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Best / Fastest way to break in a Baseball glove?

L

leeland

Diamond Member
I have looked online and am looking for personal experience here...

I have a young son who is starting t-ball and got him a new glove...I never played BB so I don't know the trade secrets on how to break in the glove...

Any help is appreciated!


Thanks,
Lee
 
iirc we would put a ball in the glove, rubberband it tight, and put it in the oven on real low heat.

i've heard of oiling or something but i don't think we ever put anything on our gloves. play is the only way to get a real full break-in, but the oven is a start and will give it some shape and start the crease.
 
I used to put a ball in the glove and rubber band it overnight. That and use it. Throw the ball around with your son in the backyard!
 
Like the others have said you rubber band a ball in the pocket whenever you are not using it. I used to oil mine down a first.
 
also set heavy shit on it (with nothing in it). i dunno about you guys, but i liked my glove to fold perfectly in half (ish) and basically be a leather pancake when laying down. if it wants to spring open at all, it isn't broken in.
 
baseball+rubberband. i used to put that combo underneath my mattress and sleep on it. also taking the ball and throwing it into the glove. like others have mentioned playing catch with it too.
 
brblx said:
also set heavy shit on it (with nothing in it). i dunno about you guys, but i liked my glove to fold perfectly in half (ish) and basically be a leather pancake when laying down. if it wants to spring open at all, it isn't broken in.
Click to expand...

??

Fold in half? No. The glove should have a shape similar to your hand, and should curl around the ball. Having a glove crease makes it much more difficult to catch the ball.

The exceptions to this are the catchers and first baseman's mitts, which will develop a minor crease due to the excessive padding needed. But even these mitts should be mostly rounded, not creased.
 
Glove oil plus many tight rubber bands with a ball in the pocket (webbing).

Sleeping on it under the mattress helps too.

I don't think kids at the t-ball level can really take advantage of the difference but good luck!
 
Blackjack200 said:
??

Fold in half? No. The glove should have a shape similar to your hand, and should curl around the ball. Having a glove crease makes it much more difficult to catch the ball.

The exceptions to this are the catchers and first baseman's mitts, which will develop a minor crease due to the excessive padding needed. But even these mitts should be mostly rounded, not creased.
Click to expand...

heresy, round gloves suck, you want that shit floppy.
 
I always used boiled linseed oil in a new glove, plus rubber bands as stated above. Nothing beats actual use though. While watching TV or something, work the leather with your hands. Bend it, massage it, get it loosened up.
 
brblx said:
heresy, round gloves suck, you want that shit floppy.
Click to expand...

Wikipedia seems to think it matters which position you play:

Outfielder's gloves are usually quite long with deep pockets, to help with catching fly balls on the run or in a dive, and to keep outfielders from having to bend down as far to field a ground ball. These gloves typically have 12- to 12.75-inch patterns, measured from wrist to the tip. They are frequently worn-in differently than those of infielders, with a flatter squeeze rather than the infielder's rounded style.


lxskllr said:
I always used boiled linseed oil in a new glove, plus rubber bands as stated above. Nothing beats actual use though. While watching TV or something, work the leather with your hands. Bend it, massage it, get it loosened up.
Click to expand...

This is most important. I'm naturally fidgety, so I'm always curling the fingers or pushing or flexing or bending the glove in some way. My gloves are soft as a baby's bottom.
 
brblx said:
also set heavy shit on it (with nothing in it). i dunno about you guys, but i liked my glove to fold perfectly in half (ish) and basically be a leather pancake when laying down. if it wants to spring open at all, it isn't broken in.
Click to expand...

i used to oil the hell out of it and have my mom park her car on it.
 
It's fucking t-ball, he just needs to work it loose till his son can actually use it

(When I played t-ball my glove was WAY to stiff for me to even use :\)
 
who even plays teeball? 😛

peewee with adult slow pitch started at 5 around here. at i think fast pitch started at seven and kids started pitching around then or maybe a year later.

but a kid still needs a good glove to catch well. it sucks seeing a kid with that sad perfectly round, stiff, immobile cup of a glove on his hand. he's a kid, why make it harder for him? it's like putting mittens on a retard.
 
Ballatician said:
Glove oil plus many tight rubber bands with a ball in the pocket (webbing).

Sleeping on it under the mattress helps too.

I don't think kids at the t-ball level can really take advantage of the difference but good luck!
Click to expand...

These are relatively well liked methods, though I personally didn't use glove oil.

As said, use is really the best way, better start playing catch 😉
 
When I was younger I used glove oil then used the ball to work it in. Then take the ball, out it on the glove then sleep on it. I never used a rubber band.
 
Ballatician said:
Glove oil plus many tight rubber bands with a ball in the pocket (webbing).

Sleeping on it under the mattress helps too.

I don't think kids at the t-ball level can really take advantage of the difference but good luck!
Click to expand...

This is how I remember doing mine when I was a kid. Wasn't the most comfortable nights sleep but at that age I really didn't care.
 
Bought my sons at Play it Again sports. Already broken in. First one we bought was brand new, and a 5 year old will never be able to break it in by playing catch, because they can't catch. Just don't buy one of the tiny ones that a ball can barely fit in, they are always too stiff and essentially useless.
 
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