The Goalkeepers' Union

The Right Man

2013-04-29T11:10:00.004-04:00

The PFA raised a few eyebrows when they voted Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea into the PFA Team of the Year. Twitter and Facebook alike lit up with messages of astonishment (mostly from rival fans) parroting tabloid-fueled soundbites like "dodgy keeper!" and "weak on crosses!" Those epithets were borne of inconsistency and adjustment last season; they do not stand up very well to scrutiny this season.

It's hard to know the reasons why anyone votes the way they do, but my guess is that in addition to the by-now-expected great saves, his fellow pros noticed that De Gea drastically cut down on his errors. Specifically, it was the kind of error he didn't make that helped him greatly this season.

Remember the last-second equaliser at White Hart Lane, the one that led to Gary Neville's damning indictment? It was a mis-punch than happened to fall to Aaron Lennon, who crossed for Clint Dempsey to score. This is a "second phase" mistake, one where the keeper parries or pushes the ball back into play and then concedes. These are not always punished - had Lennon not happened to have been in the spot where the ball fell, there's no goal. There were two other second-phase mistakes as well, against Newcastle and (debatably) Swansea, where he parried shots back into the six-yard-box for goals.

This is not to excuse a second-phase mistake - a goal is a goal - and Eric Steele will have worked very hard with De Gea after each of these incidents. But those are the worst things De Gea did all season, and as 'clangers' go, they're just not that awful. It wouldn't have escaped the pros who voted - certainly not the Spurs players - that in that same game, he made a pair of brilliant saves which kept his team in the game.

Mistakes - BAD mistakes - happen. De Gea deserves credit for going through a highly pressurized season without having done anything like this:

Or this:

Nothing against three excellent goalkeepers in Simon Mignolet, Ali Al-Habsi, and Pepe Reina. These mistakes happen. Joe Hart, last season's PFA vote-winner, allowed three balls to go right through him this season (at Sunderland, Southampton, and home to West Ham). It didn't happen to David De Gea in 2012-13.

As for his famed aerial weakness, it's still not the strength of his game. But opponents who bombarded him with crosses to exploit it largely got nothing from him. Stoke at the Brittania, Villa at Villa Park, and most recently, West Ham at Upton Park tested the Spaniard to and well beyond the laws of the game. He passed those tests.

There is a human element at play when humans vote, and De Gea's standout performance against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu will have been noted by his fellow pros. While the award is supposed to reflect league play, that stage is one that was not afforded to the excellent Hugo Lloris or Petr Cech, back to his best, to say nothing of Mignolet and Ben Foster, who toil in relative obscurity. Nonetheless, for me the PFA got it right. De Gea deserves his spot.

South of the Border - Jonny Walker Interview

2013-04-08T21:13:00.001-04:00

While the majority of American keepers who succeeded abroad did so in Europe, Jonny Walker followed a different path. He went to South America, excelling with two of Chile's biggest clubs. He won a league title, played in the Copa Libertadores, and experienced the raw passion and spectacular atmospheres that European leagues cannot hope to match. Thanks to Jonny for spending some time answering my questions. Let's let him tell his story in his own words: -->

Most Americans looking for a move abroad went to Europe. You were the first to go to a top-flight league in South America. How did that move come about?

I was drafted by Dallas in ’96. They had a fantastic goalkeeper in Mark Dodd (I still talk to him to this day), and the club had also drafted fellow U-23 keeper Jeff Cassar. Dallas wanted to change my contract from the standard league minimum ($24k if I remember correctly) to a developmental contract ($1200 per month maybe??). I was stubborn, so I went back over to Sheffield United around August in ’96 in England where I'd had a youth trial 2 years earlier. They were ready to go, but I was unable to obtain a work permit. The rules had changed with the post Bosman Ruling (Dec. 1995) atmosphere. I had no direct European ancestry to obtain a EU passport and would not qualify for the new National Team requirements which would morph into what they are today. So back I came to the States in January of ’97 with a mission of playing matches. I knew that I needed games so I mailed my resume (funny isn’t it?) out to every coach in the A-league. Jacksonville had a team (Cyclones) and they were coached by Manchester United legend Dennis Viollet. Viollett saw Sheffield United on my resume, picked up the phone and spoke with either Howard Kendall or Dave Bassett, who knew me from my trials period, and offered me a contract sight unseen.

While at Jacksonville, I met Jorge Alvial, who was the assistant coach. Jorge was a former professional goalkeeper from Chile, and he always had these incredible soccer magazines showing crazy environments from South America. Attendance for A-league matches looked nothing like what I saw in the magazines, so wanderlust took control and I was able to get out of my contract and headed off to Santiago, Chile for a trial with Universidad Catolica.

The Catolica trial took longer than expected (7-8 months) as I missed a transfer window and I was a foreigner with no experience. A big club like Catolica could not risk a foreigner spot on me with little experience (although they liked me), so they loaned me to Huachipato for the ’98 season. After that it all came together.

What kind of cultural adjustments did you have to make? Did you speak much Spanish when you arrived?

I had two years of High School Spanish, so I wasn’t starting from zero. Conversational Spanish was difficult, but I forced myself to go to the city center on days off and interact with shopkeepers, bus drivers, etc… I also roomed with a teammate in Huachipato (Cristian Uribe) who did not speak any English. Huachipato is in Concepcion, quite a ways from the Capital of Santiago. There were no parts of the town that catered to foreigners. The television channels were all local. It was total immersion, and it was great.

What sort of adjustment period did you go through on the pitch and the dressing room, in terms of establishing yourself as the number one and getting to know your teammates? You had to do this twice, actually, since you initially went out on loan.

It is extremely difficult no matter what club that you do this with. The dressing room psychology and group hierarchy structure could be the subject of volumes of books (edit - couldn't agree more; that's why I'm writing one). Initially, as a player, you just want the respect of your fellow players and coaching staff. It gives you the feeling that you deserve to be there and gives you self-worth. Once you reach that point, you naturally begin to crave more. You hear the fans chanting for certain players, and you want to be one of those players. You are constantly assessing fellow pros in your locker room and at other clubs, always asking yourself: "Am I better than him, or can I be better than him?" Goalkeepers are a bit different when it comes to establishing the #1 position, as coaches rarely make a switch in the position, and if they do they rarely go back on the decision. While at Huachipato I was waiting for a chance to play. The team was performing well, so I knew I had to sit. The other keeper injured his finger (not broken) and I got to step in. I performed well and could notice a change in the way the big name players spoke with me and addressed me within the group. I could also feel the dislike of the other goalkeeper towards me. This was completely different than when I was at Universidad Catolica. The starting goalkeeper, Nelson Tapia, was extremely kind to me. He almost treated me as a brother, giving insight and wisdom, even when things weren’t going well for him personally. I always tried to emulate this type of relationship. I carried this with me to Colo Colo as well, when a young Claudio Bravo was my teammate. We got along very well and I gave him the best advice and friendship I could. He is currently the Chilean #1 and plays for Real Sociedad.

Nelson Tapia

You won the 2002 Apertura title with Universidad Catolica. What are your memories of that season?

I remember the extraordinary amount of talent that we had. Catolica was always loaded with some of the best South American talent that money could buy. But we worked incredibly hard for each other. We had one of the best teams in South America. We had a stretch of 700+ (I think) minutes without conceding a goal in league play. We were bounced by Sao Caetano in penalties in the Libertadores. We beat Flamengo home and away, and eliminated Once Caldas of Colombia, who would win the Libertadores a couple of years later. The team we advanced out of group play with was Olimpia (Paraguay) who won it all that year, beating Sao Caetano in penalties. We were a great team.

The title-winning 2002 Catolica team, with Jonny back row, second from right.

Eventually you went from Catolica to their greatest rivals, Colo-Colo. did this cause you problems with either set of fans?

Absolutely. My first press conference at Colo Colo was disrupted by members of La Barra who were screaming that they didn’t want the “mother fucking gringo from Catolica” amongst other loving phrases. The press ate it up. It wasn’t easy, but fortunately I won them over with performances on the field. We had the Superclasico against Universidad de Chile and I turned in a good performance and received man of the match honors. After that game, they supported me 100%. Ironically, I would face Catolica in the semi-finals while playing for Colo Colo. The fans who had loved me for four years did an about face. 20,000 Cruzado fans singing “Gringo, Gringo Concha Tu Madre……. En San Carlos(Catolica's stadium) le damos a comer”. Translated “Gringo, fuck your mother…In San Carlos we gave you food (or we fed you).

Back problems forced your eventual retirement. Can you describe how and when your problems started, and how it felt to be forced to give up playing?

I had just begun to feel good playing again. I found happiness in my play in Columbus, after injuring my shoulder in New York. Sigi Schmidt had been announced the Head Coach after Robert Warzycha had coached interim following the departure of Greg Andrulis. Sigi called for a mini-camp at the end of the season and we were playing an inter squad scrimmage. Someone played me a ball that had to be cleared first time and as I was about to strike the ball, it took a funny bounce and I tried to adjust my strike of the ball even though I had already started the movement.

Mentally I was excited to be playing again and was called into the December camp for the 2006 World Cup. I was working out on my own, but my back wasn’t getting better. They took an MRI and I was going to miss the camp. Then they sent me to one of the best doctors in the country for lower back issues in L.A. a month or two later. Without boring you with all of the details, I was effectively told I was done and that there was nothing that I could do to step on the field again. This was extremely difficult news to take, as I had just turned 31 a few months earlier. I was in a good spot mentally before this and was finally at a place where the game was easy. Goalkeeping is experience-based, and most goalkeepers don’t come into their own until 28-32 years old. I tried to exit with grace and without fanfare (not too hard actually!) Once I knew I was done, I went into the clubhouse one day with a black garbage bag, cleaned out my gear, and didn’t make a production out of it. “Here today and gone tomorrow” is the way that soccer works. Contracts come and go. All of us hope that we have a respectable career and that when we walk away from the game it is in a way that celebrates the contribution and effort that one puts in through the years. It doesn’t always work that way.

