| So, the time has come for you to purchase a new baseball glove for your child, but you have no idea on where to start. Don’t worry - our baseball glove guide can help you to make an informed decision. Don’t scrimp and pick up the cheapest thing you can find, but likewise, get all of the facts before you go and drop a hundred and fifty dollars on a glove that your child may outgrow in a year or two.
Select a Glove that’s Right for Your Position
Baseball gloves and mitts come in a variety of sizes and styles. Most youth baseball players will simply need to select a glove of an appropriate size, but if your child is playing a certain positon, or if he plays in an older, more competitive league, you may want to consider a specialized glove. The five classifications of gloves are:
Catcher’s mitts. Heavily padded with a thumb pocket and a mitten instead of individual finger holes. Designed to cushion the impact of pitches and to protect the ball during tags. Many youth teams, especially in younger age categories, do not have full-time catchers, so the team may provide a mitt. However, if your son plays catcher on anything approaching a regular basis, you will want to consider purchasing a quality catcher’s mitt.
First base mitts. Similar to a catcher’s mitt, but with less padding, a shallow pocket, and a longer reach for help digging balls out of the dirt and reaching errant throws. You typicaly don’t see these in use until your child reaches a league that allows full stealing on the basepaths; until that time, utility gloves are often employed by the first baseman (who may also be a pitcher, middle infielder, etc.).
Infielder gloves. Shorter, five-fingered gloves made for shortstops, second basemen, third basemen, and pitchers. These gloves typically feaure a shallower pocket designed to aid the fielder to transfer the ball qickly to the infielder’s throwing hand.
Outfielder gloves. Longer, five-fingered gloves made for outfielders. These gloves feature deeper pockets, and frequently have extra padding to cushion fly balls. Constructed with the longest fingers of any glove to add to the fielder’s range.
Utility gloves. Five-fingered gloves that share characteristics of infielder and outfielder baseball gloves. If your child plays several positions, a utility glove is the way to go.
Size Definitely Matters!
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| Age |
Position |
Glove Size |
|
| 5-6 |
General |
10 to 10 1/2 |
| 7-8 |
General |
10 1/2 to 11 |
| 9-12 |
General |
11 to 11 1/2 |
| High School/Adult |
Infield |
11 to 11 1/2 |
| High School/Adult |
Outfield |
12 to 12 1/2 |
Youth baseball gloves typically come in sizes from eight inches to eleven and a half inches. Anything smaller is proabably too small to be of any real use, and anything larger should really be considered an adult glove. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend even looking at any glove smaller than nine and a half inches.
The major driving factor when selecting a glove for your child is to make sure that he can control it. Does the glove slip off of his hand if he moves his arm quickly? Can he close the pocket without excessive effort? Does it feel comfortable on his hand?
There is a school of thought that suggests you should purchase a large glove for your child, tighten the adjusments as much as possible, and send him out with it, since the larger playing surface gives him a better chance to stop the ball. Even if he can’t properly catch it, he has a better shot to keep the ball in front of him, which builds confidence.
While there is probably some merit to the confidence point, the fact remains that if you give your child a glove that’s too big to use correctly, he can only learn bad fielding habits. Consequently, you may very well end up hurting his development as a fielder.
Do it With Style!
While certain psitions tend to favor certain styles of gloves, this is a matter of personal preference more than anything else. Open web gloves tend to trap the ball better than do closed web gloves; outfielders, first basemen, and third basemen tend to prefer open webs for this reason. Closed web gloves tend to help get the ball out of the pocket just a little quicker; therefore, middle infielders often prefer a closed web for this very reason. Pitchers like closed web gloves for an entirely different reson - this tyle helps them to hide the ball as they go through their windup.
Open back, or conventional back, versus closed back gloves is even more a matter or personal preference. Conventioal back gloves are a little lighter, and often fit tighter, though some closed back gloves can be adjusted to offer a simialr fit.
Consider the Materials
Baseball gloves come in wide variety of materials. A brief guide might include various sorts of leather, pigskin, vinyl, steerhide, and even kangaroo hide! Gloves made of full-grain leather or premium steerhide provide excellent performance and great durability; manufacturers prominently stamp the names of these top-grade materials on gloves that use them. However, these can be expensive, and if your child will grow out of the glove quickly, it may not be worth the investment to go one of these routes. Carefully weight the cost versus benefit before you buy.
