Tag: ROBO

TK or OBO?

Hi keepers! I want to put to rest the on going battle between these to brands and discover which is better/worse for whatever playing style people prefer. I will be going into my second season as a keeper having made the jump from the lowest team to the first team and have decided to buy my own kit as the clubs is falling apart! Having looked through pretty much all brands of kit I still can’t decide which kit is best. I prefer to be aggresive and slide a lot against opposition and having tried only two types of kit (the cloud 9 obo range and a slazanger kit), I find I cannot slide with square leg guards (maybe im doing it wrong?). I’m speculating whether to get a kit like the HC OBO kit or a kit like the HR OBO kit or the TK1 kit. Any comments will be much appreciated! Many thanks!

HI CONTROL vs HI REBOUND

Right Guys and Gals,

There is a massive debate over the Hi-Control vs Hi-Rebound and being an owner of the HR and having tried out a friends HC I think that I can enlighten people as to which kit is best for them. I will start by giving a rough diagram of the rebound levels so you can picture it in your head, I will then say which game style each of the kits suit.

CLOUD |||||||||||||||
HI CONTROL |||||||||||||||||
HI REBOUND ||||||||||||||||||||

As you can see the difference is not that big. Also the HC has more rebound than the Cloud so it certainly isn’t lacking.

Hi-Control
HC suits a agressive player who kicks with conviction and also likes to log at short corners. The pads are narrow allowing ease of movement when going down or getting up. Essentially the design of the kickers is identical to the HR-only the foam density being different. The hand protectors are different from the HR ones, the left  HC is identical in design to the HR except in cosmetic appearance, the right is the traditional tube style for logging.

Hi-Rebound
The HR kit is suited to the more modern player who stays upright for as long as possible and likes to use a passive deflecting type of kicking. The pads are wider than the HC giving a bigger area against attackers, they have stiff wings to delfect the more slowly to be cleared with the feet afterwards. Again, the kickers are the same design as the HC but with more rebound. The hand protectors are a different design to the HC. The left HP is very similar to the HC, the rebound is obviously higher for a more deflecting style of play. The right HP holds the stick at a different angle to the HC for a more upright style of play, it also has a much bigger surface area for reaction saves. The different angle takes some getting use to but works great for me.

Wear
The HC will last longer than the HR especially on sand pitches. However, most of the games is now being played on water-based pitches, here the wear difference is much reduced. even if you do play on a sand pitch do not get the HC purely because of its longevity, get the kit that is right for you. Also, duct tape on the bottom of the kickers will increase their life greatly.

A.T

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.

Awesome new chest guard

Hey all I just wanted to let you know how great I think that the new chest guard is (Previous post). I got a very hard hit on the shoulder about a week ago and I think that the new chest guard performed very well. I believe if I was in anything else the hit would have floored me.

Also I got a hit in the middle of the chest today and hardly felt it at all.

So far this new chest guard is performing great.

What’s the difference between hi rebound and hi control?

qna
Question:

I am planning on ordering new kickers (I’m currently using the obo robo high control), and was wondering the difference between the high rebound and high control.

Answer:

As the name suggests the High Rebound offer a more significant rebound effect to the kicker. The foam compresses and expands resulting in high paced clears with a minimum amount of impact. Typically keepers who play with the High Rebound kickers use more of a deflecting than kicking style in playing the ball. The only down-side is that because of the compression, once the kickers lose their elasticity you lose rebound and will feel the ball more than you might with the High Control kickers. It all depends on your game. Personally I tend to kick rather than deflect when I save/clear and prefer the High Controls.

good luck,

Jon

What kit to buy

qna
Question:
I’ve been playing the position goalie since I was eight. In 2005 my parents managed to buy me the OBO Cloud 9 Goal keeper kit.

I’m currently playing club hockey and have represented my Province as well as Zimbabwe Schools Hockey a number of times and played for the Zimbabwe U21 National Team. I’m currently training in the national squad for the All Africa Games later on this year.

I’m looking at getting new kit but can’t decide between the ROBO High Control or the ROBO High Rebound! Personally I’m looking at the High Control kickers and legguards mainly because I feel the rebound off any OBO kit is very good. For the hand protectors I’m thinking of going for the High Rebound Hand Protectors because the surface area is larger for the hand protector that holds the stick.

I would like to hear your opinion on which range do you recommend me buying?

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Answer:
Between the High Rebound and High Control pieces of the ROBO range, you can’t go wrong. Personally, I use the High Control kickers with the High Rebound leg guards and the High Control Hand Protectors but what’s best for you depends on your style of play. I like the additional surface area offered by the High Rebound legguards and the rebound qualities of the inner leg channel. I use a more active style of kicking and find I get plenty of rebound out of the High Control kickers while keepers who use a more deflective style of save/clearing prefer the High Rebound kickers. Lastly, hand protectors will also depend on your style of play. I tend to play with my hands and stick more forward so I want a lot of rotation with my wrist on my right hand so I prefer the High Control Hand Protectors. Keepers who play with their hand more out and back love the High Rebound Hand Protectors specifically for that larger surface area. As I mentioned, both lines are great it’s just a matter of thinking how you play and what’s best for you,

good luck,

Jon