For a time, you wore Selsport gloves, rare for an American keeper. What were your alltime favorite gloves?

I loved the Selsport gloves. They were white with a powder blue foam. Probably my favorite gloves I had during my entire career.

Jonny in his Selsports

In keeper speak I was a traditionalist. Classic cut, size 11. No extended palms. No finger inserts. No Gunn Cut. No webbed foam. I always preferred the 3mm foam to the 4mm for better feel on the ball. I could talk gloves for hours on end, as I was a big soccer fan before I became a pro. I grew up watching Soccer Made in Germany on PBS, and I was always drawn to the neat gear that everyone had. The first gloves I really remember would have been the Reusch ’86 World Cup gloves. They had a compressed foam, with a circular palm design. Coolest feature was the neon slash on the R. I also remember the Umbro Essen, neon green with white foam. Pat Bonner was sporting them and they were definitely a must have.

Pat Bonner in his Umbro Essens

My alltime favorite, however has to be the Uhlsport F-1. They didn’t have the best feel or foam, but my God they were badass looking. Blue and white foam on the palm. Neons and blues on the top. I would love to just see a pair of these today.

Peter Shilton in the F-1s.

Win Things!

2013-02-21T11:51:00.001-05:00

My friends at Selsport are celebrating Sunday's Capital One Cup Final with not one, not two, but THREE different competitions that could land you all sorts of great stuff, including Bradford City keeper Matt Duke's signed Wrappa Classics, and even his jersey from the Final. Very cool. Go here to enter.

As for me, I'm still mostly wearing my Selsport Elite Spirits, sometimes adding the Wrappa Classic to the mix. Amazingly, my ProFlex Internas from SIX YEAR AGO still have plenty of life and grip, too. When you find something that works, stick with it!

Selsport Interview Series #2: Richard Lee, Brentford

2013-01-21T12:30:00.003-05:00

Brentford's Richard Lee has long been a friend to The Goalkeepers' Union. I've written about Richard for Goalkeeper Magazine and reviewed his excellent book Graduation: Life Lessons of a Footballer here last year. Along with being a pro keeper and a writer, Richard is an entrepreneur and a coach. He started GK Icon to improve the standard of goalkeeping, offering training, evaluation, and psychological coaching to keepers of all ages. Richard joined Selsport as an endorsee before this season, and took some time to chat with them. Thanks, as always, to Mark Tipton at Selsport, and to Richard.

Who has been the greatest influence on your career?
My Dad

Who do you rate as the top 3 goalkeepers in your football lifetime and what qualities did you most admire about these keepers
Iker Casillas
Peter Schmeichel
Gigi Buffon

Do you feel that the current coaching for goalkeepers in the UK is relevant to the modern game?
It is at GK Icon ;o)

If you were to play in another country which country would you choose and why?
America – I love the States.

Which types of training sessions do you prefer to take part in?
High tempo or more technical sessions low reps, high intensity – it matches what a keeper will do in a game. Explosive power is key.

What has surprised you most about being a professional goalkeeper?
How quickly things can change! Hero to zero and vice versa can happen instantly.

What are your thoughts on English goalkeepers in recent years?
We’ve got some outstanding ones. However, I do feel there’s room for improvement, although I hear GK Icon are well on their way to ensuring it does improve!

If you could choose one piece of advice that you have been given to pass on to another goalkeeper… What would that be?
Don’t be governed by other’s opinions of you. What matters is how you think, feel and act. Give everything you have to your game and be proud of it regardless of whether things are going well or not so well. Enjoy it.

If your best friend in football was asked to list your 3 biggest strengths as a goalkeeper. What would he say?
1 – Reading of the game
2 – Power
3 – Saving penalties

Do you practice mental prep skills as part of your weekly training?
Yes – I wrote a book on it! ‘Graduation, Life Lessons of a Footballer’ (how many more things can I plug here?!)

What exercises are most beneficial for young keepers to practice?
Technical exercises to give you a base to build from, then increase your power and speed. Added to that, it’s essential you ‘learn’ the game’ (positional sense) and figure out what allows you to perform to your maximum every week (thought processes).

If you were to design your own kit, what color style would you choose?
Black – I like it.

Do you have any particular rituals or superstitions before games etc.?
No. I just ensure that I eat well in the days leading up to it and get a good night’s sleep the night before, then give everything.

Your hopes any goals for the next year?
I would like to win the Brentford FC player of the year award again and for Brentford FC to win promotion.

Selsport Interview Series #1: Scott Brown, Cheltenham Town

2012-12-12T21:55:00.001-05:00

Glove gods Selsport - whose name and images you might have noticed around this site before - have been conducting interviews with their endorsees, and I'll be happily reproducing them here. First up is Scott Brown of Cheltenham Town. Scotty is active and engaging on Twitter, so give him a follow at @Scotty_brown85.

Scott Peter Andrew Brown (born 26 April 1985) is an English footballer. A goalkeeper, he is a product of the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth academy and played in the League of Wales for Welshpool Town before signing for Bristol City and then at the start of the 2005–06 season joining Cheltenham Town.

Who has been the greatest influence on your career?
I think my family have been very big influences on my carer. If it wasn’t my mum picking me up from school and taking me straight to training at Wolves three nights a week and games on a weekend, it was my dad kicking balls at me in the park or the garden to help me or watching or supporting me at games. My brother and sister have also been very supportive of me as well. In terms of coaches, I think Mike Stowell who I was with at Bristol City did a lot for me. I have become very good friends with him since, and has been a great source of help and advice since I left. My coach now at Cheltenham, Steve Book, has been great for me. He is always out working with the goalkeepers and always trying to improve us and probably most importantly his sessions are very enjoyable.

Who do you rate as the top 3 goalkeepers in your football lifetime and what qualities did you
most admire about these keepers?
1 – I used to love watching David Seaman. He had such a great presence about him and was so calm with the way he went about things and never seemed flustered by anything.
2 – When I was at Wolves I got the pleasure of working with Matt Murray, who, if it wasn’t for injury,
I think would have been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premiership. He used to come for absolutely everything in the box, and his hands and shot stopping were amazing to.
3 – In the current era, I think that Joe Hart is one of the best best in the world and can only improve. But in the Euros I was very impressed by Gianluigi Buffon. I hadn’t really seen much of him before, but I thought he was the best goalkeeper at the tournament.

Do you feel that the current coaching for goalkeepers in the UK is relevant to the modern game?
Yes, very very important, and I don’t think that there is enough emphasis put on just how important it is. I think all full time football clubs should have a full time goalkeeping coach, but unfortunately finances dictate that this is not always possible. Coaching is evolving, especially goalkeeping sessions, and are becoming better and better and more game-relevant.

If you were to play in another country which country would you choose and why?
Spain I think, because of the sun, and would love to live by the sea.

Which types of training sessions do you prefer to take part in?
High tempo or more technical sessions. I prefer a bit of everything. I don’t like to go into games thinking, "I should have done this, I should have done that." I like to have ticked all the boxes.

What has surprised you most about being a professional goalkeeper?
I think the most surprising thing was how alone you are. Sometimes it can feel like its just you and the goalkeeping coach against the world. You could have a not great game and keep a clean sheet and everyone says well done, but then have a great game and lose two-nil but only you and the goalkeeping coach will realise that you have had a good game, despite the result.

What are your thoughts on English goalkeepers in recent years?
I think that they are not given enough chances at the top level, which is why they haven’t developed as well as some have expected. But with the likes of Hart, Robert Green and Jack Butland, there is plenty of talent coming through.

If you could choose one piece of advice that you have been given to pass on to another goalkeeper, what would that be?
Like I said earlier, I like to tick all the boxes, so I would say, don’t regret what you didn’t do, whether that is in terms of training, stretching, eating and drinking right, or in a game situation.

If your best friend in football was asked to list your three biggest strengths as a goalkeeper, what
would he say?
Hmm, I would say, shot stopping, kicking, and decision making.

Do you practice mental prep skills as part of your weekly training?
I practice visualisation leading up to games, particularly the night before. It is something I have started to do recently and want to do more of, as I believe it is very beneficial to performance and confidence.

What exercises are most beneficial for young keepers to practice?
Anything match related is a good exercise. If it’s not match related or technique related then why are you doing it?

If you were to design your own kit what color style would you choose?
I would go baby blue or yellow as I like those colours.

Do you have any particular rituals or superstitions before games?
Yes, I always put my left glove on first, then take it off, then put it back on again before the right one. I only do this the day before a game and on a match day.

Any goals for the next year?
Hopefully build on last season and hopefully go one step further than losing in the play off finals.

The Rehabilitation of Rene Adler

2012-12-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

Prior to Euro 2008, Germany manager Joachim Low picked Leverkusen's Rene Adler, then just 23 years old, to be his third keeper. That may not sound like much of an honor, but it has been the habit of a succession of German managers to pick the most promising young keeper in the Bundesliga to serve as third keeper at major tournaments. It spoke to Adler's potential, already being realized at that stage by a series of spectacular performances for his club.

Four years on, Adler, now at Hamburg, is playing brilliantly and was recently called into the national team for a friendly against old enemy The Netherlands. At 27, his career has progressed to the level many expected back in 2008.

It's just that everything went wrong in between.

The international retirement of Jens Lehmann and the horrifying death of Robert Enke helped primed Adler for the grand stage of the 2010 World Cup, and he began Germany's qualification campaign as the number one. But a serious rib injury which required surgery just a month before the tournament ended his World Cup dream. Little did he know it was only the start of his troubles.

