HomeHOWHow To Make Your Catch Glove Fappy

How To Make Your Catch Glove Fappy

You can find all manner of tricks and quick fixes for breaking in a baseball or softball glove. Some people try using hot water, baking the glove in the oven or running it over with a car. “If you got a nice, new leather jacket, you wouldn’t put it in the oven. You’re not going to drench your leather coat or briefcase in water,” Rembielak said. “You don’t want to do that with your glove, either.” To break it in the right way, both Capen and Rembielak said the most important factors to customize a new glove to your hand are time and use.

“I like to break in my glove by playing catch with it and working the leather with my hands,” Capen said. This method allows you to customize the glove to your position or play style.

“I like to flare the thumb a little bit, and on the fingers, I like them to have a little bit of a curl [inward]. So when I’m playing catch and I’m breaking it in, I make sure to keep that a priority — manually bend that leather on the thumb and on the fingers,” he said.

Doing so helps the glove act more like a funnel for ground balls and gives the throwing hand easier access to the pocket, so you can snap off a throw.

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Breaking in a glove by hand and by playing catch takes time. At first, the glove will feel stiff. Rembielak said it can take between three weeks and a few months for a glove to become game-ready.

If you use it in certain drills in practice, Rembielak recommended telling your coach you’re breaking in a new glove. If the ball pops out, they’ll “know if it’s you making a mistake or if it’s your glove. If your mechanics are great and the ball pops out, that’s okay,” she said.

Between reps, keep working the leather. And continue at home in between practices. Rembielak suggested working the fingers of the glove to soften them, then flipping the glove over to work the heel. Bend it the opposite way you want it to close and work it in a steering wheel-like motion with both hands to loosen it up.

Capen suggests sticking with your “old, reliable” glove for games and using your new glove for parts of practice, in casual catch games, with a rebound net or even when you’re just sitting on the couch until it’s broken in.

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