Help.... Ball Popping Out With Evoshield Thumb Guard

[NWparent]

The quick version: Have any of you found it hard to catch while wearing the Evoshield Thumb Guard?

The full version: My daughter is 13 and is very new to catching. We know she has work to do with fundamentals, but in the meantime is doing her best to catch a very fast pitcher. Hyperextending her thumb a few times has been painful, so we've gotten her the Evoshield Thumb Guard. The pain has gone away, but now she's having a lot more balls pop out of her mit, if she doesn't catch them exactly in the pocket. She seems to struggle to squeeze the ball with the reduced mobility of her thumb. Right now, she wears a Wilson A900 Auro mitt.

Now that we know she's enjoying the position, we're going to get her into some catching lessons and hope to invest in a new catcher's mitt. Do you think a new mitt would be a help with this? I'd love some input on which model/brand might help her to wear the Evoshield and still easily catch the ball. Thank you in advance!

 

[LEsoftballdad]

My daughter had the guard when she was 14. She never liked the feel inside the mitt, so I bought her a new mitt with better padding. At the time, she was using an Academa mitt that was of similar quality to the Wilson A900 your daughter is using.

We moved to a Rawlings Liberty Advanced from the Academa. It was a huge improvement for about two years. The Liberty Advanced is a great glove/mitt for entry into a mid-level quality with a decent price point, but they tend to breakdown the palm pad as the pitching speeds up. The next step up would be a Heart of The Hide, the Wilson A2000, or a Nokona, to name a few. Just be ready to have a long break-in period with the more expensive mitts.

If you need help selecting one or getting one at a good price, my store carries most major brands. Feel free to message me or text me at 631-942-3516.

Good luck.

 

[ChrisSB]

My daughter never wore a thumb guard so I can't answer that question, but she started catching about the same age your daughter is. We bought her the Liberty advanced and it was perfect for her. Easy break in and no thumb pain. She was able to catch pitchers throwing high 50s to 60 without a problem. Like mentioned above, the liberty advanced lasted us about 2 years. She really wanted a heart of the hide for her next catcher's glove but due to production issues from COVID we couldn't find one so we bought her the a2000. They take a long time to break in though and has been a tougher adjustment to use.

 

[FB Fool]

mine has the same game glove and hasn't had any problems with her thumb. I feel like it might be her catching technique. although our pitchers are mid 50's