Manuel Neuer excelled in South Africa and became the entrenched number one. Adler's injury was more troublesome than first expected. His return to action was delayed, and when he did come back, he wasn't the same. Explosiveness was replaced by hesitancy. He played as if he didn't trust his body. More injuries followed, including knee surgery. He lost his place at Leverkusen to Bernd Leno, while a new crop of even younger keepers such as Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ron-Robert Zieler built reputations and forced their way into national team reckoning. Adler was fast on his way to irrelevancy.

At the end of the 2011/12 season, Hamburg signed Adler on a free transfer, and he began the new season as number one. Injuries finally behind him, he immediately began performing at his athletic, spectacular best, buoyed by newfound maturity and the kind of perspective that comes with seeing how easily a career can disintegrate. Germany are blessed, as usual, with a wealth of goalkeeping talent, but it's to Adler's credit that he has inserted himself back into the discussion.

Enjoy some of his work from this season:

Keep a Journal

2012-11-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

Back in season 1990/91 - before the internet, sort of - I played for Boreham Wood FC, a Non-League side in Hertfordshire which, at that time, was in the Vauxhall-Opel League. I had recently had a work permit application turned down, and with my career in flux, I knew I needed games. So I returned to the Wood, where I had spent the second half of the 87/88 season. I was 24 years old and still learning, and knew I needed to improve. In addition to working hard in training, and studying the top keepers of the day (Seaman, Southall, van Breukelen, etc), I began keeping a journal. After every game, I would go home and write down every detail, starting with the basics (the date, time, opponent, ground, weather, pitch conditions, and result), followed by a match report describing everything I'd had to do, and ending with a rating from 1-10 of my performance. I still have them today. Here's one:

Boreham Wood v Bishops Stortford. Tuesday, March 19, 1991, 7:30 pm. Broughinge Road, Borehamwood. Weather: cool, drizzly, very strong, gusty, swirling wind. Pitch: wet & heavy. Score: Boreham Wood 1 Bishops Stortford 1.

Obviously the scoreline shows that this was a big improvement on our last three matches (ed-we'd conceded 2, 3, and 3). It was horribly windy, and I had it coming more or less toward me in the first half, only to have it change direction and come directly at me in the second half as well! That's not the first time that has happened this year.

I wasn't terrible busy in the first half. Once again, though, we let one of them clean in on goal right down the middle. I came out and he shot wide to my left. I had to really chug to get down to a diagonal through ball on the right side of the box, taking it off the foot of a forward. That one felt really good. Then Jason R was comically short with a backpass and I came out and whacked it a hell of a long way first-time.

We scored 15 minutes into the second half, and predictably came under some pressure afterwards. I was very quickly out of my box to send a left-footed clearance over the away stand. I was pleased with that one because if I hadn't come for it, the guy would have been in on goal. Soon after that one of them was clean in on goal, but as I came out, he shot over the bar. Then another through ball, down the right side, and one of them was right behind it. We got to it at the same time and I got my right foot to it and it went into touch off him for our throw.

We held out for 75 minutes, but they equalized from a corner. It was driven low towards the near post, towards Rob F. I shouted 'Away!' but it got caught in a mass of legs, dropped perfectly to their #9, and he rammed it in low to my left. Damn. Then the same player drilled a 25-yarder right at me, face-height, and I caught it cleanly. At the other end, Jason and Steve P had good chances but couldn't finish, and it ended 1-1.

Oh I forgot, I did really well with a swirling cross in the first half. It came from my right and I stretched for it with my right hand and flicked it firmly out of trouble toward the left touchline. That one was tricky.
My rating: 7. Good off my line, comfortable handling, good kicking considering the conditions. Not too many actual saves. Cumulative rating (19 matches): 6.66.

Okay. Not a very thrilling match. I picked a short one on purpose. Also, the writing isn't great. That's something else I was still learning. But you get the idea.

Broughine Road, 1990. Just like the San Siro.

I did this after every game and found it very valuable. First, it made me think consciously about what had happened in the game, and honestly appraise my own performance. Second, it helped me identify trends. If I found myself writing "I was a little slow off my line" or "I came for the corner but got bundled off it" more than a couple of times, I knew there was something that needed to be addressed.

I wish I had done more, though. A lot more. I wish I'd jotted down a few notes before each game, noting how I'd slept, what I'd eaten, how I was feeling, and how confident or nervous I was. I wish I'd been a little more insightful about my confidence levels during the game, knowing that 'surface' confidence can fluctuate greatly during the course of a game. But mostly what I wish is that I'd done this for every game of every season, not just this one. I did it only sporadically prior to 1990/91, and never again afterward.

So the practical value in keeping a journal is that it forces you think think hard about every game you play, honestly analyze your performance, and identify trends. There's more, though. Take it from a man pushing fifty (sort of): no matter how good your memory (and I can remember a lot from a very long time ago), not everything stays with you forever. Write it down. Or, if you don't like to write, turn on your webcam and keep a video journal.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else keeps a journal, and what sort of information they record. Leave a comment!

GloveGlu - It's Fun

2012-10-15T23:42:00.002-04:00

Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. GloveGlu, sprayed directly on the palm before playing, promises to revive the grip of old gloves and enhance the grip of new, in dry conditions or wet. I've been trying it for a couple of weeks. Here's what I've found:

It certainly did revive the grip of an older pair of gloves. I tried it on a pair of first-generation HO Ghotta Hybrids. I did a video review of this specific pair of gloves back in July 2010 (see it here), wore the gloves a dozen or so times that summer, and had not worn them since, which means they've been sitting in a glove bag for over two years. Predictably, the grip had suffered from lack of use. There was still grip, but the latex felt firm, dry, and a little slick. I applied the GloveGlu thirty minutes before kickoff on a damp night. The gloves instantly became very tacky, so much so that the palms seemed to stick as I rubbed them together to make sure the product was evenly applied. As the GloveGlu dried a little, the tackiness settled down to a level comparable to Nike's Contact Foam or Uhlsport's Absolutgrip when new. An occasional problem with Uhlsport's APG back in the day was that it was so tacky it collected dust, dirt, and blades of grass. I don't believe GloveGlu will have the same effect, as the excessive, glue-like tackiness fades fairly quickly as it dries.

Tackiness does not always equate to grip, for whatever reason (one thought on this is that tackiness is a measure of how sticky latex feels when you touch it with a finger and pull straight up from the surface, but that's not what happens when you catch a football. The ball tries to move laterally across the surface of the latex. The better the grip, the quicker the ball will be stopped from sliding across the latex). In the warmup, the grip proved to be good, certainly much better than it would have been without GloveGlu, if not quite as good as it had been when the glove was new. I was satisfied. GloveGlu took a pair of old gloves that I would never have trusted for a game and made them usable again. It is very easy to see how a ten quid bottle of GloveGlu can save a goalkeeper a lot of money by extending the life of gloves. As long as there is latex to spray onto, you'll have a glove with grip.

Now here comes a surprise: I washed the gloves after the game, to get the leftover GloveGlu and 3G turf dust out. A couple of days later, I took the gloves down from their drying spot, and found that the latex now did indeed feel as soft and grippy as it had when brand new - certainly grippier than it had during that first use. My next game rolled around, this time in dry conditions, and after I applied the GloveGlu, the grip was immense. I did feel the need to reapply it after halftime, as the directions on the bottle suggest, because the tackiness had faded just a bit. Once I did, the tackiness and grip came back.

I have had only one reason for hesitation while using GloveGlu: like many keepers, I'm accustomed to spitting in my gloves during games to keep them moist and tacky. I'm unsure if this is a good idea with GloveGlu on the palms. It's a habit and is a good way to relieve low-grade tension during games, but especially when conditions are dry, it seemed to me it might be better to let the GloveGlu handle the tackiness.

Considering the price, I certainly think GloveGlu is worth a try. It may not be for everyone. Some keepers don't trust excessive tackiness, and prefer the consistency of plain supersoft. I will continue to use it, and it's possible my experiences will change as I try it in different conditions and with different gloves. I'm particularly excited about using it in cold weather, as I have always found cold, dry conditions to be the hardest from which to get the best grip from a glove. Low humidity is a not a friend to latex. I'm also looking forward to using it on a new pair of gloves with grip that is already great.

GloveGlu is the brainchild of goalkeeper coach and inventor extraordinaire Glenn Robertson, the owner and inventor of Responseball training systems. You can get GloveGlu from Just Keepers in the UK. If you're in the US, I'm afraid it's not available yet, as prohibitions prevent the international shipping of liquids (you may be able to get around this, as I did, by having a friend in the UK purchase it and ship it discretely).

Tried it yourself? Let me know what you think.

Laws That Can Help You

2012-09-23T00:10:00.001-04:00

Everyone is against you. Never forget that. But there are a few laws of the game that can help goalkeepers. Not every ref knows or applies them properly, however. If you know them yourself, you can always give a gentle reminder. I'm not claiming that knowing these laws will save your life, but if you play long enough, knowing them might come in handy once or twice. So let's start with...

1. When you have possession of the ball and are trying to distribute, opposition players are not allowed to impede you in any way.

Too many times over the years, I've watched a goalkeeper try to distribute while being hounded by an opposition player moving into his path, trying to (or just acting like) he's going to charge down a kick from hands. This is NOT ALLOWED. From the Official FIFA Laws of the Game:

An indirect free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if, in the opinion of the referee, a player prevents the goalkeeper releasing the ball with his hands.

If a player does this to you, alert the referee and hope he understands the law.

2. A player taking a free kick, corner, or penalty cannot be the first player to touch the ball if it comes off the post.

