11.75 or 12 inches for combo SS and OF?

[bebopdeluxe]

So my daughter (15 y.o. - finished freshman year in HS) has been slumming (and killing it) with a 12” R9 the past couple of seasons. I got the basket re-laced last spring, and will do it again to get her through the summer season. But I think I will consider getting her a new glove this fall, and am considering getting her a Heart of the Hide (which is what she wants).

The question is which size?

On her current 16U travel team she is the SS, and she will be the SS on her HS team starting next year (graduating senior was SS this season). But she has played some OF, and she is considering moving to a higher-level travel team for 2024-25 - where she might not be the SS. If I knew she was going to be SS, I would talk to her about an 11.75, but is she winds up playing some OF, wouldn’t a 12” glove be more versatile?

 

[CoachJD]

11.75" is really small for an OF. I'm sure some make it work, but it's not ideal.

I suppose an OF with a smaller glove is better than an IF with a large glove, so err on the smaller side?

Are two gloves not an option? You could probably save a little money on the OF glove. From my experience as an OF, you really don't need a glove that costs several hundred dollars.

 

[cnardone]

Pro 206!!!!!

 

[ANNASDAD]

Are two gloves not an option?

This is the real question, it was usually around 15 when the girls that played both infield and outfield realized they simply needed two different gloves.

JD is right, I’d spend the real money on the infield glove, like a Don Morton Pro1000, then look for a nice used or discounted outfield glove, there’s plenty of them out there.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Wow, an actual glove thread…..

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Wow, an actual glove thread…..

There must have been a disturbance in the Force...

 

[bebopdeluxe]

So…if we go the two glove route, I have two questions:

1) what size should the outfield glove be; and

2) would her R9 (re-laced again) be OK there?

 

[LEsoftballdad]

So…if we go the two glove route, I have two questions:

1) what size should the outfield glove be; and

2) would her R9 (re-laced again) be OK there?

1) 12.5 minimum.

2) for a very short time. The R9 is a low-level glove not designed for durability.

 

[ANNASDAD]

1) 12.5 minimum.

2) for a very short time. The R9 is a low-level glove not designed for durability.

This, both 1 and 2. Retire the R9 to a backup or donate it to someone who could use it.

And I’d personally look for a 12.75” outfield glove.

 

[bebopdeluxe]

1) 12.5 minimum.

2) for a very short time. The R9 is a low-level glove not designed for durability.

That R9 was the best 79 bucks I ever spent on my kids’ sports equipment. This is her third season with it, and she turned two unassisted DP’s with it behind 2nd base at a tournament this past weekend.

It’s funny. Her HS coach kept talking her into getting a Ghost…talked ME into getting her a Ghost, and I swear that she hit better with the clearance CF I got her at the end of her 2022-23 season. It isn’t that I have a problem so much with getting her a HOTH glove now, as much as her feeling like she sees everyone at these tournaments with HOTH’s and A2000’s and feels like her glove is “so mid”…even though she is still killing with it.

What is it that posters say around here…”it’s not the arrow - it’s the archer” (did I get that right?). I do appreciate everyone’s insight here, and I do think it is probably time for a new glove…but as I see balls that went over the fence with her CF -9 fall a little short with her new Ghost (but it sure sounds great), I just wish my daughter (and, to be fair, me) would focus less on what equipment she thinks she needs (for whatever reason) and realize that her mechanics mean more than the glove or bat she uses. Actually, to be fair, she does know that…but that doesn’t stop her from having equipment envy sometimes.

I guess she’s just human.