Adidas Predator Zones SMU for Reina and Claudio Bravo

SMU: Specially Made Unique. This is used when professional goalkeepers ask for modifications on their gloves. What do Reina and Claudio Bravo modify in the SMU gloves? We have their gloves with us and we will explain it all.

05 November 2024 - Written by Fernando Ortiz Castillo

I'm going to write a blog post of those that I love writing and of those that I know you enjoy reading.

We are going to talk about the SMU gloves used by Pepe Reina (Bayern Munchen) and Claudio Bravo (FC Barcelona). For those of you that have joined us recentley and still don't know what SMU means, here the defenition: Specially Made Unique. The brands use it when they modify a glove for the professional players to adapt it to their personal preferences. And I want to insist in the term: Modification, not improvements. The products that we get in the stores have the same high quality material that the ones the pro's get.

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Today, in my hands, I hold the Predator Zones Pro from Reina (Bayern Munchen) and the Predator Zones Fingertip from Claudio Bravo (FC Barcelona). So we are going to analyze them to the smallest details to see what they change and what they leave.

PEPE REINA

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Since he started in adidas, and it has been a long time, Reina has always modify his gloves to the fullest. When he started in adidas it was a time when the gloves didn't have to many tech specs. So now the possibilities of customization are huge. Although Reina is a player who tries to simplify his gloves, with the modification he tries to get a more classic glove instead of a high tech glove. 

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First thing you must know is that this glove, like all glove adidas sends to their pro's, are produced in Germany. Simple reason: Very small quantities are produced. How many gloves does a professional goalkeeper receive for the next three months? No more than 10 pairs, so it's not worth creating an assembly line for them. The pro's receive their gloves several weeks before the gloves are available to the customers. Therefore these gloves are manufactured as samples.

Nice detail in the label: "Only the best for the athlete"

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The first modification that I can see is that the reinforcement piece on the base of the palm is not a high density rubber like the one we get in the normal line, it's a simple latex piece in red. This actually makes sense when it comes to a glove for a pro. It's a piece that is supposed to make it more durable, specially on abrasive surfaces. But when it comes to a professional goalkeeper that is not important because they can replace it frequently and they don't need it to be super durable.

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The second modification is quite curiose. Pepe Reina does not use the elastic double wrist band, instead he prefers a traditional latex fastening. The thing is that adidas hasn't created a special one because they can give him the same one from the Predator Competition, The midrange model from the german brand. So in this case Reina prefers a midrange material instead of the top end material

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And we finish with the most important functional aspect: The cut of the glove: The middle fingers have the exact same negative cut from the normal model. The changes come with the index and pinky. The inside features a negative cut but in the outside we can see it has a flat cut. Why? I don't now the reason, maybe it's to have more latex surface or to have less pressure on the fingers... However, it does change a lot with this modification.

CLAUDIO BRAVO 

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After Pepe Reina's SMU we go the the extreme opposite: Claudio Bravo. The goalkeeper for Chile does not make too many modifications on his Predator Zones Fingertip. Just for starters it's unusual to see a professional goalkeeper using a rollfinger, but in The UK where it's more common. In the interview we had with him he joked about this matter. 

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But still adidas produces his gloves in Germany, in the Herzogenaurach factory. This is probably because he needs to have his gloves ready several weeks before the release to the public.

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The rollfingertip has no diference with the normal model. It's a traditional rollfinger with a latex extension in the back hand at the end of the fingers.

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The piece on the base of the palm is again the exact same one as the comercial model. Claudio Bravo must be one of the few pros who doesn't take out that piece. Players like Reina, Carillas or Neuer ask to remove that piece and decorate it over the latex.

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A piece that not too many player modify, I actually think that the only one who do change it are Reina and Reuer. It's the classic elastic double band. And in this case Caludio Bravo does not change it. It's the same as the comercial model.

With this review we can se to exteme sides: A pro who modifies it and almost gest a complete different model and a goalkeeper who adapst to the comercial materials.

If I was a player for adidas this is what I would ask for:

  • Elastic material for the wrist band instead of neoprene.
  • Hybrid cut roll-negative instead of negative cut.

What would you modify in if you could have a SMU?

Qué modificarías tú en el guante si adidas te ofrece hacer un SMU?