You might not think this happens often, but I've seen it at least three times: twice in games when I was coaching, and once in a Premier League game. Morten Gamst Pederson of Blackburn bent a free kick over the wall from a wide position, watched it smack against the near post, and then was the first player to chase it down. He sent in a cross that was headed narrowly wide. None of the opposition players - nor, indeed, the refs - noticed the breach in the law. If you're in goal and this happens, make damn sure they notice.

3. You cannot be offside directly from a goal kick.

It's amazing how few people know this law. I know a few who don't: Shay Given and the Republic of Ireland back four. In a friendly against Argentina a few years ago, Gonzalo Higuain stood twenty yards behind the last defenders as Argentina keeper Sergio Romero took a goal kick. The ball sailed over everyone right to Higuain, who may or may not have touched it before Angel Di Maria scored. Now - complicating things a little - if he DID touch it, Di Maria should have been flagged offside, as he was in an offside position. But Given and the defenders protested to the ref about Higuain, whom they thought was miles offside, and not DiMaria, who was only marginally off.

The point is, be aware of this whether it's you or the opposition keeper taking the goal kick. Don't let a striker wander in behind your back four. And if you've got the leg for it, have one of your strikers go stand behind the back four and see if they let him.

Three Things Goalkeepers Do That Make Their Job Harder

2012-09-08T17:06:00.002-04:00

Goalkeeping is hard enough. There are deflections, balls that swerve, and dogs that charge onto the pitch and bite us. With the odds already stacked against us, it's frustrating to see even the top professionals in the world consistently making decisions that make their lives harder. Here are the top three items on my 'Do Not Do' list:

1) They Come Off Their Line For No Reason

Goalkeepers come off their line to narrow the angle. This makes the target smaller for the shooter. But you don't have to watch much football to see keepers charging off their line when the shooter is being closed down by defenders, is in a poor shooting position, or both.

Watch this, from Hearts keeper Jamie MacDonald:

Suarez is being pushed wide, and by the time he shoots, his angle is very narrow. He's on his left foot as well, so there's no danger he can bend it around MacDonald to his far post. His defender has done his job; if he just stands up big and strong at his near post, he makes the save. But as soon as we see MacDonald in the frame, he's already at the edge of his six-yard-box, perhaps anticipating Suarez will beat his defender and come straight to goal. When this doesn't happen, he's caught moving out and to his right as the shot comes in. He gets in the dreaded no man's land, where he's not close enough to Suarez to spread himself and block any shot, but too close to give himself any reaction time.

The Lesson: If the striker is at a tight angle or is being closed down by a defender, hold your line, stand up, and react to the shot. Standing up means it takes a quality finish to beat you. Getting caught in no man's land means the easiest little toe poke can result in a goal.

2) They Don't Trust Their Wall at Free Kicks

We all know how this works: the wall covers the near post, the keeper covers the far post. You may be 99% sure the shooter is going to go over the wall, but if you anticipate that and he beats you to the far post, the side you've just abandoned, you've got nobody but yourself to blame.

Remember that it's not easy for the shooter to get the ball over the wall and then back under the crossbar. Even when they do manage it, it will usually lack pace, and you'll have time to get across to deal with it. It's much simpler to avoid the wall and shoot at the far post, especially if the keeper has abandoned it. Make the shooter do the hard thing.

3) They Get Bogged Down in Superstitions

Magic isn't real. If you play poorly or well, it's down to you. Your energy is much better spent in other ways.

I realize that lots of top pros are superstitious. That doesn't mean it isn't a crutch, because it is, or that they wouldn't be every bit as good without the superstitions, because they would be. Copy their work ethic and concentration, not their superstitions.

Why Do Barca Persist With Valdes?

2012-08-27T18:53:00.003-04:00

Wearing two gloves would help

Barcelona has been the best team in the world the last half-decade. Nobody would plausibly deny this. Led by the peerless midfield duo of Xavi and Iniesta and fronted by the comically brilliant Leo Messi, they've swept all available trophies and set new standards for passing football. So why, some people wonder, have they persisted with Victor Valdes, a good - sometimes very good - but not brilliant goalkeeper? This question was raised again this week when he gifted Real Madrid a goal. As my Madrid-supporting friend Mateo said, "It was the same old thing. We chased the ball and they finished and then Valdes gave us his customary goal." Twitter lit up with people calling him a clown or buffoon, and many wondered why Barca haven't replaced him with someone better.

Valdes is a good goalkeeper. He's gone long stretches playing exceptionally well, and has sometimes been the difference between Barca winning and losing. The reason he is questioned is that his team is so very brilliant, while he is, for the most part, merely pretty good. It doesn't help his cause that in this period of bitter rivalry with Madrid, the Real goalkeeper and captain is the universally respected Iker Casillas, a man who has captained Spain to three major international titles in a row - while Valdes warmed the bench each time. Throw in the occasional high-profile mistake, and it's not hard to see why some look at him and say, "Why this guy?"

Valdes is a product of Barca's youth system. He is a favorite son. But this in itself is no guarantee; Pepe Reina was also a product of La Maisa, but after 30 first-team appearances, he was shipped out on loan and eventually sold.

Because Barca have so much possession, a keeper comfortable with the ball at his feet suits them. Valdes, his footwork error last week notwithstanding, is generally a very good footballer. He's quick to sweep up loose balls behind his back four and get it back into the passing rotation. He rarely kicks long, but is accurate when he does so. His distribution overall is among the best in the world, and because it suits Barca's style so well, it's likely a big reason why the club are confident with him in goal.

There was a time earlier in his career when the mistakes were hard to ignore (Liverpool fans have fond memories of a Champions League goal he gifted them at the Nou Camp), but starting around 2008, he began playing with new maturity and cut down dramatically on the errors as his team began winning every available trophy. But last season, a bit of inconsistency began creeping back in, and at crucial times, when his team needed him most. He could have done better for Didier Drogba's opening goal at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League semifinals, when he failed to prevent a fairly tame shot from slipping past him. It wasn't a howler, but then outrageous howlers are actually easier to forgive sometimes. They're one-offs. The Drogba goal was the kind of thing that has always been a part of Valdes's game: sloppy form leading to a preventable goal. In the return leg, he came far off his line when Ramires was being closed down by a defender, presenting him with an easy chip, when he would have had to produce a terrific shot to beat him had he stayed on his line. He did the same thing in the season's last Clasico, at home to Real Madrid, allowing Ronaldo to score the winning goal from a tight angle with a simple prod because he had again left his line when holding it was the better option. That game all but sealed the La Liga title for Real.

These three goals highlight the persistent weakness of Valdes: it's not that he makes a lot of horrible clangers; it's that he allows goals that might not look so bad at first, but that a better keeper would likely prevent. It doesn't punish Barca that often, because they're so good. Last year it just so happened that it might have cost them the two major trophies. The difference between Petr Cech and Valdes over two games last season was the difference in who went to the Champions League Final.

The twitter argument in favor of Valdes seems to be "But Barca don't need a great keeper." Why not? Why wouldn't the best team in the world want the best player they could get? Others point to Valdes's distribution, which is a better point. It remains that the best team in the world has a good, not great, goalkeeper. He's certainly not a liability, like Felix from the great Brazil 1970 World Cup winners. But neither is he in the class of some of teammates, nor of his opposite number in all those heated Clasicos down the years.

Back row, second from left: some guy we found

Barca, I suspect, know what they're doing. Valdes grew up with many of his teammates, training with them at La Maisa. They know each other intimately, and can anticipate what each will do on the pitch in every situation. Chemistry and harmony in a dressing room is important, and in addition to his passing style suiting the team on the pitch, he seems to suit them off it as well. In Ronald Reng's excellent book about the life and death of Robert Enke, A Life Too Short, Valdes comes across as modest, dedicated, and a strong supporter of each of his teammates. That kind of character is not easy to find in the modern game. Even the world's very best keepers make mistakes. Valdes allows a poor goal every now and then; his teammates usually ensure it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that if Barca thought Valdes was a problem, they would replace him. They're a good fit, Barcelona and Victor Valdes, and nobody can complain about the results.

Anger, Frustration, Impatience: Dealing With Emotion

2012-08-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I made the single worst mistake I've ever made in my life. I've waiting until now to write about it, because I needed a little distance to see it for what it really was. Also, in the immediate aftermath, I dealt with it the way I've always handled mistakes: I pretended it didn't really happen.

But it did, and here's how: my team, off to a decent start in our summer season (one win, one draw), found ourselves at 2-2 in the 70th minute against a difficult opponent. I had been playing well - one or two good saves, a few crosses taken, good kicking. My frustration was growing, though, because as we tired, we began giving away silly fouls due to laziness. We gave one away to the right corner of the penalty box, barely survived the ball that was whipped in, and then almost immediately gave away another in the same spot. This time, the guy walloped it right into the top corner, a very good shot but nonetheless one I felt maybe I should have saved. Minutes later we got caught on the counter, and suddenly it was 4-2.

Now, I'm old enough (46 in a few weeks) to know that there are more important things than winning a Gotham League B Division game, especially when it's just the third game of the season. 4-2 down with ten minutes to play isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to me. But I got angry - at my team, for giving away the needless free kick, and at the opponents, whose celebrations seemed to veer a little close to gloating - and I let it affect me in the final minutes.

With the game in injury time, one of my defenders played a ball back to me, and the player who'd scored th free kick - and who had laughed about it - came running after it. If I had been in my right mind, I'd have done the smart thing - the only thing - and cleared it first time. But because I was angry and frustrated, and had a chip on my shoulder about this particular player, I made a late and very stupid decision to try to embarrass him a little. I would shape to clear it, but take a touch away from him instead, and have a little moment of triumph as he went flying past me while I calmy switched the ball onto my other foot.

