Catching glove for small girlie hands.

[retroXvertigo 4]

Topic says it all. I has the little hands. Using an Itech glove. It's big on me. Any good options? My internet searching pulled up a lot of very old threads.

[BenderHockey 127]

This may or may not be the route you want to take, but I am in the same boat as you and I got the Warrior intermediate glove and blocker set and I like it quite a bit. The blocker is only minimally smaller in diameter than the senior, but it fits so much better. Same deal for the glove.

[Gummer12 134]

Exactly, try and find a pair of Intermediate Pro level gloves.. should do the trick and still be protective enough for Adult level shots.

[Law Goalie 147]

wex nailed it: look for Int. Pro gear. The best of it (ie. the real intermediate sized, pro quality stuff) is the same protection and function, scaled down. Unfortunately, post-lockout, this became far less common, since the new mandated 45" perimeter was more or less the same as the old 45-46" intermediate perimeter.

The best intermediate pro gloves, IMO, were the TPS Bionic, the RBK Premier (aka PS1) and Premier 2 (PS2), and the CCM Vector. I've used most of those, and by far my favourite was the Bionic. I actually preferred the Int. to the senior pro glove, which was a monster. The other thing that those gloves all have in common are really first-class strapping -- very different kinds, naturally, but all very effective at locking a hand of almost any size (except Goliath mitts) into the proper position relative to the break. The new Warrior Ritual intermediate gear isn't called 'pro' but it is among the best price-point product I've ever seen. The other thing you can look for are used gloves from custom builders (Smith pre-Warrior, Battram, Miller pre-Vaughn, etc.) and just ask the seller whether they sent the builder any hand-size information.

[Axxion89 32]

Just for the record, maybe its just me but when I used INT Pro gloves, the protection was less than its Senior counterpart (Bauer One95 catcher, Rbk P1 blocker) I wear a 13 inch player glove and my hand was in between sizes, the int blockers fit just fine but the catcher always cramped my hand. My opinion is to try on as many glove sets as possible and see what fits. Right now, my Pro Zone Revoke blocker fits almost the same as an INT Reebok blocker I had and the catcher is a little big on my hand bit I am still comfortable with it.

[Law Goalie 147]

It depends on the brand and model. There are a lot of gloves calling themselves 'intermediate pro' despite being not merely downsized from the senior pro versions, but significantly down-specced. The Bionic, along with maybe the Xlite and the first generation Xceed (and possibly even the first Summit Int. Pro) were the exact same glove as the senior pro, only a little smaller in perimeter and internal glove; ditto the early Lefebvre RBK stuff, and the Heaton-built CCM stuff of the same era.

You're totally right that Int. pro gear is a crapshoot, and demands as much trial as possible -- more, I'd argue, even than senior pro. Nothing that comes out of a respected brand or builder's shop with a pro-grade stamp of authority should be anything less than solid; it's when you drop below that high water mark - into used gear, or senior price-point, or intermediate anything - that you need to be increasingly thoughtful about what's going to work. That is, ultimately, why pro retail gear is a good deal: it means you don't have to worry about anything.

Find yourself an Int. Bionic catcher -- you'll fall in love. The only reason I stopped using mine was that I picked up a couple of Xceeds and a 5500, all pro-spec, all of which fit just a hair better.

[retroXvertigo 4]

The int gear is what I was thinking. I couldn't find much on how much smaller the int level glove was compared to the senior one.

Compounding my problem... Full right. Haha.

[Law Goalie 147]

Heh - you just had to do it backwards, too, didn't you?

It really varies. It used to be that standard int. sizing was a 45-46" perimeter, as opposed to the senior 48"; then the lockout dropped the max senior (apart from custom monster gloves) to 45", so intermediate glove sizing became a tiny area wedged in between junior and where it used to be.

If you can find older, pre-lockout, int.pro gloves, you're laughing: you'll get a NHL-spec(ish) glove with a smaller internal glove/palm size. Hint: check Goaliemonkey, and their associated eBay seller, leeegy1.

[retroXvertigo 4]

I'm already all over the goalie monkey. $30 for some decent FR int size!

[Law Goalie 147]

I know... it's kind of nuts. You backwards guys strike gold on occasion.

[retroXvertigo 4]

Indeed. The blocker and catcher I'm using now ran me just under $100 for both.

[Law Goalie 147]

Out of curiosity, which of the Itech gloves do you have? I'm not sure the 9.8 Prodigy Pro catcher (aka a lighter, better-built, materially upgraded, bindingless T5500) had an intermediate equivalent, but it was a brilliant glove; the blocker, however, was the only pro board I've ever tried that had actual protection issues. I don't know what the hell that base layer was, but it sure wasn't HL47 or HD30... I actually got bruises, and I wasn't the only one. Might have been JRZ's only slip-up -- ever.

I need to get that Int. Bionic fixed up and back out in the world...

[retroXvertigo 4]

It'sthe re-flex rx5. Seems decent enough for a starter glove.

[Law Goalie 147]

Ah, ok. It's definitely a solid starter glove (good call) but if you can score some genuine int. pro gear, you'll be *very* pleased with the increase in protection and feel.