Well, you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to break in your baseball glove but of course, you need it to be done quickly.
The breaking-in process of a Catcher’s mitt takes quite some time for several reasons. But I’m here to help you find some effective ways to quickly break them in and get them game ready.
Let’s hop into it!
How To Break In a Catcher’s Mitt Fast
It’s very obvious at this point the catcher’s mitt is the type of glove that needs the most time to break in. While there are a lot of gloves out there, which are absolutely perfect and already come in broken in from the factory itself. But this is mostly the case for cheap gloves.
In terms of expensive mitts, they come in rock solid, and honestly, they can be super difficult to break in. Now this is sort of a blessing in disguise, the mitt since it is tough to break in, its quality, durability, and longevity will come in handy for seasons to come moreover, you know that it’s worth your big bucks!
But maybe you wanna try and get this bad boy ready for a game or for an upcoming competition or for any other reason whatsoever. Well, here are some methods that I have compiled that work best to break in a mitt quickly! Whether it be a softball catcher’s mitt or a baseball catcher’s glove, these methods will surely help you out. This may also depend on the brand and quality of the mitt as well.
Use A Mallet
Now this method is talked about way too often than necessary most people who have played baseball know about this method. If you’re completely new to baseball this is how the process goes, you get this sort of instrument, that is wooden and the top is the size of a baseball.
You use this instrument to keep breaking into the glove and trying to form the pocket. This will try and loosen the leather fibers while also simultaneously creating a pocket. This method is most effective and can always be used for your other baseball gloves.
Play Catch
This is another practical and easy way with which you can try and break a catcher’s mitt. What you must simply do is have a person far away from you, try and throw balls at you at various speeds and angles.
Of course, this will also help you gain some practice, but this method will also help you break in the glove with extreme ease. This will make the glove game ready in no time. Another thing this does is it allows the glove to mold to your hand easily thus giving you more flexibility when working with it.
Fold the Mitt
Another way you can try and get the glove to mold to your liking while enabling yourself to have a grip over the entire thing is by folding it. You should try and fold the edges of the gloves to get them pliable enough to your liking.
Mitts are generally really tough since they have a lot of extra padding and a lot of leather that you must work with. So therefore you need to try and get each part pliable and flexible to your liking making them perfect to work with. Folding the mitt will help you form a pocket but also will enable you to close and open the glove easily.
Use a Conditioner
You can always try and use a leather conditioner. Maybe not one of the brightest of ideas but it will definitely work charms! There are a lot of glove conditioners that are sold out in the market and some conditioners are sold by the brand themselves. That alone is enough to single-handedly break in the mitt!
What you should try and do is apply a small amount of conditioner or leather oil on the mitt to moisten it enough and then that will kind of make the mitt really pliable and perfect to work with.
Form It Around A Ball
This is another really great method to try and break in the mitt. It is absolutely easy and works perfectly to form the shape that you desire in the mitt. What you should do is first take any type of baseball, or softball and place it in the inside of the glove.
Then once you have placed it, secure a lot of rubber bands around the mitt making sure that these rubber bands won’t cause any unknown harm to the leather. Then you place it in this condition for a few days. You will notice that the mitt will form a perfect shape around the ball making it easier to control.
Conclusion
So these are some of the few methods that I’ve compiled to find the best way to break in a glove and which will help you to use the gloves as soon as possible. Making them game ready and also making you ready to conquer the field!