You can probably guess how this went.

A graphical representation of my first touch

I didn't sell it as well as I thought I had, and the player changed his run at the last second, distracting me. I took my eye off the ball for an instant, and it stuck under my foot as I made to touch it away from him. He tackled it off me and rolled it into the empty net as I lay on the ground, my anger completely drained away, replaced by embarrassment. The ref blew for full time before we could restart play, thankfully, so at least I was spared having to play on after such a disastrous mistake. It didn't affect the outcome of the match, but it taught me an important lesson that I'm sure I once knew but had forgotten: don't make decisions based on emotion.

Now, when we throw absolutes like that around, there are usually exceptions. But in this case, I don't think there are. Goalkeepers have to make decisions - about positioning, coming or staying for balls, setting walls at free kicks, communication, etc - and those decisions have to be made rationally. I'n not saying you can't play with anger. Anger can lead to aqggression, and that can help you plunge into a crowd to claim a loose ball, or a pluck a cross from a forest of players. But decision-making has to be a cerebral act. We have just a second or two, sometimes less, to decide our appropriate response to what the game is throwing at us, and I can't imagine a scenario whereby we would make a better decision when clouded by emotion.

This can be bad even when the emotion is a good one, like elation (your team has just scored what looks like a late winner) or euphoria (you just made a brilliant save). Goalkeepers high on elation or euphoria might throw caution to the wind and come flying out for a ball they have no chance of getting, which is as bad or worse than staying on your line for a ball that is yours.

Let's not mistake confidence for an emotion. To me, confidence is a mindset, and that's a different thing entirely. We definitely want to make our decisions from a base of confidence. Emotions are going to happen. They're going to fluctuate from very good to very bad and back again over the course of ninety minutes. Our decision-making needs to come from a sound bedrock of confidence and rational thought. When you catch yourself doing things to embarrass an opponent or impress someone in the stands, you're being selfish. Good goalkeepers, above all, are selfless. We do the job our team needs us to do. That doesn't mean we can't have fun, can't express ourselves, but we have to play for more than just ourselves. Its what we do; it's what we signed up for.

Anatomy of a Blinder

2012-06-27T16:27:00.004-04:00

Blinders. God/Allah/Thor willing, we all play them from time to time. I was lucky enough to do so Monday night, June 25, and in its aftermath, I've thought a lot about all the variables that contributed to it. The more we know about why we play blinders, the more likely we are to replicate them. So let's look at this from all the angles.

Preparation

I wasn't feeling great about the prospects of the game earlier in the day. Though I'd kept a clean sheet in my last game, a 0-0 draw, that had been nearly three weeks ago, and in the interim I had played a couple of indifferent 7-a-side games. But I got a boost in the late afternoon, when a new pair of 3/4 trousers and a padded undershirt arrived from Storelli Sports. I liked the look and feel right away, and this changed my mindset immediately. Now I was looking forward to playing, because I had new gear to try out.

Nifty, eh?

Pregame

I must have played well in spite of my pregame warmup, because as usual, I didn't get much of one. We had only a few minutes after the previous game ended before ours started, so I spent twenty or so minutes along the touchline doing active stretching, getting my body ready, and taking a few shots from close range right at me, just to get the hands warmed up. Once in goal, I took as many shots from as many different ranges and angles as possible, but from only one player (there's only one person on my team I trust to give me a proper warmup; everyone else just tries to bash it past me).

Technical

We had a discussion on The Glove Bag about stance/ready position, and someone posted a video of Hugo Lloris in training. I have always known that I set my feet too wide and with my hands too low. It's a lifelong bad habit that was never really a problem when I was young, but has become one now that I'm 45. I was struck by how narrow and upright Lloris keeps himself, and having that image in my head made it easier for me to keep from slipping into old habits. One save I made, from close range to my left, I can attribute directly to this, because when I slip into a wide stance, my weight gets back on my heels, and it's hard to react well to low shots.

Tactical

Another piece of recent inspiration came from watching the peerless Gigi Buffon during the Euros. I noticed that at set plays, he comes far off his line to instruct/encourage his defenders, mixing in with both sets of players well outside the six yard box. I'm not sure exactly why he does it, but I like the way it enhances his presence. He's not hiding back there on his line, he's reminding the other side that he is there and they have to deal with him. I did that on every corner (making sure to retreat to proper position before the kick was taken), and it seemed to give me a more aggressive approach. I came for and claimed four of the eight corners we faced.

Legend

Confidence

I've written extensively about confidence, about how we have 'core' confidence (our deep-seated, relatively stable belief in our ability) and 'surface' confidence (how we feel at any given moment in a game - fluctuates with events). I claimed a corner in heavy traffic, handled a straightforward shot cleanly, and kicked well in the opening exchanges, so my surface confidence grew. After another save or two, I had that great feeling of slipping into the zone: my feet felt light as air and my nerves tingled in a good way, with restrained adrenalin. The dark thoughts that sometimes creep into my head during games, the scary "what ifs?", slipped far away. You can't control everything during a game, but when you feel like this, you believe you can handle whatever comes your way.

Luck

Midway through the first half, a shot came in through a forest of bodies. I never saw it, and it smacked off the joint of crossbar and post. I was lucky; no other word for it.

In the bigger picture, since we can't control what kind of shots come at us, I was lucky that it turned out that they were ones I could handle. I made nine saves total, five of which were fairly straightforward. Four were difficult, two especially so - low, hard shots that came through bodies and that I saw late. I was able to turn them both around the post with a good left hand. Good saves, very good even, but had they been hit a little better or taken even the tiniest of deflections, I would have been helpless.

Focus

The problem with being in the zone is knowing that you're in the zone. It's best when it just happens without your knowledge, but when you start thinking "I'm having a blinder" and there are still thirty minutes to go, you can get in trouble. It's why golfers trying to shoot a personal best often cock it up in the closing holes: they stop thinking about the process (hitting good golf shots) and instead focus on the desired outcome (personal low score). During the game is no time for reflection on your performance, whether it's good or bad. I caught myself having self-congratulatory thoughts as the saves mounted in the second half, but willed them away and tried to stay focused when the ball was in the other end with a little trick I learned from an older keeper a long time ago - by saying aloud (though quietly) the name of whichever of my teammates was playing or closest to the ball. If your mind has a tendency to wander in games, try it. It works. Just make sure you keep talking loudly to your team as needed.

Finish

The ref keeps time and there is no visible clock in our games, so I have no way of knowing how much time is left. This is good, I think. We had scored a suckerpunch counter-attack goal with our only shot on target of the game, and shortly after that, some of our players kept asking the ref how much time was left. I don't like knowing that, because it by necessity gets you thinking about the wrong thing again (the result). I understand outfield players need to know, in the event they are fatigued and need to come off. But I tried to put it out of mind, and in fact when the final whistle came, I was surprised by it.

Aftermath

First, the Storelli gear is just spectacular. I won't play with any other protective gear again. It's not the cheapest, but as these are one-time expenses and the quality is excellent, I highly recommend them. Some keepers, of course, don't like padded gear, but my age is well-documented and I still enjoy the high-flying acrobatics of my youth (proof here), but I don't heal as quickly. Padding is a must for me.

The great thing about the 3/4 pants is they solve the problem of incorporating knee padding without looking silly. The knees have a snug elastic cuff that keeps the padding in place, but what I can best describe as a fabric 'sleeve' hangs over the padding and the cuff, and gives them a more casual look.

I don't advocate spending a lot of money in order to play well. But you have to be comfortable with your equipment, be it gloves, boots, or jersey. Find what works for you and keep using it - but not because of superstition! Use it because it actually enhances your performance.

Finally, when you play a blinder, don't gloat or brag, but do enjoy it. Use it to feed your core confidence. We can never be sure when the next one is coming.

Anyone also played a blinder lately?

Energy Gels, Chews, and Drinks - Worth It?

2012-06-25T12:03:00.005-04:00

Goalkeepers have energy needs. We really do. Oh, outfield players may laugh at such a claim, but let them laugh. Goalkeepers may not burn energy from extended bouts of running, but we do consume a lot from simple nervous energy (pacing and stalking while the ball is in the other end) and short explosive bursts. Having a blood sugar crash during a game is disastrous. It's happened to me a few times, and is no fun whatsoever. Your legs turn to goo, all movement is sluggish, and you can't concentrate. Obviously, training sessions are more demanding than games for keepers, and all of this applies for training sessions as well, as they are roughly the same length as games.

A good, well-timed pregame meal should prevent such a blood sugar crash, but not always -- for example, playing on an excessively hot day and losing a lot of fluids will exacerbate the issue. Energy gels, chews, and drinks serve as a good insurance policy against the worst-case scenario of a total blood sugar crash. Will they turn you into a roaring, energized dynamo? Not really, no. But they do have their use.

Let's first understand what it is they are and what they can and cannot do. The source of 'energy' in energy gels is basically two things: sugar and caffeine. There are different kinds of sugar (cane, brown rice syrup, fructose) and you can choose caffeine-free products if (like me) excessive caffeine makes you a little jittery.

One thing it is very important to remember is that a lot of energy products are designed for the endurance-athlete market. Brown rice syrup, for example, is a complex carbohydrate, which means it burns slower and longer. We are playing roughly two hours, so are better served by simpler carbs and perhaps caffeine.

Simple carbs work in the short term. If you hit the gel 30 minutes before kickoff and again at halftime, you'll keep your blood sugar levels high without the worry of a crash. It's important to understand that you could get the exact same effect by swallowing a spoonful of grape jelly, but what you're paying for with gels is convenience. You can take the little foil packs with you everywhere.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but downing a can of Coca Cola (or Red Bull, Monster, or any other caffeinated beverage) can improve performance (read the full, technical story here). If caffeine doesn't bother you, and you sometimes feel an energy lull during games, it's worth a try.

