The most important piece of gear a goalkeeper needs is gloves and choosing the best soccer goalie gloves is a difficult task. An ideal glove would wrap the hand and fingers perfectly whilst provide ample shot stopping protection with strong, sticky grip in a highly durable, lightweight package. Unfortunately, all of these features are difficult to combine in a single package and as such, some of these needs to be compromised to achieve another feature.
For instance, lightweight gloves are not always the most durable. Not only do lightweight gloves make sacrifices on durability but also they can offer sacrifice some protection, arguably the most important aspect of best goalkeeper gloves with finger protection.
This tricky balance is difficult to find in a market flooded with products so we have created a list of some of the best soccer goalkeeping gloves.
The Adidas Ace Zones Pro is a glove specifically designed with Manuel Neuer in mind with the German goalkeeper having extensive input into its design and creation. The glove uses different zones for superb grip and protection.
The glove fits extremely tight, wrapping your hands in varying thicknesses of latex. The latex compound used offers unmatched grip and wonderful protection.
The Puma evoPOWER Protect 1 is the glove worn by Italy’s own legend Gianluigi Buffon. The German sportswear company has engineered a glove that meets every situation a goalkeeper will come across.
The glove provides finger spines in order to protect a player’s fingers from a blistering shot. The grip is fantastic and the gloves perform well but suffer from poor durability.
The Adidas Ace Zones Ultimate Gloves are a premium glove with maximum features at a terrific balance. High caliber keepers like David de Gea and Petr Cech wear these Adidas gloves. The glove sports fingertip protection, durable, tacky latex, and a secure, tight fit.
The fingertip protection is removable and flexible while the glove sports a superb palm base for excellent grip. The glove also has a customizable wrist-strapping device so it can adapt to any fit necessary.
The Nike GK Premier SGT glove is based on Nike’s premier laser grip technology. American superstar Tim Howard sports these advanced, protective gloves that offer some of the best grips in the game.
Besides the grip, the glove uses high-quality latex that is excellent for shot stopping. The glove suffers from lessened durability due to the laser cut outs.
The Nike Vapor Grip 3 is a best goalkeeper gloves from Nike that tries to provide a lightweight, grippy glove without sacrificing too much durability or protection and is worn by Belgian giant Thibaut Courtois. This one of the best youth goalkeeper gloves succeeds in being a lightweight, breathable option and the padding provides great protection and support.
The grip is where the glove stands out. The lightweight makes it feel like nothing is on your hands and the breathability makes them tolerable for long training sessions.
Conclusion
We would like to suggest the Adidas Ace Zones Ultimate Goalkeeper Glove as the best value and all-around performer on the market. The glove combines excellent customization with a fit, protection, and grip in a durable, high-performing package.
The strap can be wrapped around as much or as little as possible and gives the glove a unique fit. The grip on the glove is fantastic and the latex compound used is Adidas’s best. The roll fingers give it, even more, grip and rubberized elements provide extra durability in high wear areas.
The Fingersaves and wrist support are also wonderfully unique and provide support and protection where you need it most but are easily removed if you prefer not to play with them.
They are not the lightest weight but they are easily the best soccer goalie gloves in this entire list.