 

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Questions & comments

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  • Dario Zavala Noroña
    05 November 2024
    haría el corte negativo pero con textil en vez de látex y haría el dorso mas sencillo posible y la muñequera le mantendría igual y eliminaría la pieza de la palma.
  • Rafael Tobar Arriola
    05 November 2024
    Pues creo que yo pediria un dorso mas armado de lo normal, cierre elastico pero solamente una vuelta, corte negativo, extencion en la muñequera, la palma deveria de ser la que mas sensibilidad me aportara(todo lo contrario al dorso), y la parte del contrario del pulgar estaria envuelta. Creo que serian muchas modificaciones hahaha
  • Marcos Palacios Talavera
    05 November 2024
    aparte de pepe reina y manuel neuer tambien casillas desde hace unos meses a sustituido la tira elastica por la de latex, en el partido contra alemania se le puede ver y en varios partidos desde entonces y una duda haber si me la podria responder alguien, ¿que funcion tiene la envoltura de la punta de los dedos en el guante fingertip? http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C7LBjL8IPqw/VFlngDhisqI/AAAAAAAA1UY/X6N8ZAm-mRI/s1600/Champions-2014-2015-Real-Madrid-1-Liverpool-0-Casillas.jpg
  • Juan Jose Avecilla Buitrago
    05 November 2024
    Casillas actualmente sigue usando la tira de cierre elastica, lo unico que pasa es que es mas corta. Mira el glove spotting de la semana pasada. Reina siempre ha tenido fama de conocer muy muy bien el material con el que trabaja, y eso le da el privilegio de saber a que le puede sacar mas partido o no en su guante. Yo cambiaria la muñequera y el cierre elastico, no me gusta el neopreno y tampoco la tira elastica. Y coincido con pedro, corte hibrido roll/neg.
  • Oriol Teruel Gispert
    05 November 2024
    Yo les pediría el dorso de material transpirable en vez de neopreno y la muñequera clasica. Le quitaria la diferencia de densidades de los latex, haciendolo todo igual de grueso. Corte negativo ceñido (al estilo Rinat o Reusch) con los dedos indice y meñique en Grip 3. Extension de latex hasta la muñeca y sin la zona de goma resistente en la base de la palma... Soy algo complejo...
  • Jorge Gonzalez Cabral
    05 November 2024
    Una modificación en el SMU de Reina que quizás se te ha pasado por alto es el textil entre los dedos en el caso del SMU y látex en el caso del guante de serie. Parece claro que Reina busca sensaciones más parecidas a un flat sin llegar a éste que un negativo muy ceñido. En el caso de Bravo no sólo es curioso que use rollfinger sino que además sea con Fingertip, y ya rizamos el rizo si su compañero en el FCB usa el mismo adidas Predator Zones Fingertip, si hay pocos profesionales que los usen 2 están en el Barça. Parece que la goma Predator Element del dorso hacia los dedos en el caso del Fingertip es mayor que en el Pro. Y no sabemos si debido a este blog o a que circunstancia pero ambos porteros del conjunto culé han pasado a prescindir del refuerzo de goma en la base de la palma, al igual que algunos de los ya comentados que lo venían haciendo hace tiempo, entre ellos Reina. Aquí podéis verlo y comentarlo: https://twitter.com/JorgeGonz25/status/567775457538740224 O buscar más imágenes de ambos en la web del FCB donde se ven un poco mayor las fotos. Sobre nuestras propias modificaciones yo cambiaría principalmente el cierre elástico de dos vueltas por uno clásico de látex. El corte prefiero flat pero en el Predator que tengo no me desagrada el negativo. Que la muñequera sea una continuación del neopreno del dorso lo veo un acierto, ajuesta bastante el guante a la mano y en caso de porteros que compramos nuestro material y debe durarnos lo máximo creo que el neopreno mantiene por más tiempo esas propiedades de sujecion (con la contra de la dificultad para ponerse los guantes y el clima en verano) He tenido el caso de cuidar bastante mis guantes y poder usarlos en entrenamientos pero la muñequera elástica empieza a ceder y deja de ajustar como el primer día. Saludos!
  • Jorge Gonzalez Cabral
    05 November 2024
    Marcos, el tip en las puntas de los dedos en los guantes rollfinger busca dotar de mayor sensibilidad esa zona. Un rollfinger tradicional pierde total sensibilidad en la punta de los dedos, con el tip se ajusta más a los dedos y puede ayudar por ejemplo a la hora de dirigir los saques con la mano ya que como comento hay mayor sensibilidad con el balón (Es lo que buscan los porteros de sala, esa sensibilidad máxima en el saque que es muy importante en su disciplina, por eso prescinden de guantes o los llevan sin dedos, ya que por contra el blocaje pierde importancia en el futsal) Saludos!
  • Sin imagen de perfil
    Bernardo Carbó García-Agulló
    05 November 2024
    Si os fijáis muy bien Iker también hace la misma modificación que Reina en los dedos índice y meñique
  • Alejandro Zambrano Gomez
    05 November 2024
    Yo soy muy fan de Adidas, y mas del modelo fingertip. La verdad, solo aria un cambio, la muñequera la haria mas larga (2-2.5 cm). Solo aria ese cambio, y usaría el modelo fingertip sin duda.
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