Play Test: Uhlsport Cerberus Absolutgrip Handbett GK Gloves - Goalkeepers

We're back out on the training ground and this time it's the Uhlsport Cerberus Absolutgrip Handbett Gloves that are getting put through their paces. Uhlsport has been producing top quality goalkeeper gloves for decades and this current top model is no exception.

Named after the 3 headed greek dog which guarded the gate to the underworld the theory is that once this dog bit, it wouldn’t let go. We wanted to test if the same theory applied to these gloves and how they helped our modern day guardians! Time to take a closer look to find out what makes Cerberus the number 1 choice of keepers such as West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen and West Brom's Boaz Myhill.





The Packaging for a start is innovative enough so that each glove is in its separate compartment, as we all know there's nothing worse then putting the gloves away after a game, coming back to them next week and finding the palms stuck together!

Due to the design of the glove the internal latex gives a brilliantly snug feel but can be tricky to get the 2nd glove on your hand especially in wet conditions. Uhlsport's answer has been to add a woven strap that will Velcro to the bottom on the wrist which you can undo and use to pull the glove on. The strap itself is woven and goes behind the extended latex palm providing extra support.



The palm is made from Uhlsport's Patented Abolutgripplus latex, which originally was designed to be a pre dominantly dry weather latex but has been redesigned and evolved into a latex which offers superb grip in any weather conditions. The latex on the palm has been extended down the wrists to increase the catching performance as well as support the wrists, which installed extra confidence in our handling exercises.



When working on some distribution exercises the grip is a massive part. Especially when throwing the ball out as you need to have total control of the ball at the point of release, we're sure you’ve seen on many keepers nightmare dvd’s the consequences when you don’t! But with these gloves we always felt in control.

The Handbett design is Uhlsports name for having internal latex inside the glove, this aids finger stability and the anti slip function which we were a massive fan of whilst wear testing as we felt it gave a really solid feel to the glove. Another bonus of the internal latex was that it aids the cushioning especially for particularly powerful shots.

The palm is designed with several grooves in it one at the base of the fingers and one across the palm, which definitely improves comfort when the hand is making a clenching motion; simple design, very impressive.





The Backhand of this glove is mainly latex and has areas of an almost mesh like material which has been needle punched to add breathability to the hand, we found these very helpful as we were trialling the glove on a hot day and with internal latex gloves it's easy for the hand to get hot and sweaty very quickly but these areas helped to wick most of the sweat away before it became an issue.

The backhand also features a punching shockzone made from grippy high density EVA which is designed for cushioning and abrasion resistance to aid punching, we found this to work very well whilst doing several punching exercises when we were working on crosses.



The day we tested these gloves was a rare dry and sunny day, so to be able to test Uhlsport's theory that the gloves provide optimum grip in both wet and dry weather we've since worn the gloves for a number of games in some pretty horrendous conditions with nothing but positive results to report back. 



To sum up, we were really impressed with this glove, one of the most comfortable gloves we've worn in a long time, there’s not really too much we can pick out here to moan about, the fit was fantastic and the grip was second to none, the backhand was simple yet effective but is probably the only area for improvement albeit a small one, overall a fantastic glove and without doubt well worth the money.



The new Uhlsport Cerberus Absolutgrip Handbett is available to order now at selected online stockists including Pro-Direct Soccer. Let us know what you think of the gloves, and if there are more you'd like use to review! Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.