Author: admin

Why looking good on the pitch is important

We recently asked you why it is important to look good on the pitch. Here are some of your responses…

Why it is important to look so sharp on the pitch is because I want to look sharp and professional in your guys goalie gear.

I feel it’s important to look sharp on the pitch because when you look sharp you will therefore feel sharp and that is crucial in my overall game!

Looking good on the pitch is important to me since it inspires confidence. If you are confident then you play better.

I like to look sharp on the pitch because if you feel good you play well!

Looking sharp on the pitch is important to me as it shows all the other players on my team that I am in the best kit on the market OBO!!!!!!

Wearing OBO on the pitch also shows the other team that they have no chance of hurting me or putting a goal past me, clean sheets all the way.

For spending good money on the best gear available it is REALLY important that it looks perfect all the time!

I have lost the logo badge of my hi-control LHP. Without it I am letting in way too many goals as I just don’t have the look I need and the opposition seem to know it. I need that badge to up my confidence and get clean sheets again.

Why is it important to look so sharp on the pitch?……I want to look sharp and professional in your guys goalie gear.

Looking the part makes me look and feel like a boss, confidence is everything!

It wouldn’t be called hockey if we didn’t look good! I am just joking but by looking good in OBO not only my teammates take me seriously but the opponents can too.

Look great – Feel great – Play great………..that’s why it has to be OBO!!

Looking sharp and wearing the best protection available (OBO of course) gives me the confidence to perform at my best.

Can you send me a set of Hi Rebound replacement badges for my kickers and pads, without them I just don’t feel as sharp. My motto ‘look good, play good’.

Looking sharp on the pitch is important, because so much of sport is about the psychology behind it. If you look good you feel good and feeling good adds to your confidence, also it is more intimidating for the opposition to see a keeper with sharp kit, they know you take your hockey seriously!

I love to look great on the pitch!! and OBO helps me with this!! always making the best goalkeeping gear to the way I like it!!! I feel better more confident, and play better when I have got the best of OBO gear! I love colour, OBO just help me put my personality in to my goalkeeping inside and out!!

I take great pride in my kit and appearance and I actually feel embarrassed playing without the badges!

Not feeling completely perfect on the pitch sticks in my mind as a distraction!

Looking good in goal is important to me because you can try your hardest to be the best, but if you don’t look it, you’re only half way there!

Looking sharp on the pitch is important for me, because the goalkeeper is the face of the whole team, so one goal keeper can represent one team. Hence, we must look always sharp, clean and amazing on the pitch.

We need your advice!

We have an idea to improve the ROBO left hand protector but need your help.

At present we supply the left hand protector with the wrist elastic threaded over the sides of the edge of the wrist protector … like this …

A few of you suggested the LHP is more secure on the wrist if the elastic sits closer to the wrist and is strapped like this ….

Have any of you tried this approach, and if so do you think its better ? Even if you haven’t tried it you may care to do so and give us your opinion. We listen.

Cheers… OBO New Zealand

New robo chest and short sleeve tight fit shirt reviews

NEW ROBO BODY ARMOUR
The Protection of the new body armour is better then the older OBO armour, especially around the abdominal and clavicle area. The shoulder pads are shaped to the fit the shoulder and are far more comfortable and best of all easier to move in. I am of tall stature and feel that the ability to securely tie the armour closer to my body enables me to be more confident in making saves. Overall much better than the older armour in terms of protection and aesthetics.
Fred Whitfield L’boro Students GK
OBO GK

The new body armour offers great flexibility and increased protection to the stomach and chest areas. It has a great fit to the body when the straps are fitted tight and sits in the body better than previous body armour. Shoulder and collar bone protection is excellent and a big improvement from previous versions. Having tried which arm protectors fit best with it, I preferred to stay with the the Robo full arm protectors ( though the OBO elbow guards will also work fine.
Ali McGregor
OBO GK

Now I’m no Pamela Anderson when it comes to cup size, but if I did have ‘plastic fantastics’ to look after I would be confident that this piece of kit would look after my investments nicely. I have been using my new chest protection since August 2011 and have a zero bruise count during that time. The armour wraps around the torso giving excellent protection for the ribs. The wrap around means I can safely dive or drop for smothering saves without exposing myself. And let’s face it, no one wants to expose themselves mid game. The collar is more substantial than previous models without being obtrusive, offering improved protection of the clavicle bone. The shoulder cup seems to sit in the right place and stay there while I move around, unlike some where they seem to be after thought pads stuck on top and making some goalkeepers look like Ming the Merciless. Looks are important, let’s face it, 99.9% of hockey spectators will look at two goalkeepers and assume the one with the best looking kit is probably the better keeper. What makes good looking kit? For me it’s the gear that makes me look and feel more athletic. The first time I wore my new OBO chest protection I turned to the nearest person and asked “Do I look slim in this?” I was joking of course. Mostly. The strapping to secure the chest piece is fairly heavy duty elastic which means it will sit flat across your back and not bunch into a thin uncomfortable ridge. It’s adjustable of course and if correctly set up, will hold the chest pad down and prevent ride-up.
The only concern for me was the length of the front section. I hear this has been addressed in the latest batch to hit the market. So overall this protector gets a thumbs up from me.
Bianca Russell
Goalkeeper
New Zealand Black Sticks

