a Mitt question for you. How do you get kids gloves to be soft and flexible?
I was playinlg catch with Ds since practice was cancelled and the ball kept bouncing off the side (like his thumb wrist) because it wasn't flexible enough for him to open and close.
Is it just because maybe it isn't a super expensive mitt, or is there something we can do to help break it in. He's had it for over a year but doesn't use it everyday.
thanks
Thanks we will give it a try!
we put some glove oil on it (you can buy it at a sports store), put a baseball in the palm and we put it under the couch for a few days..
here's another way... EVERYONE does it differently.
http://www.ehow.com/video_###-###-####_break-baseball-mit...
Doesn't matter if it's not expensive or not...it's got to be comfortable for the player....maybe his hand doesn't fit it anymore...
Absolutely ditto Dad on Purpose's reply, word for word!
That is how Joe Mauer (the catcher for the MN Twins) always broke in his gloves (my older brother played on his summer baseball teams when we were growing up.)
What everyone said, but I want to re-itterate, constantly manipulating it and stretching it is the only thing that will truly "break it in." We fold ours and put it under the couch, we turn it inside out, and of course, tell the kids, while sitting doing nothing, to just play with it, folding it, bending it and tossing a ball into it (if it is a cheap glove, not real leather, there really isn't much you can do.) The oil does help, but really, you have to USE it and get a ball in it to break in!
As "dad..." said...a used glove is the best kind!!! (my husband goes to the used sports stores to buy expensive bats, catchers mitts and gloves...he is a coach so it helps to have spares.) Best of luck!
Oil is great - you can use vaseline too. (yes, it will stain the glove - but then his will look like everyone else's)
Also - and this is more important than the oil and can be done without oiling - put a ball in the glove webbing (the pocket between the thumb and forefinger). Then "wrap" the glove around it. Bend the heck out of it! Just like breaking in a baseball hat. And then put a few rubber bands to hold the glove like that (or put it under your mattress).
As a young man, your son needs to know one thing. A broken in, floppy glove is the what a glove SHOULD look like.
The oil most often used is linseed, btw. Any kitchen oil will work, as will vaseline.
my husband used to rub some oil into my sons glove. not sure of the kind but he would rub it in. and that helped to soften it up.
Put a ball in the glove and wrap it up tight - put rubber bands around it to hold it in place. Leave it like that as long as possible.
Also, when your son is doing something like watching TV, have him wear the glove and repeatedly either punch it or pound a ball into it. This will really help to soften it up.
If it is really cheap it may not be leather, if that is the case it will never be flexible.
Another thing is if it is a small glove kind of hard to get flexibility as well.
So far as working it out, oil it, they sell glove oil at the store where you bought it. After that take a ball, put it in the web, stuff the whole thing between your mattresses. Oh, generally not in the area you sleep directly on, you don't have to be a princess to feel that through the mattress. :)
I always baked mine. It worked the best and I oiled it every day!
they sell stuff specifically for this in the sporting goods store.
You have to oil/condition it up and work it.
