View Full Version : Old Catcher's Glove...Still Not Broken In!
I bought a used A2000 catcher's glove from Play It Again for about $70. Problem is, it still really isn't comfortably broken in. I've caught at least 1000 pitches with it, but the leather just still seems pretty stiff.
Anything I can do to fix this? Maybe some oil or something? I really would like to get this thing to be a lot looser, sometimes balls will slip out and I have to squeeze extra tight when I'm catching.
LAball
10-06-2008, 01:11 AM
Soak the area that needs loosening. Then pound it while its still wet and play catch. Do that every 30 min while it dries out. Repeat, unil its loose enough, then lightly oil the areas that go wet
MrSurprise
10-06-2008, 07:31 AM
By soak, he means just apply enough to wet the leather :), don't put so much oil that when you touch that spot it stretches the leather!
The Glovedoctor
10-06-2008, 09:29 AM
You caught that many pitches with it and it still isn't broken in? Odd. I would soften it a little with a lanolin based creme in the hinges of the heel and throughout the pocket and keep playing catch. I like to use a Nokona glove mallet to beat the pocket a bit. Keep a ball in the glove and wrap it when you aren't using it.
Another trick is to go to a facility (if there is one near you) that has a pitching machine, crank it up, and catch a few rounds. That will help.
soceric
10-07-2008, 10:21 AM
I have a Rawlings HOH Catchers glove that i bought in the mid 90's.. I used that thing several times a week in practices, and bullpens, and it was only broken in enough for game use after about a year! It wasn't at all like the newer catchers gloves out there now that are useable after 2 weeks. This glove was STIFF.. I could barely even close it when it was new. The upside is that when it broke in, it broke in really nice, and it will never go floppy. So.. that Wilson sounds the same. Put a little oil or vasiline in the pocket, and catch.. catch.. catch. Find someone who throws really hard too.
Good Luck
Bryton
10-07-2008, 10:24 AM
Man do I know how you feel. I bought my son a new rawlings last winter, and after all the indoor practices and about 30 games of catching, it still is not broken all the way in. It still pops out on him on occasion and he gets really frustrated with it, so I am also looking for ways to try and get this glove to break in a little bit more.
CanadianKid
10-10-2008, 02:41 PM
A good trick for breaking in a new glove, or in this case a glove that feels new, is to sit it in the sun and let it "bake". Then play catch.
When I was in Florida I left my glove in the sun when we would do conditioning drills and then when I started playing catch it started to get worked in.