Sports drinks like Gatorade or Lucozade are primarily for hydration, and have lower concentrations of carbs. Gels offer the same amount of carbs without filling your stomach with liquid, but hydration is obviously important too, so in many cases, this will be enough.

You can find a great deal of technical information about energy products with a simple google search. I've left out the likes of gastric emptying rate and VO2max from this article because I don't want to complicate the real-world focus of preventing crashes during games, but all that information is out there and you should educate yourself if you want it.

I don't have any specific brand suggestions, because I have used several different gels. I usually change every so often as I get tired of the taste (you definitely don't get a great taste experience with most energy gels).

What tips or suggestions do you guys have for maintaining energy?

Glove Review: Selsport Elite Spirit

2012-06-10T23:09:00.005-04:00

Look at this beauty.

Goalkeepers who like a bulky glove normally have to put up with a bit of weight, while those who like featherweight models are forced to compromise with thin backhand material. Selsport gets around this by using a lighter, less-dense backhand latex in high groove strips. It provides reassuring bulk (and a great punching platform) to the backhand of the Elite Spirit, but, combined with an Airmesh body construction, keeps the overall weight down.

This is great, but what really matters, of course, is the grip. No worries there, as Selsport uses 3.5 millimeters of its tried and trusted SupaSoft. I've used the glove a half-dozen times in conditions ranging from cold and dry to warm and wet, with lots of miserable spitting drizzle in between (ah, springtime in New York). It grips like a demon. It probably wouldn't be a first-choice glove on a wet winter night - no glove with a mesh construction would be - but the latex is more than up to the task.

There are little touches I like, such as the v-notch between thumb and forefinger and the internal stitching of the two middle fingers (always an issue with rollfinger gloves - I doubt it makes any performance difference whatsoever, but it certainly looks better). My pair of size 9 fit true to size, with the finger fit being on the snug side.

Like any modern glove, it benefits greatly from a thorough prewash. Out of the pack, the latex feels a bit powdery and slick, but a good five minutes squeezing them under the tap takes care of that.

It's a hit on all marks in my view, but I have to state my quibble with the attractive neon orange packet Selsport provides for their gloves these days. It has a velco-fastened opened along one side, but it doesn't run the full length of the packet, meaning you've got to finagle the gloves to get them in. Prewashing actually plays a part in this, because the first time you open the packet, the gloves slide right out. Once you prewash them, though, the latex on the wrist strap and fingertips 'grabs' the packet and makes them more of a hassle to get them in and out than it should be. Small point, but perhaps one Selsport will take a look at in future.

Good Form - What It Is And How To Stay In It

2012-05-15T12:26:00.002-04:00

It's an old footballing cliche: 'Form is temporary, class is permanent.' But why is form temporary? And what, exactly, is it?

I think we can agree that form is simply how a player has been performing over a given span of games. How many games? For me, between three and ten. Fewer than three is not enough to establish a trend, while more than ten indicates something more than just form, but base ability.

Base ability is how good a player should be. It's a combination of skill, athleticism, mental toughness, and sport-specific intelligence. But base ability is not always an indicator of actual performance. Performance in sport, especially short-term, can be greatly affected, in either direction, by confidence. It will come as no surprise to anyone that confidence plays an enormous role in goalkeeper performance, but it might do us some good to examine exactly why this is.

Confidence is important for every athlete, but especially so for goalkeepers, who, by virtue of our position, have a lot of time in games to think about how we are playing and worry about situations that make us nervous. If you consider goal kicks to be a weakness, you're going to have anxiety during the match thinking about taking them. That anxiety can have physiological effects - shallow breathing, muscle tension, excessive nervous energy - which make executing the skill of kicking a football a long way even more difficult. It's easy to see the vicious circle of anxiety, poor performance, and lack of confidence.

Quite the opposite happens to a goalkeeper who believes he takes a good goal kick. He isn't worried about his expectant teammates, or his coach, or the watching crowd, and he doesn't anticipate the situation with dread during games. So when it's time to take a goal kick, he's relaxed and confident, and performs to the best of his base ability, not handicapped by stress.

This thing is weird

Now, no matter how brilliant a goalkeeper may be, each of us has game situations that stress us. You may be a brilliant shot stopper and dominate your box, but are sometimes unsure about balls over the top. Is that mine or my defenders'? Stress. You may kick like Joe Hart and have the reflexes of a mongoose, but you dropped a couple of shots in training yesterday....Stress.

What happens to a keeper in any one game, and indeed over the course of a season or an entire career, is largely random. We can't determine whether a player shoots or crosses, plays a long ball over the top, shoots when clean in on goal or dribbles. If a keeper is an excellent shot stopper but weak on crosses, and just happens to play five games in a row without having to deal with any difficult crosses, chances are he's going to play quite well and be in 'good form.' Closer to the truth is that he's just a bit lucky to have had his strengths tested, but not his weaknesses.

I recall a situation like this a couple of seasons ago, when Heurelho Gomes was catching hell for mistakes, but made a couple of brilliant late reaction saves to salvage a draw with Chelsea. The commentators praised his 'mental strength' to overcome his demons, but firstly, reaction saves simply happen too fast to have much to do with mental toughness or confidence. But more importantly, reaction saves were always one of his strengths. Most of his mistakes came from poor decisions. The situation conspired to give him a chance to do what he does best, and he performed. If Chelsea had instead floated a few go / no-go balls into the box, it may have worked out differently.

The inverse is when a keeper who struggles with, let's say, balls over the top, finds himself in a run of games where it seems the opponent just keeps playing this type of ball. Because he struggles in these situations - and because he knows he struggles - chances are good that he's going to make mistakes. The stress rises, the confidence drops, and even if the mistakes aren't disastrous, he will feel like he's playing poorly, like everyone notices, like he's letting the team down. He's in 'bad form.'

(It should go without saying that if your opponent notices you struggle in certain situations, you better believe they will change their tactics to exploit it.)

All the above is, to a degree, a simplification. It's important to understand that a goalkeeper can make a mistake doing something he knows he is good at, and suffer short-term confidence problems because of it. He can also claim a cross under heavy traffic, his biggest weakness, and feel on top of the world. Temporarily.

The random nature of the game's demands are one good reason why what we call 'form' doesn't last forever. Base ability and confidence can only indicate how a keeper should or probably will handle a given situation. It's no guarantee. I remember, toward the end of the 1995 season, coming for a cross, timing it perfectly, and simply dropping it. My defenders scrambled it away, and we won the game, but it shook me. I had had a strong season, especially coming for crosses, which I always regarded as a strength. But I replayed that drop over and over in my head, and went into the next game silently hoping every corner would be an outswinger. As it happened, nobody challenged me for the first cross that came in, I caught it cleanly, and the problem was solved. But who knows what may have happened had I fumbled it?

All this talk of strengths and weaknesses begs an obvious point: train your weaknesses. Improve. Go into games with no weaknesses, afraid of nothing.

Still....

Even if we reach that level, there are going to be situations we can't account for that bring us stress. It's a fact of the position. We have to manage our expectations with a degree of reality, because expectations are an important aspect of confidence.

An example from golf: a few years ago, the Nationwide Tour wired some players with heart monitors during rounds, with TV viewers able to see the displays live. Which situations caused the most stress - bunker shots, long approaches over water? Nope, it was three-to-four foot putts. Pros make those at a rate of nearly 90% - and that's the problem. They are expected to make them. There are no built-in excuses for missing. The player holds himself to an unforgiving standard, which leads to stress. What's important, though, is that despite the stress, they do roll those putts in at 90%. They perform in spite of the stress. That's mental toughness.

So if you happen to be in good form, how do you stay there? First, recognize the element of chance and realize it won't last. Maybe you're just brilliant at everything, but if you aren't, understand that turning a weakness into a strength starts with doing it right just one time. Struggle with crosses? The next time you take one cleanly, don't think, "Thank God, I got through that without a disaster." Instead, just tell yourself, "If I do the same thing the next time, and the time after that, it isn't a weakness anymore." If that sounds like delusion, well it is, to some degree. But it can work. I hate to dip into pop psychology, but there's a hell of a lot of good that can come from thinking, "I'm a good kicker" multiple times before taking a goal kick - even if it isn't true. The fact is that the skills required to play most sports are fairly basic, and they can be mastered, as long as you don't unduly handicap yourself.

If you're on the other side of the road, going through a dip in form, may I suggest exhaustion? There's nothing like a few punishing training sessions to force you to make saves without thoughts clouding your brain. Excessive self-evaluation is a luxury that you simply can't afford when you're hurling yourself from post to post. Train hard and don't think so much, and your performance will surely go back to where you base ability says it should be.

Cech's Save - What You Can Learn From It

2012-05-06T21:03:00.000-04:00

Happily, goalkeepers aren't always in the news for the wrong reasons. On Saturday, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech wrote himself into FA Cup history with a fantastic save to preserve the Blues' 2-1 win over Liverpool. Cech clawed an Andy Carroll header onto the underside of the crossbar, and - though it was close - video evidence showed the referee and his assistant got it right by not awarding a goal.

Cech's save will go down in FA Cup Final lore with Jimmy Montgomery's superb double save for Sunderland in the 1973 Final (still my personal favorite save), but it's different from Monty's or the Gordon Banks save in Mexico, another one it's been compared to. As you can see from the picture, Cech didn't have to cover a great deal of ground to reach the ball. The challenge came from having so little time to react. Carroll's header, from close range, was powerful, and though it wasn't across the line, it was behind Petr's body. So in addition to lightning reflexes, it took strength to claw the ball back to safety. Complicating the matter further was Branislav Ivanovic hurling himself across his keeper's line of sight. The defender was just doing his best to block Carroll's header, but his flying body and raised boot couldn't have made life easy for his keeper. But Cech wasn't distracted. He kept his focus on the ball and was able to react.