NEW OBO GK TOP
At last a GK Top that actually fits me correctly and is light weight. For too long GK tops have been like wearing a flag made of mesh with no real shape to them.
The new top feels very supportive and i really like the tight fit. The elasticitiy in the top allows for full freedom of movement. Even when wet the top is still very light.
Great work OBO on another fantastic piece of GK kit.
Harry Gibson

Can I paint my poly p helmet?

qna
Question:
I would like to know if I could paint my OBO Poly P helmet, and if so, what kind of paint is the most recommended?

Answer:
As the Poly P helmet is plastic, it’s a little bit easier to paint than some of the fiberglass masks. Most of the Poly helmets already have the color blended in the plastic so it’s simply a matter of painting over them and how detailed a paint job you’re looking to do. The preparation you do will determine the longevity and durability of your paint job. Basically you’re looking for paint that is labeled For Plastics (as opposed to metals) and you can find a wide range of colors in spray cans at most hardware stores. Make sure the helmet is clean, wash it with a mild detergent, rinse it well and let it dry. If you’re looking to go big, and paint the whole helmet I’d recommend putting a primer base down, especially if you’re putting a lighter color on a dark colored helmet. If you’re only painting sections of the helmet and leaving parts of the base color then you skip the primer. Make sure you let the primer and paint dry between coats. Paint has to cure and it won’t bond to a surface if you’re just piling coat upon coat of uncured paint. Clear coat is also a good idea as a top layer to add durability to the finish. A couple of warnings, obviously hockey masks are collision type items and plastic is a somewhat flexible material, paint will chip with contact. Be patient. The amount of time you spend in preparation and execution go along way towards determining the quality of your finished product. Depending on what you’re looking for as a paint scheme, plastic decals can offer a durable solution. There are graphic companies that make them for ice hockey goalie helmets and you can read about them if you Google “Goalie Helmet Decals.”

good luck,

Jon

Gym training time

Hey keepers,

I am often asked about conditioning training for keepers so here is my 5 cents worth.

I am a goalie not a personal trainer so I recommend you work with a professional to get your technique and program sorted. There is a high risk of injury with some of this training so please seek proper advice; this might help getting your trainer heading in the right direction.

Gone are the days of the keeper being the chubby kid that plays in goal to avoid all the running the field players do, the modern keeper needs to be fast, agile and powerful.

At the same time you don’t make your race horse plough the fields… As a keeper when we move we have to move FAST but I seriously doubt we will ever be running 10km during a game like the top field players.

So how do we become fast, agile and powerful?

The majority of power required for goal keeping will come from the lower body (legs and core), to get this power you will need a reasonable strength base. If you jump straight in to power training without a strength base you will be in danger of breaking down with injuries.

Exercises I have used to build a good strength base are:

Squats – Back or front squats
Lunges – I find step lunges to be the best and mimic keeper movements well

(These two are your bread and butter for a keeper, increase your strength in these areas and you will likely improve as a keeper – simple as that!)

Don’t forget to train your Hamstrings, Glutes, Groin and calves to maintain a balance and avoid injury (60% of gym work is to improve your keeping 40% is injury prevention)

Core strength is the link to transfer all your lower body power to full body power, there is nothing worse than your lower body moving to make a save and your upper body moving in the opposite direction preventing you from making the save.

Once you have a good strength base you can move on to the explosive power training.

Over the years I have tried many things with my conditioning training, one of these was basing most of my gym training on loading up specific keeping/save actions. Looking back I don’t think this type of training helped me too much. I still do the odd exercise that mimics keeper specific movements but it is not the sole focus of my training.

If you are more powerful as an athlete you will be a more powerful keeper.

I have found that Olympic style lifts are a good way of becoming more powerful – Clean and Jerk and the Snatch are the key lifts but these can be broken down to smaller lifts like a high-pull, hanging clean or hanging snatch. I will not get in to the technique of these lifts as they are rather technical and I recommend you seek expert advice to get your technique sorted.

Jump squats are also good but be careful of your knees.

My view is that upper body strength/power is not as important as the lower body for a keeper as most of our saves start with our feet on the ground.

It is good to have reasonable strength through your upper body—the key muscles to target for me are the Chest, Back and Shoulders. Strengthening these areas will help speed up your hand saves, make you faster to your feet after diving plus they should help you handle the knocks better (both from shots and diving).

