A quick intro: I'm a student that lives in Chicago and goes to school in Oregon. I play in fairly competitive adult soccer leagues (having previous experience in undergrad). I've begun to play GK more due to bad knees with old age, an ever growing belly, and the fact that nobody else wants to play that position. In both the Chicago-land and Eugene/Portland areas, I've noticed that artificial turf fields are replacing the natural grass, and green spray-painted carpet that I used to play in during my younger years. Personally, I'm not a fan. I've noticed more wear and tear on my clothing and body when sliding, the main sole-to-upper on my cleats and indoors is separating faster (and getting those little black pebbles stuck inside), and most relevant to this post - my goalie gloves are not lasting very long. Anyways, in short, I was wondering if any other keepers out there had suggestions on gloves that can withstand the destructive abrasion of artificial turf. I've been buying mid-priced Reusch's ($45-80) range and they only last a couple games before the entire palm is worn through. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks!
From a pure durability standpoint, you can sometimes do better with a bit lesser price point, and sometimes can come across gloves that are specifically called out as "training." Often they'll come with some sort of a textured palm. The flipside of this, is that you will usually sacrifice at least some level of grip/absorption, as they tend to be thinner and less sticky. I've also seen gloves that are advertised as "indoor" before, which I would assume would be designed for similar wear and tear, but they can actually be quite pricey. You can also try looking at regular gloves in a lower price range. You can often find ones that do have fairly decent grip in a $25-$40 range, and while they might not be any more durable than you're experiencing now, at the lower cost, it's easier to stomach when you're wearing through them. These might not be quite as good as what you're used to, but often you'll find the difference is pretty negligible, and should be suitable for a competitive adult league.
I've been replacing turf with drought resistant native groundcovers for about 3 years. I have about 2/3 of my yard done now, and I'm working on the front this year.
I have the same issues with turf. I hate the wear the results on gloves and footwear (I had the same thing happen to me where a black rubber pellet gets jammed in the space between the upper and sole). I would recommend staying in the mid-range glove area. Some of the higher end gloves have really good quality but lack durability. Anything with titanium or graphite in the palm could increase the durability. Personally, I use Ulhsport's with their "soft" latex and they have held up pretty well with respect to both grip and durability. I've used them in about 15 indoor games on turf and the grip hasn't decreased much at all.
I forgot to mention, technique plays a role in this too. Is your technique good? Most gloves should start losing their grip before the palm is completely worn out if good technique is used. By good technique I mean not landing on your hands by diving "superman" style on your belly and not using your hands to lift yourself off the ground.