A novel chest pad is attached to or incorporated into the chest area of a jersey, loose undershirt or compression undershirt to help goalkeepers or other players gain control of balls that hit their chests. The novel chest pad is effective to reduce the velocity of a rebounding ball after its impact with the chest while providing protection against impact and abrasion. The slow-rebound foam layer has the property that once compressed, it returns to its pre-compression state slowly relative to other foams. In the context of catching or controlling a soccer ball, this slow-rebound property reduces the foam's pressure on the rebounding ball, thus decreasing its rebounding velocity and allowing a player to catch or control the ball more easily, especially hard shots. A soccer field player wearing a shirt with the chest pad may also find it helpful for trapping soccer balls with their chest.
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