If you’re one of the many who guard the goal, you know that your hands are your most valuable assets. Whether you’re dealing with the sting of a powerful shot, the aggressiveness of a collision in the box, or the unpredictable bounce from a wet, muddy pitch, you know you face lots of challenges, and so many of them can seriously damage your hands. What can you do to keep them safe? In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the gear you can use to both enhance your performance on the pitch and protect your hands at the same time.
What Hand Injuries are Common for Goalkeepers?
Before we explore what you can do to keep your hands safe, it may help to explore what injuries many goalkeepers face on the pitch. One of the most common hand injuries goalkeepers’ faces is finger sprains and finger fractures. There’s a good reason for that. The forceful impact of a fast-moving ball or a collision can result in the hyperextension or bending of fingers, leading to painful sprains or fractures. Thumb injuries are also often fairly common. Hyperextension and ligament damage is incredibly common among many goalkeepers. Some also have to deal with wrist strains. That’s because the wrists are crucial for distributing the ball and making those precise saves, and under the pressure of tough shots, they may get sprained. Finally, you may find that you face lots of contusions and abrasions, especially in wet or muddy conditions that means the ball erratically bounces in unpredictable ways.
What Gear Can Prevent These Common Hand Injuries?
Many different types of gear can prevent hand injuries. Naturally one of the biggest considerations here should be your gloves. You want gloves that fit well and protect your hands. Consider using a brand that includes finger protection technology like spines or rods along the backs of the fingers to help minimise any hyperextension events. Some are even removable, so you can select the level of support you get during any given match. You’ll also want a high-quality palm, like a latex palm, that can enhance your grip so you can catch the ball and hang on to it securely. Some gloves also include extra padding or other features that are specifically designed to protect your thumbs as you’re working to keep the ball out of the box.
To protect your wrist, you may want to choose gloves that have adjustable wrist straps, as those can give you extra support and stabilise your wrists while you’re playing. Some also come with extended closures that mean added coverage to your wrists.
You may not think about your baselayer in this mix, but you probably should. Adding a compression baselayer to your kit can actually support the muscles in your hands and arms. Compression garments are designed to provide graduated compression to specific muscle groups. This compression helps improve blood circulation and provides support to the muscles. That may mean enhances stability and reduces risk of strains.
Grip enhancers like GloveGlu may also prove incredibly helpful. They enhance the friction between your gloves and the ball. This improved grip gives you better control when catching, holding, or parrying the ball. With enhanced control, you’re less likely to mishandle the ball, reducing the risk of fumbles or drops that could lead to opposition opportunities and potential injuries. It’s important to note that the primary purpose of grip enhancers is to optimise performance rather than prevent injuries directly. However, by promoting better ball control, they indirectly contribute to your overall game proficiency and safety.
Can Additional Training Help Prevent Injuries Too?
Additional training can play a significant role in preventing goalkeeper hand injuries, too. You can incorporate specific training exercises to improve strength, flexibility, and technique, reducing the risk of common hand injuries. One thing you can do is specific exercises to strengthen your hand and fingers. That can help enhance their resilience. Grip exercises, resistance training, and finger exercises using hand grips or resistance bands can be beneficial. Adding wrist stability exercises may help as well. This may include wrist curls, wrist extensions, and stabilisation exercises. You may also want to work on refining your catching and parrying techniques. Emphasising proper hand positioning, catching with the fingers rather than palms, and practicing different types of saves can contribute to injury prevention. Focusing on reaction time may prove useful during training, too. Not sure how? Quick reactions are essential for goalkeepers, especially when dealing with fast-paced shots. Reaction time training exercises, such as rapid ball drills or exercises using reaction balls, can improve your ability to respond swiftly and protect their hands effectively. Moreover, enhanced agility and footwork can help goalkeepers position themselves more effectively, reducing the need for awkward hand movements. Agility drills, ladder exercises, and cone drills can improve a goalkeeper’s overall mobility, thus helping to protect your hands while you’re in a match situation.
Remember, too, that overall physical conditioning is vital for injury prevention when it comes to your hands or any other part of your body. You should incorporate fitness training to improve endurance, strength, and flexibility. A well-conditioned body is more resilient and less prone to injuries. Moreover, a thorough warm-up before training or a match and a proper cool-down afterward can prepare the muscles, joints, and specific spaces like your hands for activity and promote recovery, respectively. This can contribute to injury prevention by reducing the risk of strains and sprains.
Get The Gear You Need with Us
When you need the right goalkeeper accessories to protect your hands, let us help. Take a look at our complete selection of gloves and other kit add-ons to help ensure your hands remain protected throughout every training session and match. Your hands are your most valuable asset when you’re in the box. Be sure you use the right gear to help keep them safe every time you step out onto the pitch.