| Batting gloves. By the time high school rolls around, most players wear them. For that matter, a good number of tee ball players wear them! Just because they are popular doesn’t necessarily mean that they are any good, however. Do batting gloves give any real benefit?
The answer is yes, batting gloves do offer some benefits. The answer is also no, batting gloves don’t really make that much difference in the grand scheme of things.
From what I can tell, the single biggest raeson that players begin wearing batting gloves is because they look cool, or their friends are wearing them. There are quite a few stylish batting glove designs out there - both Franklin and Nike seem to be especially interested in making attractive gloves, but many other manufacturers are doing the same thing.
Yes, batting gloves do reduce the sting and vibration felt by hitting a ball off the end or the handle of the bat, especially in cold weather situations. I have seen gloves with special padding that market themselves as "hitting gloves" - these supposedly help the hitter to hold the baseball bat in the proper manner. From what I can tell, these claims are dubious at best. Some players do feel that they get a better grip on the bat when wearing gloves, especially players with sweaty hands.
So, if batting gloves reduce sting, why doesn’t everyone wear them? Well, quite a few elite hitters feel that gloves take away from the "feel" of the bat handle. Quite a few major leaguers refuse to wear gloves for this reason. Of course, many others swear by them!
There is one situation where everyone should consider wearing a batting glove - it’s a great idea to wear one under your fielding glove if your hands tend to sweat. That sweat soaks into your normal fielding glove, which can help rot it and shorten its life.
So, what’s the bottom line on batting gloves? If your child wants to wear them, and they don’t seem to interfere with his hitting, go ahead and buy a pair. Just make sure that they fit very snugly - a loose pair of gloves will definitely interfere with bat control, something that you don’t want, no matter how stylish you look wearing them! If nothing else, there may be a slight psychological benefit to wearing them; if the player believes he can hit the baseball better while wearing batting gloves, then he just might. But if your player is happy without gloves, there is absolutely no real reason for you to rush out and buy them. | |
