Hi, again,

My son just got a new mitt for Christmas~ Rawlings Pro Preferred~ and he says it's so stiff he can't catch a thing with it... Any tips on how to break it in, aside from just using it?

Happy Holidays!

Rawlings glove oil (oil lightly 2 to 3 times)and make yourself a ball mallet by taking an old wood bat and an old baseball .cut the bat @ 10 inches up from the handle and drill a small hole in the baseball and run a 2" drywall thru the baseball to the top of the bat handle. After you oil it use the mallet on it to form the pocket.

I heard not to use oil for your glove...is this true?

Last time I broke in a catcher mitt was about 3 years ago - I used the Rawlings oil and played a lot of catch. One thing I tried but am not sure how much it helped was catching a pitching machine from about 30 feet. When not catching with it, I put a ball in the pocket and tied glove shut in the catching position.

Bottom line - breaking in a catcher mitt is a lengthy process - I think it was about 6 months before the glove was really broken in.

Hope this helps...

08

I always found that through everything I tried,you have to play catch with it(working bullpens helps it come along too)

However,one other effective method was mentioned.I took the the handle of a broken wood bat.I then Super adhesive glued a baseball to the end of the handle.You can beat your glove into a little bit more broken in form.Make sure you get strong glue(the one sold at Home Depot for Tiles,house building,etc)

I fold the glove at the hinge and exercise that area until I feel it relax a bit. I then fold the glove and squeeze the fold with my hand so that a crease can be formed along the red dotted line (see image below) from the index finger side to the hinge. After setting this crease, I re-fold the glove and form a similar crease from the thumb side along the red dotted line to the hinge. Once the two creases are made into the leather, I fold and refold the mitt along these creases until the leather relaxes. When finished with these steps you should be able to see two distinct creases fanning out from the hinge to the web crotch. These creases actually form the pocket (approximately one baseball wide) for the baseball to be caught in. After completing these steps (about 20 minutes) put the glove on your hand and close it a few times. You should be able to feel a difference in the way the glove responds. The more you repeat these exercises, the more responsive your glove will be.


These directions were borrowed from The Sandalady

Hey, when the perfectly broken in catchers glove closes, do the two fat pieces of leather (i don't know what the word for it is, its the parts by the thumb and pinky, where one says Rawlings and one says for the professional player) close one on top of the other? Thanks. If what I'm asking is too ambiguous please let me know.

Also, can you rebreak in a glove to any extent? Thanks.

Catch43,
I suppose a perfectly broken in mitt is like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion, in the perfectly broken in mitt, the pinkie side of the mitt will just slightly overlap the thumb side. Whatever you do though, DO NOT put one single crease through the middle of the mitt. Doing so will eliminate the pocket which is what you don't want.

There are currently two main schools of thought concerning receiving mechanics; frame around the edges of the strike zone using a long mitt, the other being receive everything thumb down using a box shaped mitt. The image in my post above will result in the box shape I am referring to. The image below will result in a long mitt which is better for framing:


Once the two creases represented by the red lines are formed, work on bending (a gradual bend, not a sharp crease) the mitt along the blue line as shown in this image. It will help make the pocket longer and allow you to receive the ball in the pocket rather than in the webbing, off your thumb, or off your index finger.

Yes, you can break in a mitt to any extent, but I don't. I make the creases and leave the rest of the leather rather stiff, It will close easy around the ball, but you won't prematurely wear out the leather and the padding.

One other trick I have learned from old time players which in addition to helping you receive will also help in breaking in your mitt. A catcher's mitt has only three fingers. Put your last 3 fingers (pinkie, ring, and middle finger) into the last large pinkie finger in the mitt, put your pointing finger into the middle finger in the mitt. This leaves the index finger of the mitt empty. Two good reasons for this. It saves a lot of bruised fingers when receiving breaking pitches, pitches in the dirt and any other pitch that for what ever reason, you don't catch squarely in the pocket. The second, and more important reason is that it spreads your stronger fingers out away from your thumb more, making your grip (and squeezing ability) much stronger. That is especially helpful when breaking in a mitt. Try it, it may feel a little different until you get used to it, but it does work.

Catch43, I misread your question---sorry. Yes you can rebreak-in a mitt. Basically, just go through the steps mentioned and place the creases where they need to be and your mitt will suck that pitch in!!