Regardless if you play College, High School or Club soccer, you are, most likely, heading into pre-season. With that in mind, let's have a look at what's in your gear bag.
A. Obviously, some GK gloves. For training purposes I would suggest gloves with a harder foam palm that will last longer and with back of hand and finger protection. Our Reusch gloves offer a full range of gloves with Ortho-Tec finger and thumb protection. NOTE: Even if you prefer to use a traditional glove with no back of hand protection for matches, you should train with an Ortho-Tec type of glove. The reason? Simple.....you will see many, many more shots and serves in training than you will in a match. In a match, a one-sided match, you may only have to touch the ball a total of 10-15 times total. In a typical 1 hour training session, you may have to handle the ball as many as 100 or more times. It just makes sense to protect your hands from injury as much as possible during training, so why not use an Ortho-Tec type of glove? A little known fact is that in Europe, top level professional GKs often use hand and finger protection in training, but switch to a traditional glove for matches. Use your older, more worn-out gloves for training. Save your newer and "nice" gloves for match-day. ALWAYS be sure to wash your gloves after each and every training and/or game use. Use Reusch RE:invigorate Glove Wash for best results. For your older gloves, use our newly developed Reusch RE:grip for glove palm rejuvenation. Always have 2 or 3 different gloves in your gear bag for training--depending upon field conditions.
B. For early pre-season training, I would suggest having compression apparel for your base-layer. Compression shorts will help keep your core and upper legs warm and pliable and less open to nagging injuries or muscle pulls. A compression shirt will help protect your upper body in much the same fashion. For warm-up and initial training activities, (light catching and moving) wear a pair of soccer shorts and a t-shirt. Then, when it's time to "Train In Earnest", i.e., going-to-ground; put on a long-sleeve jersey and long or 3/4 training pants. This helps protect you from scrapes and bruises that might occur as you continually dive and "flop around" to save shots and serves during training. NOTE: Be sure to always have lots of water in order to stay hydrated. A good GK trainer will be highly aware of the need to keep GKs more hydrated even than field players and will give you ample opportunity to break and drink water. During training, water is best. After training, Gatorade or a similar performance sports drink is good; but nothing beats good old H2O for staying hydrated and healthy.
C. Padding. I know, I know. Padding does not look sleek on you. "Padded pants make my hips look too broad." "Padding makes me feel like I can't move." "I just don't feel right in padding." Yeah, I've heard ALL of the excuses. Again, I will state, that when it comes to T.I.E. (Training In Earnest), a GK should wear elbow, hip, and knee padding. You can take it off right after you finish the 'tough' training. But believe me when I tell you. Those pads will protect you and help keep you safe and injury free. Once again, the pros in Europe "pad-up" before a rigorous, intense, training segment. Quite simply put: Pads are worth the Bulk.
D. Depending upon the field conditions, you will want a variety of footwear. If it's a dry day, a good pair of boots with turf or molded studs will work nicely. For wet weather training,a pair of studded boots will suffice. Be careful not to overuse studs for training. Studs tend to "grab" the grass under your feet and transfer all of the torque to your knee(s) which may add to injury of ACL, MCLs, etc. You don't need that aggravation! Better to slip and miss a shot in training, than to blow out your knee due to an improper choice of footwear.
E. Always have a warm-up jacket and pants in your gear bag so that when have finished your training session, you can keep your body slightly warm and cool down gradually. Naturally, if you are training in warm climes in early August, you might not immediately need a warm-up; but having one in the gear bag for when you go inside to the air-conditioned meeting room will help you not 'freeze'. And continue to hydrate well after the training session(s) and throughout the day. Training is hard work, and the demands that a GK puts on his/her body during pre-season are extreme. You need to be aware and make sure that your are hydrating, eating "right", and getting plenty of rest between sessions.
There you go! You're all set for pre-season! Pre-season is hard, but it is also GREAT! No one has lost yet! Good luck with your Fall 2014 and as always, 'May the ground be soft beneath your dive, may the opposing forwards always shoot straight at you, and may your goalposts always be 3 feet wide.'
All the Best-EV
By the way, you can get ALL the gear you need for training and matches at ReuschUSA.com
Reusch is the world-wide leader in GK product, technology and development. Reusch. If you're a Goalkeeper.......you know.