Following my average experience with the Reusch Duo Otho-Techs, I decided that it was time to find a goalkeeping glove that would satisfy my requirements completely. In order to this I undertook a detailed comparison of all the keeper's Gloves that were available on the prodirectsoccer.com website (THE place to go for goalkeeping products). I also used the experiences of my friends to influence this decision, and, aided by my goalkeeping coach, I decided that the up and coming Sells gloves needed to be tried. Sells were worn by Jersey Dudek in his European Cup Final heroics in Istanbul, along with an increasing number of Premiership keepers, so the pedigree of these gloves was not under question.
Appearance:
Once again I chose a colour scheme that would stand up to the rigour and dirt that a glove would be subjected to. In this case it is a combination of black and off-white with a Sells logo with red trim. Once again this gives a very professional look and looks very striking.
Materials:
The backhand is toughened latex that is ribbed in order to give a better impact when punching the ball. This makes it very easy to clean, and being off white doesn't lose much in terms of aesthetic value when it slightly discolours to grey. Another useful function of this latex is if a save needs to be improvised, it is sometimes possible to catch the ball using the back of one hand and the front of another. The meshed webbing in between backhand and palm is made of a wicking material that absorbs sweat and keeps the hand cool during the game. On a more makeshift level, you can also blow into this to warm your hands in the winter!!! The latex palm is 3mm plus an added 1mm inner latex layer. This works by moulding the inside of the palm to the unique characteristics of your hand, hence improving comfort and grip. The external latex is quite hard wearing and I was impressed by this durability- they lasted about 8 months rather than 6. Once again, the gloves incorporated my favourite goalkeeping development of recent years- finger spines, although these gloves did leave open the opportunity for thumb damage due to the lack of a thumb spine. The base of these spines was reinforced, meaning that punching with fists was comfortable as the spines dug into the reinforced pad rather than the hand. Once again I suffered no hand injuries whilst wearing these gloves.
Performance:
As I have already stated, these gloves stood up excellently to the conditions in which I played. The durability was a big bonus, and the grip was very good until the point of failure. The support provided to the hand by the spines was quite comprehensive, even if it did lack a thumb guard. One of the best innovative features, though, was the 9mm wrap around wrist bandage, that, whilst uncomfortable when new provides total support to the wrist and minimises chance of injury.
Overall:
I was very pleased with this glove, the only possible improvement being a thumb guard (some people find this restrictive.) These gloves can be purchased at prodirectsoccer.com for around £55, although I now have the 2nd generation glove, the Adhesion Ultra Guard, which incorporates a thumb guard and is the same price.
More details
Price
£55
Control
Excellent
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