Breaking in Your Fielding Glove

How To: Breaking in Your Fielding Glove

Making sure your fielding glove is broken in is crucial to your play in the field. Breaking in your glove is essentially transforming your glove to be a part of your hand providing you better control and precision while playing the field. The best way to break in and form your glove is just playing catch. If you are trying to achieve mid-season form immediately, try this process to break in your glove.

Saturate the Glove

Saturate the spot of your baseball glove that you would like to soften with a small amount of hot water. (Approximately 2 cups of water on the front and 2 on the back should do the trick) Using hot water, around 150F, is the best for an easy break in process. Using boiling water will harm the leather's quality. The hot water softens and loosens the leather, allowing the glove to be broken in the way you would like. Note: Do not use any detergents or heat sources. After drying, the leather will stiffen and shrink but maintain it's shape if wrapped properly.

Massage the Fingers

When the glove is properly saturated, work the binding by holding the thumb and pinky and massage the fingers by pressing down from fingertip to palm. Avoid over working the thumb and pinky due to the stiffeners in those finger stalls, they may break if worked too hard.

Work the Pocket of the Glove

Work the pocket of the glove with a glove mallet or a softball. Pound near the bottom of the fingers and the palm. Be sure to have the glove on a soft surface like carpet or a rug. Also pound the back of the fingers, the web, and the thumb, moving the glove around each time so one spot is not being repeatedly pounded. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary. Giving the glove enough time to dry after each session. Doing this same process when the glove is dry works too.

Form the Glove

When Forming the Glove, most people will choose an 11" softball to create a larger pocket than what a regular baseball will do. Use a leather belt or bandage wrap. Do not use rubber bands as they could permanently deform the leather.