The keeper's footwork to get across the line as Luis Suarez crossed was also exemplary, as was his posture and body position when Carroll thumped his header. It's easy, in that situation, to have your weight on your heels (as, perhaps, Cech may have for Carroll's 64th-minute goal), but the towering keeper stayed upright and balanced, with his hands raised and ready to react.

Finally - and most importantly - you can't underestimate Cech's competitiveness. Half the stadium was already leaping to their feet to celebrate a goal - and indeed, Carroll did run off in celebration - but the goalkeeper simply refused to be beaten. Gordon Banks denied Pele in Mexico with graceful, feline athleticism, while Montgomery's explosive spring thwarted Leeds. Cech simply fought the ball out of the net. Competitiveness, desperation, will. Call it what you like. It's as important to a keeper as a safe pair of hands.

There is an othodoxy which states that Cech has never been the same since his head injury. I've never agreed with that. He's had very good seasons since then, as well as a couple of indifferent ones. Much of his league campaign this season fell into the latter category. He got caught cheating and leaning several times, not least during the 5-3 home thrashing by Arsenal. But he was the difference over two legs against Barcelona (themselves not helped at all by erratic displays from Victor Valdes) and more than did his part to win the FA Cup Final. In this form, who's to say he won't be lifting the Champions League trophy in a few weeks times?

Psychological Warfare and Penalties

2012-03-26T10:23:00.004-04:00

Joe Hart picked a psychological fight with Scott Sinclair of Swansea and won. At the time, it was widely reported that he was shouting, "You won't beat me!" at Sinclair, but it looks to me as if he's saying, "Don't wait for me!" I suspect what he meant by that is, don't wait for me to commit myself and then shoot the other way, because I'm not going to. Regardless, it sparked a lot of discussion about whether the tactic was worth trying, and whether or not referees would be likely to see it as eclipsing sportsmanlike conduct.

Shooters have every advantage when it comes to penalties, except for one: pressure. They're expected to score, while nobody will blame the keeper. What Joe Hart did is pile just that little bit of extra pressure on Sinclair. It's bad enough the whole stadium watching, but now the goalkeeper is making it personal? Some players - those with plenty of battle-hardened experience - will not be put off by this, and maybe Sinclair wasn't, either. But he missed.

My immediate response to this was thinking that it isn't worth whatever slight advantage may be gained. The odds are still strongly in favor of the shooter, and how silly are you going to look and feel if you're bleating at him and then he scores? But if you're willing to accept that as a consequence, then perhaps it's worth it.

There are more subtle ways of getting the same message across. I knew a goalkeeper who, before a penalty, used to loudly instruct one of his players to start making a run just as the penalty was taken, so he could kick it out to him once he'd saved it. Again, a small way to introduce the idea of missing into the shooter's mind. Golf instructors always say that the last thought you should have before swinging is a positive one. If there's water down the left, your last thought should be "hit it right" and NOT "don't hit it left." So any way of introducing a negative thought to the kicker can help your odds ever so slightly.

Let's accept one fact: well-taken penalties are rarely saved. Most saves come from shots hit too close to the keeper and at an optimum height - two or three feet off the ground. Sometimes you'll guess correctly and make a save at full stretch, as Tom Heaton did so magnificently against Steven Gerrard in the Carling Cup Final, but most often, you see penalties saved when the shooter is tentative and cautious. All the missed penalties in the African Cup of Nations final seemed to be the result of paralyzing tension, manifested in either wild misses or timid, cautious prods. Maybe the smartest thing Joe Hart did wasn't shouting at Scott Sinclair, but just holding his ground, as he said he would. Guessing is a fine, time-honored way of dealing with penalties, but just make sure you've got reason to guess. If the shooter looks nervous and uncertain - afraid to miss - maybe that's the time to see if you can just react to his shot.

Just don't do this

Whether or not you choose to actively engage the shooter might come down to your personality. I got a real kick out of seeing Joe Hart do it, but it's something I wouldn't do myself. Whether I won or lost that individual battle, chances are it could start a back-and-forth with that player that I would find distracting. Some relish that kind of aggro, but for me, it's just asking for trouble.

There are, of course, other psychological tricks keepers play before penalties. Time wasting, wandering out to the spot to have a word with the ref, complaining about the shooter's placement of the ball on the spot, stretching for the crossbar to look big... You see variations of these every weekend around the world. Joe Hart came up with something a little different, and it seemed to work. Will he do it again, or was it a one-time inspiration? And would you try the same tactic yourself, or do you have your own tricks? Let me know in the comments or on twitter.

Boot Review - adidas AdiPower Predator TRX-FG

2012-02-27T17:21:00.005-05:00

I started a lively twitter debate today with a simple statement: "Can a boot help your kicking? Short answer - YES." I was referring to the Predators I've been testing throughout February. Responses ranged from "No way - it's all technique," to "If you feel more confident then you'll kick better."

The reason I said "Yes" relates to the latter opinion: these boots look and feel like they are made to strike a ball with power, therefore I felt confident. When I'm confident, I feel free of tension. As it specifically relates to kicking, I don't try to force the ball in the air. I simply swing smoothly. This almost always results in better performance.

At forty five years of age, I still haven't found my foot speed or reflexes noticeably disintegrating. But my goal kicks have gone downhill badly. What once felt easy and natural has begun to feel laborious. This has affected my technique, as I find I've lost a lot of the natural rhythm I once took for granted.

It was easy once

There's a bit more to it than just confidence, though. I found the stiff sole plate helped my foot explode through the ball firmly and solidly. Watch the video for a demonstration of the sole plate's stiffness:

This took FIVE takes

The other aspect I found helpful was the Predator element on the instep. This has changed over the years, with various iterations of the Predator. The current manifestation is a clear silicon material which helps grip the ball and impart more spin when going for a bending ball. As the TRX-FG lacks a fold-down tongue, the silicone element also helps provide a firm striking surface, with just a bit more bulk.

That's not to say it is a perfect boot for me. Playing on a relatively firm pitch, I found the rear studs a little too long for comfort. After a long session with a lot of ball striking, my heels were a little sore. The sole plate wraps around the entire heel, and these raised studs help angle the foot slightly forward. adidas calls this configuration the 'Sprint Frame' and claims it angles the foot for optimum speed. This may well be true, but it didn't stop me grinding the rear studs down by two millimeters. If you play on softer pitches you won't find it an issue, but for me, they were just a bit too long.

As befitting a relatively expensive ($179.99 here) boot, the TRX-FG looks and feels like a high-end model. It is feather-light at 7.8 ounces. I stress that no boot is going to help your kicking if your technique is lacking, but will echo the thoughts of Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Rich O'Donnell, who added to the twitter debate by saying, "Look good, feel good, play good." These boots look good and feel good on me, and my kicking has benefitted.

Book Review: "Graduation" by Richard Lee

2012-02-02T19:44:00.009-05:00

There are a good many interesting player autobiographies out there, and there are dozens of useful sports psychology books as well. As far as I know, however, Brentford goalkeeper Richard Lee has written the only book that is both. At once a compelling story of his 2010/11 season, it is also replete with the results of his years of serious scholarship in the fields of psychology, the human mind, and Neuro Linguistic Programming (in which he recently gained qualification). It is, therefore, both entertaining and immensely useful for any active goalkeeper.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should state that while I've never met Richard, we've been email pals for awhile now. I wrote about him for Goalkeeper Magazine and he has used a few of these blog entries for his GKIcon site. I'm enthusiastic about his book entirely on merit, though.)

You may know a little about the drama of Richard's first season at Brentford, particularly the penalty saves. Richard saved approximately 126 penalties last season. Not really, but it almost seems like it, in shootouts against Everton, Leyton Orient, Birmingham, and Charlton. Rich gives us insights into what goes through his mind when facing penalties:

"People always say to me: 'Penalties must be so nerve wracking.'
Honestly? Not at all. This is as big an opportunity as I get--
to be a hero for a night."

Richard's season is the proverbial up-and-down roller coaster ride, beginning in August as third choice and going through the drama of penalties, a managerial change, injury, and reflection. Whatever level you play at, it's easy to relate to the highs and lows that are part of any campaign.

Sports psychology can sometimes be a confusing mass of contradictory, feel-good slogans. Happily, Richard trammels in none of that. He introduces various elements in clear language, and even if you don't catch it all throughout the book, there's a chapter near the end that lays out his entire methodology from start to finish. An example:

Powerful Physiology:
Physiology can play a huge role in you own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
The simple act of sticking your chest out can make you feel better about yourself,
so when feeling down, arguably the first port of call would be to improve your physiology.

Goalkeeping is all about learning. Be a sponge for knowledge. There is no one single "correct" approach, and Rich isn't trying to sell you one. But there is a wealth of knowledge in these pages, the result of all the courses and studying he's done, that can help any athlete perform to the best of their ability. There aren't many things in this world designed to help prevent goals being scored in football. FIFA is against us, the laws of the game are against us, and even the laws of physics are sometimes against us. Richard is on our side. Get his book here and read it.

Glove Collection, Because, Hey -- Gloves

2012-01-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the Black Dog Wins

2012-01-13T14:51:00.005-05:00

Robert Enke's suicide in November 2009 shocked the football world and sent much of Germany into mourning for an enigmatic and brilliant goalkeeper the country had only just begun to get to know. Ronald Reng has written a powerful and important book detailing Robert's life and death and the vicious, intractable force of clinical depression.

