Hockey Gloves
Hockey gloves are probably the best designed piece of hockey equipment and this is for good reason. It is the area that most injuries would occur had they not been there to protect and are the safety of many hockey players throughout the leagues. How are these types of gloves different than other types?
These gloves are designed with specific things in mind. One to protect the back of the hand as well as the fingers and two, to also allow the movement and gripping of the stick ability without any limitations. Therefore, lets start with the inner of palm portion of the glove. This area is very thin. It allows the player to firmly grip the stick and hold onto it without any slippage. Of course, sometimes the stick is either dropped or knocked away, however, it is not the gloves fault that this occurs. The outer portion of the glove is completely for the protection of the back of the player's hands. This area is padded thickly to absorb blows by both sticks and pucks and is very effective for this. The thumb portion has a built protection that limits the thumb movement. This movement that is of most concern is the backwards bending, therefore, this backwards movement is limited through the use of a built in reinforced area.
When were these types of gloves invented?
No one knows exactly when these specific types of gloves were invented. It was more of a progression of invention over time that they were created. Hockey players always wore gloves, but they were not always padded as they are today. These design aspects were created over time out of need, requirement, and concept. The padded gloves were the first aspect to be invented out of this necessity. These date back to the early nineteen hundreds and have incorporated different designs through todays versions. However, it wasn't until the middle to latter nineteen hundreds that these gloves were scientifically designed and incorporated the thinner palm portion. The design and exact science of these gloves is a continuing saga that continues to constantly and consistently strive for improvement in both materials and shape designs.
These gloves were originally filled with horse hair, therefore the padding was not as substantial as it is today. During the nineteen fifties, plastic was incorporated with foam rubber to create these. But, this would drastically limit movement and force a player to be required to play around the movement of the gloves themselves. The nineteen eighties saw this change with the use of synthetic materials that included nylon. This would no longer limit the players movement thus, shooters were much freer with their shots.
Hockey gloves are and always has been designed for one reason and that is to protect the players hands. That were not always good protection, therefore, the evolution of the hockey gloves are a continuing saga.
