but they don't last very long (on already 2nd pair of the year)...more a default from limited choices...for the littlest keepers there's not a ton of stuff out there.

Anyone have an opinion on the finger saver v. non finger saver? I've made him use finger saver because slender fingers can be easily broken at this age and he sometimes plays against players 1-2 years older in futsal. He's been complaining though now that he's started to punch/clear that they make punching much harder. His trainer kicks hard though and I'm sure at least twice the finger savers have stopped a broken finger just from practice.

Every GK coach my son has had has always said no, no, no finger saves. The likelihood of actually breaking a finger is very low in that balls spread its force over multiple fingers and a large area. The kid is more likely to dislocate and/or sprain their finger. The average GK will also "jam" their finger a few times, which fingers saves don't do anything for. The benefit of practicing/playing without finger saves is the GK is forced to use good technique and strengthen their hand for when the shot are really coming hard as they get older.

My 14 year old plays with 17 and 18 year olds who have shots like rockets and he does just fine. I bought him a pair one time and he put them on a shelf after practicing with them once.
 
Anyone have an opinion on the finger saver v. non finger saver? I've made him use finger saver because slender fingers can be easily broken at this age and he sometimes plays against players 1-2 years older in futsal. He's been complaining though now that he's started to punch/clear that they make punching much harder. His trainer kicks hard though and I'm sure at least twice the finger savers have stopped a broken finger just from practice.
My DD started out with finger save gloves (u10) and just last year (u15) switched. Her keeper coach rolls his eyes at the finger save trend, but insists that she always go with whatever made her comfortable and confident. Early on, she liked the extra stiffness from the finger saves. When she would practice without them, if a hard shot hit her fingers and went through, she'd blame it on not having the finger saves. Initially, she wore them for fear of getting her fingers crushed/stepped on because she was often at the bottom of a pile of girls. But her keeper coach gave her a pair of gloves without for her to practice in, and in a few months she got to the point where she felt she could control the ball better without the finger saves. Now she will only wear gloves without. Of course, her hands are much bigger and stronger now, so that might have something to do with it. Most glove brands make the fingersaves removable, which is perfect for letting your kid try it out both ways. Incidentally, I have heard most pro keepers don't use them, so I guess that says something.
 
We used finger savers when our DD was younger (about U10-U13) -- liked Reusch and Aviata's alot back then.
I believe sometime during 8th grade, no more finger savers per her trainer...she also migrated over to the Nike Vapor 3 gloves...has been wearing Nike gloves for the last few years and it took just a bit to get used too, she was nudged into wearing them, but now loves them. We order GloveGlu formula from Amazon as well as the Revive pack for glove washing....I love Tech's auto soap idea for hands though!! :)
 
My son swears by Aviata gloves. Great price (with good discounts available), strong customer service, relatively durable, and lots of styles for juniors.
When the closeouts are going and you have good discounts are going on its a super-no-brainer. These gloves are solid and easily get through a season - even with my lazy kid not washing his gloves regularly. He has used: Reush, Aviata, Elite, Nike, Vizari Adidas. He has also been through about every cut.

Aviata has been his favorite gloves. Even on lower-end gloves for practice have been solid. He does a ton of turf training and the turf gloves held up well. He is cycling through some Elite Soccer gloves he got during christmas - again, great sales during the holidays. He finds the glove on par with the Aviatas. Both have the most amount of cushioning for the $ and are very tacky - given you keep them moist. These gloves, even when not discounted, are solid buys. Even the Elite gloves in the $40-50 range are made better than gloves in the $100 range of the major brands. Other players have said they like West Coast and The One Glove for quality/price.

My kid loves his finger support. He has taken some shots that have hurt his fingers for a couple weeks - saying it wouldnt have been a problem if the supports had been put back after I washed the gloves. To which I told him "Then take care of your own gloves, or figure out how to put them back". kids these days. He does train bare-handed at times - put the emphasis on technique and not rely on the belief the gloves are a suit of armor. He tends to like a rolled-finger which to me looks like he is wearing helium-filled gloves. All that padding can probably give a player a false sense of security - still going to get your fingers bent (with or without spines) by someone with a cannon for a leg if you dont have proper technique. It seems like hybrid gloves that have more flexibility and are more form-fitting seem to work better for him.

SMELL: My kids gloves smell like he crawled through a sewer, let them dry and continued the routine for days. I've used Tide (clean and clean but smell remained), Orange Cleaners (nice smell but didnt clean well), Hand Soap and many other things. Well, until I found my Solution - by accident. Being the bargain hunter I am, I noticed Costco was selling some liquid detergent for $8 bux - for 200 loads. Took a swing at it and this stuff cleaned everything well. So I the light bulb popped on and though "Do the Gloves!". As soon as i hit the gloves with it and wiped with a finger - the dirt came off. Flipped these things inside out and used good manual labor and all the gloves came clean, almost new and best of all...NO SMELL. So I went back to Costco to load up on this stuff and guess what? GONE. It was a product they were testing out. I should have bought a shopping cart full of it.

No fear, you can also still buy it at costco online: https://www.costco.com/ECOS-Magnoli...ent-210-fl.-oz,-2-count.product.11535056.html
 

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