Baseball or fastpitch catcher's mitt for Dad

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Dec 11, 2021
23
3
Just Gloves has a HoH Softball catcher's mitt. It is 33" though and has rose gold binding (which according to DD definitely makes it awesome).
 

LEsoftballdad

DFP Vendor
Jun 29, 2021
2,838
113
NY
Just Gloves has a HoH Softball catcher's mitt. It is 33" though and has rose gold binding (which according to DD definitely makes it awesome).
Yeah, we sell them in our store, but I don't feel the fastpitch version has enough padding, especially at the higher speeds.
 
Aug 1, 2019
962
93
MN
I tried my son's catcher's mitt on a couple pitches. Just doesn't feel right. Not as forgiving if you don't catch it perfectly. I went back to my Mizuno fastpitch catcher's mitt I got second-hand on ebay. I'm not worried about my GC passed ball stats.
 

LEsoftballdad

DFP Vendor
Jun 29, 2021
2,838
113
NY
What about buying a palm pad glove for underneath?
I tried that a while back, and it did help the palm area. The other issue is the posts seem to not handle the speed. And, since I'm not as agile as I once was, I found I'm not getting it in the pocket like I used to. Also, with the lighting indoors making it more difficult to pick up the ball, I feel like that mitt is my last line of defense.

Maybe the baseball mitt won't work well, maybe it will. All I know is the LA doesn't have what it takes anymore. And I can't find any high-level fastpitch mitt that fits my hands without going very expensive custom.
 
Jul 29, 2013
6,782
113
North Carolina
Here’s what I do know…..Vinci FP mitts by far, hands down have the best palm protection, their palm padding is ridiculous!

All-Star FP mitts have the best thumb stinger protection! If you’re catching a hard throwing serious spinner, I’ll take thumb protection everyday of the week!

I have medium thick hands, my CMW3000 is pretty roomy, can’t imagine you couldn’t get your hand in there, what size bear paws do you have?

The AS’s also have those hideous index finger hoods, I put my index finger on top of the hood, not inside, offers another layer of leather protection for your index finger.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
If your catching it and the ball hitting the glove is making a loud pop, then you are catching it right. No rattling around. Brings confidence to your pitcher too. And umps will give the close call too.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Explain..I know nothing about catching. Do you try and catch it differently when there is a possibility for a throw?
Catch ball same regardless of throwing.

Will try to explain, words harder to describe than visual.

Probably when you played baseball knew when you've caught the ball correctly in the pocket, vs. example ball hitting palm or thumb area.

imo Think bad ball/hand incidences are similar to a Fielder having to interpret the ball's trajectory when it is a grounder could take a bad hop and miss the correct spot in the glove.
So similar is a person catching misinterpreting the trajectory of a pitch.
OR not mechanically adjusting for trajectory.

For a catcher that can be how they started out with their glove. Meaning the angle of position receiving ball. Arm angle and hand glove angle.

How catchers are moving their glove
(Prefer) glove around the ball vs. chasing a ball at a bad angle with their thumb in a bad position. (Not rotating)
A lot of receiving pitches is how to rotate our arm/hand around the pitch so that it enters the pocket correctly.
Unfortunately people will leave their hand in their glove angle in the same position no matter where the pitch is coming inside, outside, up or down and that is not always the best technique to get the pocket aligned with trajectory of the pitch.
( not doing the glove work to get pocket in best position)

By adding padding, or thump support, while it may help to reduce impact. Is not really correcting adjusting mechanic to fix the problem.

Rotate glove correctly can help fix problem. I prefer thumb starting out pointing East or West fingers up easier to rotate left or right as needed. Or rotate under if needed. Versus some people start with thumb pointing down which is a much larger rotation to move up or rotate inside or rotate around under. Thumb is in a bad exposed position when it is under.
( example we know many pitches travel down at the plate. I wouldn't want my thumb under that.)

Since I caught with a Fielder's glove my entire career, which basically has zero padding other than two layers of leather, and had an awesome big pocket,
caught pitchers who broke 70 mph.
Using my glove mechanically correctly result was no thumb issues and only a few here or there impacts on the index fingers inside knuckle at the palm. Those instances happened because I was trying extra hard to frame a pitch out in front.
(cut off trajectory) and was willing to take that impact. If I wanted padding it would have been an inch size circle in one spot right there.
 
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