When is it time for a new glove?

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May 30, 2022
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DD loves a floppy glove, Got her an A2000 1B (baseball) glove about 2 years ago and she has been whaling on it ever since, took about 8 months for her to trust it in a game, and she is still trying to get it floppier. Now you could tickle the pocket with a feather and it will snap shut, but the perimeter is still very rigid, which she likes. It is "almost" broken in.
Sorry to say, but a first base mitt should not be "floppy". It should close easily, but if the outside edge gets broken down the mitt loses its effectiveness. There is a plastic stiffener in the finger and thumb. The purpose is to allow the mitt to stay firm to guide the ball into the pocket. If the finger side gets floppy or the stiffener breaks, the integrity of the mitt is compromised. This can happen when the finger side is constantly curled. Please feel free to contact me.
Mike Wilkinson
The Glove Doctor, LLC
glovdocm@aol.com
Glovedoc.com
330-550-1731
 
May 30, 2022
3
3
Since I know everyone loves pics....Here's the beast now and 1.5 years ago fresh off a cleaning and full re-lace.

The pics make it look a LOT more white than it does in pers

If You're talking about her committing she's obviously not 12 and she must be a baller! In my experience in TB, say starting at 14U, but especially at 16U and up, most of my girls that split positions in the infield and outfield had two dedicated gloves for those multiple positions!

But honestly you don't see many girls play SS and outfield, if you have a real SS, she usually stays at SS!

The way I look at it, in high level competitive softball, a real SS's glove won't work in the outfield, and a real outfielder's glove won't work at SS. Obviously there's exceptions to that but you get my point.
In your case you might want to consider an infield glove 11.75 or 12. I have some player customers using 11.5 at the college level. Most gloves have a useful life span of about 3 to 5 years. A floppy glove can be difficult to manage. I prefer gloves to be firm, but flexible. That way you can build a good pocket and be able to catch the ball with minimum effort because the ball enters the pocket while the glove is open on its own requiring minimum squeeze and quick transfer. 40 years experience working on gloves, 25 years selling new and working with Wilson and Rawlings designer. Currently Wilson and Mizuno official repair and warranty specialist.

Your glove in the pictures looks good. However, getting a new glove before the old one craps out allows her to take time to break in the new one properly. If she were to get a good infield glove now and she gets a new one from school, she can get an outfield or another infield and have a backup. However, I do understand your concern about what to get because some schools are sponsored and won't let the player use a glove different from the sponsor.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions. The only dumb question is the one not asked.

Best regards.

Mike Wilkinson
The Glove Doctor, LLC
glovedocm@aol.com
Glovedocm.com
3300-550-1731
 
May 20, 2015
1,094
113
back to the original question.....i've found that i start looking at a new glove right around the time when the previous one is absolutely perfect......
 
Dec 19, 2021
259
43
back to the original question.....i've found that i start looking at a new glove right around the time when the previous one is absolutely perfect......
Haha! Yeah,  that's the kind of answer I expected from this group. Heck, I start looking about the time the new one starts getting dirty. Actually pulling the trigger is another story. Fortunately there is a DD2 to help bridge the gap (and a crazy sale).
 
Dec 19, 2021
259
43
Your glove in the pictures looks good. However, getting a new glove before the old one craps out allows her to take time to break in the new one properly.
That's the plan. Will find one soon and start working on it. The LA she has took about 3 weeks to he ready for team practice then a couple more before she was comfortable with it in games. I expect the next one to be similar now that I know more about them and she is quite a bit stronger.

Good news is there is a Rawlings outlet in town. She will probably want to stick with a 12, since she is totally comfortable with it in both infield and outfield. Of course, she doesn't know any different, so...
 
Dec 19, 2021
259
43
Sorry to say, but a first base mitt should not be "floppy". It should close easily, but if the outside edge gets broken down the mitt loses its effectiveness. There is a plastic stiffener in the finger and thumb. The purpose is to allow the mitt to stay firm to guide the ball into the pocket. If the finger side gets floppy or the stiffener breaks, the integrity of the mitt is compromised. This can happen when the finger side is constantly curled. Please feel free to contact me.
Mike Wilkinson
The Glove Doctor, LLC
glovdocm@aol.com
Glovedoc.com
330-550-1731
One thing I will say here from reading a bunch of posts over the years is that not everyone's definition of "floppy" is the same.
- Full pancake, but may still catch just fine (Fingers and especially thumb and pinky reinforcements are still OK)
- Ball blows thru pocket and bends back fingers - this is bad
- Glove more or less maintains shape, but opens/closes so easy, like it is part of your hand
- Glove doesn't stay open by itself when laid on its side.
 

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