another glove thread (catcher's mitt)

[soozyQ]

Hello hello, it's that time again! Actually it's well past that time, because my Liberty Advanced mitt is on its last leg (just sent it off to get patched) and I am short on time for a break in! Senior in college catching mid-60's mph and looking to play my last season. My chances of getting decent playing time are slim, but I'd love to get a mitt that can last me well into my adult life. Also trying to use up the last bit of credit I have on justgloves.com, so that's where my choices lie (unless convinced otherwise).

I'd rather not purchase another Liberty, because it gets decently floppy and is a little heavy. Would love something lighter! Any preferences between the HOH and A2000? Do y'all think I can use a baseball mitt for catching softballs? Also what would be best for a 3 month-ish break in time to be ready for spring?

Last year I posted a thread on purchasing a new fielding glove, which I was foolish in deciding on. Although it does the job, def not as well as I hoped for the amount I spent, so I'm trying to be a little more conservative with my choices. softball dads fire away!

 

[soozyQ]

Also I like the idea of closed webbing. Does that affect anything?

 

[Gags]

I don't know what truck this particular deal fell off of, but here you go: https://www.amazon.com/All-Star-Pit...726763891&s=team-sports&sr=1-9&ts_id=13292741

May not be any difference in weight, but you can pass it down to your grandkids if you ever get done using it.

re: closed webbing - not much success in that regard. Daughter's teammate has a mizuno (IIRC) closed webbing - the ball just won't stay in the glove. I've taken it home, pounded the hell out of it, did some hot water treatment to try to stretch it out some more, but no luck.

that being said - I've seen plenty of A2000's that don't seem to have the same problem, but the A2000's (I've worked on two of them), IME have a much longer break-in period than the all-star. (A2000 - a season?, AS - ~3-4 weeks - both probably less if you're catching 60+)

Don't let the $99 price fool you - this was All-Star's top glove a few years ago until they landed Paige Halstead as (their first?) sponsored softball player.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Do y'all think I can use a baseball mitt for catching softballs?

I use a Rawlings HOH Yadier Molina baseball catcher's mitt to catch for my daughter. It is built better and has more padding than the HOH fastpitch mitt. It will take a lot of work to get it game ready, though.

 

[cnardone]

No personal experience but all star catchers mitts get lots of love here