A catcher's glove must be responsive for a catcher to have a chance at being a good defensive player. While a catcher's glove is somewhat bigger and more protective than other gloves because the catcher must have his hand protected when catching fastballs and sliders that can reach speeds of 95-plus mph, the glove must also be responsive and relatively easy to open and close. This can be done by breaking the glove in properly.
Step 1
Put two squirts of shaving cream in the palm of your catcher's glove. Rub the shaving cream in thoroughly. Put in another squirt and continue to rub that in. Dry off the excess with a towel.
Step 2
Put a baseball in the pocket of the catcher's glover. Fold the glove down tight so there is a lot of pressure on the ball. Take a rope and tie the glove up in that position. Leave the glove tied up for at least eight hours.
Step 3
Untie the glove and go out and play catch with it for at at least 25 minutes. Try finding a hard thrower: if you play with someone who can make the mitt pop consistently, it will speed up the break-in process.
Step 4
Put a generous amount of glove oil in the pocket. Rub the oil in the pocket and the area in front of the fingers. Do this for about 15 minutes. Put a ball in the pocket and tie the glove up like you did in Step 2. Let the glove sit like this for six to eight hours.
Step 5
Untie the glove and play a game of baseball. Your glove should now be game-ready. The glove will further adhere to your hand and become more flexible the more you use it.
Things You'll Need
- Catcher's glove
- Shaving cream
- Glove oil
- Rope
- Baseball
- Towel
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