Again take care in the gym, we go to the gym to become a better keeper not an injured keeper.

Let me know what works for you keepers out there.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section and I will do my best to answer them.

Ciao

Kyle

Inner leg protection

OBO is all about constant learning and making your life in the goal even better. The bruise competition enabled us to see where people are still vulnerable (though many of you who submitted your shocking technicoloured photos did note that the bruise was not incurred while wearing OBO) and we have acted on this info quickly. We were in the final stages of developing a new pair of goalie pants designed to offer more protection, durability and ease of use compared to the existing ROBO HOT PANTS. While there was already quite good protection in the inner leg, based on the bruise photos we have decided we need to further beef up the protection in this most vulnerable area.

Have a look at the photo below. We’ve chalked an outline and hashed an area where your bruise photos suggest we should add more protection. Do you agree? Would you add more protection here? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

We are now researching the right material for this area… possibly impact reaction fabric, impact gels, or more good old closed cell foam.

Your pain enabled us to make a gain … thanks heaps !

Keep the photos coming … they are helping us design better products, and remember there is a set of ROBO legguards and kickers up for grabs for the most “liked” photo. The competition closes in a couple of weeks.

Cheers. Simon and the OBO team in New Zealand.

Review of the new short sleeve tight shirt

by Michael Smith

Style
This is the style of top that a lot of keepers have been waiting for. No more ¾ length tops or using a similar style from another sport. The other company that does this style is Kukri, however they will only normally produce a GK top as part of a team order and they do not have a vented back.

For info, I had both GK’s come over from the game prior to mine to have a look and the opposition GK after our game (all in OBO kit, two had a Mazon shirt with the other wearing an older OBO design – silver/black). Also, it received a lot of compliments from my own team. That has never happened before.

Colours
Great combination and looking forward to seeing the other colours to match specific foam colours. My complete kit is red and black. [Admin: available colours are black/orange, blue/black, black/silver, blue/orange.]

Printing
Great integration of the OBO into the number one at the back. However, a lot of GK’s are not number 1; therefore, does this come as an option unprinted? [Admin: we no longer print the number ‘1’ on the back of the shirts].

In addition, I have had this screen printed with my name on the back and the number 1 on the front also.

Fit
At first glance this top (size L) look really small and figure hugging almost like a muscle top. This isn’t just my view but also that of the other GK’s who have much better physiques – (I will blame age and beer). However, once worn with body armour it really does come into its own. The body armour is kept firmly in place and whilst it is definitely snug it does provide an overall sense of protection. I can only relate to the same way it feels when wearing the stripper pants and overshorts as everything is compact but comfortable. I do not know how much difference is there is between the L / XL etc but would be worth noting the exact sizing details on the sales info.

This is definitely a top that is not suitable for the full body armour with arms; however, I believe that is self explanatory when buying a top of this nature. It fits really well with the OBO elbow guards as the fitted arms do not get caught in the guards unlike the sports tops that I wear.

Vented Back
Great for me in Australia during warm games however am not sure of the whole philosophy. If anything, the back is probably the coldest area on a keeper as the body armour always keeps the front warm. In addition, there are a large number of keepers now wearing Skins or equivalent. I still either use an OBO wicking or skins. The old style GK Tops were always vented being a spin out of ice hockey smocks with the new way being all enclosed similar to outfield players. I am not sure if there are actually any performance differences but am sure you guys have researched it more than I am aware of. In summary, I do not know whether or not it is needed and honestly do not have a preference either way.

In summary
I absolutely loved this top and consider it by far the best one I have had and surpassing anything that OBO have produced previously. The colour range will be important as it always is with OBO products as different foam colours also play a big part.

Toni Cronks review of the new robo chest

Dear Amazing person

We thought you might like to see this feedback on the new ROBO chest guard form Toni Cronk… Australian National Goalie. Toni’s comments (in red boxes around the edges of the fact and feature sheet) are really valuable to us, as they enable us to improve on small aspects of the product. We really value player feedback… from national goalies like Toni, to beginners; as while we know OBO products are good, we also know that they can be even better. We really do listen to feedback … so please keep it coming !

Cheers

Simon and the committed team at OBO New Zealand


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OBO innovation story

One of 14 short films created by the Gibson Group for the Ministry of Science + Innovation. The 14 Kiwi companies featured were chosen for their originality and creativity, and have developed unique and fascinating products or services. Harnessing the characters and innovations from each of these organisations, Innovation Stories will take viewers inside exciting development processes, explain the science and workings behind the products, and provide engaging yarns that leave viewers with knowledge about the amazing innovations happening in New Zealand.

http://www.gibson.co.nz/show/Innovation Stories