This is not a review but a series of impressions. We've discussed the relationships between rival keepers here before, and these relationships played a compelling role in Enke's life. He was intimidated by the veteran Uwe Kamps as a young keeper at Borussia Monchengladbach, then formed a healthier, teacher-mentor relationship with young reserve Jose Moreira. Later, during a disastrous stint at Barcelona, he shared a kind of unspoken simpatico with Roberto Bonano, who, like Enke himself, felt misused by the Catalan giants. Finally, as he rebuilt his career at Hannover 96, he found himself thrust into intense competition for the Germany number one shirt with Rene Adler. Fresh off the Kahn-Lehmann feud that had lasted nearly a decade, fueled by the likes of Kicker and Bild Magazines. He didn't know what to make of Adler's friendliness, especially with the tabloids seeming to favor his rival, but in the end had to simply admit that Adler was "a sound guy."

Robert suffered only two depressive periods in his life, each lasting just a few months, but with the second proving fatal. Reng - who was a friend of Robert's - pulls off the impossible: he takes the reader's presumably healthy mind into the hopeless mire of the depressive's. For anyone who has dismissed a suicide as 'selfish', this is important to understanding how destructive this illness - and it is an illness - can be. Nobody blames someone for getting bone cancer, but society still doesn't understand when people with dysfunctional brains behave illogically. During his depressive periods, Robert saw no hope in anything. He couldn't see how loved he was, how successful. It didn't matter. All he experienced was profound physical exhaustion and an unendurable hopelessness.

There is, of course, the uncomfortable question of how being a goalkeeper affected Robert's mindset, explicated best by a disastrous Spanish Cup game for Barcelona which he saw as his last chance to make something of his career there. Pressure and nerves are part of the job, but certainly during his depressive periods, attempting to battle his illness while keeping it secret as a public personality and continuing to play at a high level would have been too much for anyone to bear. Some of the most difficult reading is the descriptions of Robert trying to force his way through the final few games of his life.

There is much more to the story and the book. There are lighter moments, many great goalkeeper lessons, and more than a little glove talk throughout (Reng clearly knows his gloves). It's a remarkable literary achievement on multiple levels.

Let's not forget that among everything else, Robert was a brilliant goalkeeper.

How Would You Fare?

2011-12-16T18:43:00.003-05:00

Which goalkeeper hasn't imagined it?

The team you support offers you a trial. You impress in training, but of course there's no seeing past the first team goalkeeper, be he Pepe Reina, Victor Valdes, Manuel Neuer, or, er, Leandro Chichizola (look, I'm a River Plate fan, okay?).

Now, let's imagine that on the morning of the derby, a very complicated series of events leads to the first team, reserve, and even youth goalkeepers being unavailable. Calls are made, special clearance is granted, and next thing you know, you're being kitted out to play. In an actual league game.

How is that going to go for you? Well, there's the dream, and there's the reality.

In the dream, we make save after save, pluck crosses from the air, maybe even set up a goal on the counter with a stylish side volley. It's still football, right? At whatever level, it's still a ball and a goal and twenty-two players. There are, perhaps, one or two complications.

The first, for me, is the speed of play. Goalkeeping is generally a reactive position; we watch the play develop and unfold before us, and react when we're brought into it. a keeper new to the top flight might find it all happening a bit fast. Oh sure, we watch games on TV and sometimes find them drab, staid affairs. But stand in goal in that same game, and chances are you'll find all the runs, the passing, the combination play, especially near your goal, happening at an astounding rate. The problems this might cause are many, but mostly positional. Balls over the top would be especially challenging. Not only is there a good chance you may struggle to anticipate the pass in the first place, but you'll also be dealing with faster players chasing after it. struggle at all with the first one and you can expect many, many more.

Next is the physical element. How will you cope at the first corner or set piece when you're crowded out by the likes of George Elokobi or Micah Richards? you don't have to be as big and strong as they are, but you'd better be strong enough to bounce back up if one of them runs you over.

Just push him out of the way.

Even if you aren't the biggest or strongest, surely your shot-stopping ability will keep the day from being a total catastrophe? It may well. But professional players strike a ball very differently to the rest of the world. They hit it with pace, with spin, with swerve. Footballs are lighter than ever and when pros put their foot through it, scary things can happen. If you aren't used to a steady diet of shots swerving viciously towards you, you again will be in for a long ninety minutes. Look what this shot does to Jussi Jaaskeleinen - and he's played over 400 games at this level.

Despite all these challenges, there is one thing you're going to have on your side: adrenalin. Adrenalin like you've never felt before, at least not on a football pitch. However strong you are, however quick your reflexes and explosive your leap, you're going to be a little bit stronger, quicker, and more explosive on the day. Your parasympathetic nervous system will go into overdrive, flooding your limbs with adrenalin. Assuming your defense plays out of their skin, you just may survive it. Probably not, but maybe.

But probably not.

Grip, Part 2: Guest Post by Richard Avis

2011-12-04T11:31:00.002-05:00

Regarding how we each interpret ‘grip’, KGI is impressed with feedback related to how many of you are conscious of a foams ‘forgiveness’; the potential for holding balls you probably should have coughed up. This is what KGI refers to as the, ’Fingertip Rescue’©. The KGI defines the Fingertip Rescue as that moment when the Glove : Ball Interface is distinguished by being the difference in securing a ball you thought was getting away from you. Your brain is signaling the ball is slipping through or riding up your hands or fingers, and you are
beginning to think, ‘uh-oh’, when you somehow get a hold. It’s the soccer version of a baseball ‘sno-cone’ catch.

These phenomena can be notably appreciable on some models, while rarely experienced on others. The Fingertip Rescue is a product of the foam performance (coefficient of friction), as related to how the glove is fabricated, as related to how the glove assigns its shape on your hands, as related to your receiving posture (biomechanics).

A given glove’s propensity to facilitate Fingertip Rescue’s is a sublime intangible that factors into our assessment of performance (be it consciously or subconsciously). I speak directly to Fingertip Rescue in some of my reviews. I recently evaluated a few gloves that were exceptional in this regard (a couple of the HO models and the Brine King 6X). On multiple occasions, I laughed out loud and shook my head because I was so impressed for having somehow held a ball I thought I had had absolutely no business controlling.

Any additional thoughts on the Fingertip Rescue?

What Grip Is and Isn't - Guest Post by Richard Avis

2011-12-02T10:06:00.005-05:00

You might think you're a glove expert. I might think I'm a glove expert. We're both wrong. Richard Avis is a glove expert. His credentials are too long to list here, but know this: he developed FingerSave for adidas, the Tiempo (now called Premier) and Vapor Grip3 for Nike, and the Umbro 'Webb' platform, among many other true innovations. He worked one-on-one with keepers such as Kasey Keller and Tim Howard. He operates Keeper Glove Insiders, a one-man bible of glove information and reviews. His method for testing gloves is so sound and so scientific that I'm no longer doing glove reviews for public consumption. I just wait to see what he says and treat it as gospel. You will too. Let's let him talk a little bit about what really constitutes "grip" in a glove. Take it away, Richard.

What defines ‘Grip’ to you…?

‘Grip’, tends to be a nebulous term most keepers don’t think much about; you just know what it is, even if it might be tough to explain. You know it when you feel it. Values we assign are interpretive, dependent upon breadth and depth of experience of other foams.

Grip is associated with friction. Friction speaks to how one surface resists the movement of another surface. Seems simple enough, but the relationship between goalkeeper and palm is personal and complex. What we perceive as grip involves many factors beyond friction between ball and foam.

Friction properties (coefficient of friction) are easily measured with the ASTM D1894 protocol. The apparatus can be big $$$, so very few brand HQ’s are equipped, but foam vendors and the bigger glove factories will have at least a Gerry-rigged version. Some of which would make MacGyver wince.

http://www.massdevice.com/blogs/debbi-cohen/how-guide-astm-d1894-coefficient-friction-test-plastic

KGI considers ASTM D1894 useful for certain things but dismisses claims about grip if the data is derived from a sled based test. Why? Because sled tests are one dimensional; sled test data does not reflect how foam will perform once cut and sewn into a glove. Why? Because, friction, is not grip.

Foam which measures impressively via the one dimensional sled test cannot be assumed to provide superior grip because grip is a multi-dimensional result of several variables –

environmental conditions
anatomy
psycho-physiology (tactile perception)
foam composite
biomechanics
cut/patterning
fit & form (Glove:Ball Interface)

We each interpret and attach different levels of priority to these variables. What’s most important to you may not be for another. Accordingly, conclusions will vary. Who is correct? Everybody is correct. This speaks directly to the beauty and fascination for how a glove you may consider the best ever, is a glove another keeper would not choose.

In a blind test, you could have ten pair of gloves made with foam from the same bolt, and still see deviation from the mean. This is where experience and knowledge plays in. It’s one thing to know what types of testing must be performed. It is another thing entirely to know how to interpret the data and what to do it. The Keeper Glove Insider has a great experience in the relationships, relevance, and values of these variables; they are accounted for in The KGI’s published ratings for grip.

A big part of relating to a subjective review is understanding the reviewer’s perspective, as compared to yours. It is entirely possible you’re in the same place, but simply manage your descriptions differently.

Another consideration (best left for later) is the fact that foams vary from batch to batch. Brand A’s top foam may have been other-worldly superb on your first two pair and then you get a pair that doesn't kick in until the fourth or fifth wash or wearing. If anyone out there has run into performance differences with the ‘same’ foam, please elaborate. Don’t mention specific brand names or types; just write about your experience by visiting the www.keepergloveinsiders.com forum page.

What defines grip to you?