Vinyl/plastic. Don’t even glance at these gloves. Not only are they usually far too small to be of any use, but they are terribly stiff, making it difficult for the fielder to close properly, and they wear out quickly. Glove makers continue to sell these to first year tee ball players and to those who know nothing of baseball; the companies shold be ashamed of themselves.
Pigskin. Pigskin breaks in very easily, is quite flexible, and is inexpensive. Unfortunately, pigskin wears out quickly, as well. The performance you can get from a pigsking glove does offset the lack of durability; these can be a good, economical choice for a single-season glove.
Top Grain Leather. Top grain does not mean top quality; it refers to the process by which the top portin of the leather is sanded off to reach the desired thickness. Companies often refer to top grain leather with a brand name, instead, such as Wilson’s "Quick Stop" leather. Top grain leather gloves are often very durable. These gloves are often pre-oiled to help break them in faster.
Full Grain Leather. Cow or steer hide in which the entire leather grain remains, or in which only the bottom portion has been sanded. This grade of leather is rare in youth gloves, and is frequently reserved only for upper end adult gloves. Full grain leather gloves are heavy and require a long break in period. They rarely come pre-oiled, as most players willing to shell out the cash for full grain leather want to apply their own oil. Once broken in, full grain leather gloves are superior in performance and durability.
Premium Steer Hide. Stronger than cow hide, typically top grain, but sometimes full grain. These gloves are usually stiff and somewhat heavy, and take a while to break in. They are, however, quite strong and durable, and offer very good performance. These gloves do sometimes come pre-oiled, which helps reduce break in time.
Cow Hide (Generic Leather). If a glove simply says "leather", then it usually means cow hide - a medium weight material. Cow hide gloves probably come in the widest range of quality and price of any material. These gloves are almost always pre-oiled, break in relatively quickly, and often perform well. However, they are less durable than other varieties of leather. Cow hide makes a great choice for a youth baseball glove, since it offers good performance for a good price (quality cow hide gloves are easy to find in the twenty-five to fifty dollar price range).
Buffalo Skin. Nokona is currently the only manufacturer to use buffalo skin, which is tougher and lighter than steer hide. These gloves are usually extremely expensive.
Kangaroo Skin. Extremely strong, and lighter than any steer or cow hide. Kangaroo skin breaks in very easily, but tends to lose its shape quicker than leather gloves, resulting in a shorter lifespan of the glove.
Some Thoughts on Glove Manufacturers
Of course, every major glove manufacturer offers quality gloves; if they did not, the would not remain in business. Still, here are some assembled opinions based upon observations and previous experiences.
Mizuno. I have yet to purchase or hear of someone purchasing a poor Mizuno glove; they tend to get excellent reviews, even in their budget models. The Mizuno "Prospect" series of youth gloves has some quality models, and the company offers several gloves that are fully broken in directly off the shelf. Their top leather grades are "Double-Tanned Steerhide," "Retro Leather," and "Full Grain Leather."
Wilson. Wilson is an established sporting goods company that has been around forever. They have some good gloves, and some not so good ones - beware the vinyl models! Wilson’s "EZ Catch" youth gloves offer large, pre-broken in pockets. Their top leather is found in the "Pro-Stock" models.
Rawlings. Another company that has been around forever, Rawlings gloves are very popular with major league players. Rawlings is also guilty of making vinyl gloves - run screaming from these! Rawlings’ best leather is found in "Heart of the Hide" gloves.
Easton. Traditionally a bat manufacturer, Easton is gaining a reputation as a quality glovemaker. I myself own an Easton steerhide glove, and couldn’t be happier with it. Easton’s best leather is their "Gladiator" steerhide, but their "Natural" leather is excellent, as well.
Nokona. Nokona tends to cater to the upper-end glove market, and makes many models out of more exotic materials, such as kangaroo hide and buffalo hide. Even Nokona’s cow hide gloves are considered comperable to other companies steer hide, due to the higher quality materils the manufacturer uses.
Louisvile Slugger. Louisville Slugger manufactures their best gloves under the TPX brand name. The best TPX leather is "Maruhashi," which is reviewed as being roughly comperable to premium steerhide.
Akadema. Akadema is a relatively new company that began by catering exclusively to professional players. Their gloves tend to be very expensive, though well-reviewed. Akadema’s "Precision Kip" leather is considered to be their best material.
Good luck! Remember, good fit and good control are the most important guidelines to follow when selecting a baseball glove or mitt. Shop around, try different gloves on, and keep your eyes open for a good bargain - there are many to be had. With some dilligence, you can pick a quality glove that will meet all of your needs. | |
