New glove for 12 1/2 year old

[escort1991]

That is interesting to hear baseballdad because it is a Rawlings glove we are replacing due to the inside of the thumb slot being all torn up...

Thanks everyone for your help; he ended up picking out a Louisville Slugger Omaha Pro 11.75" glove (OX1175). After trying many gloves this one just felt right to him... now he needs to break it in before fall ball starts next month.

Shouldn't be too difficult to break in by fall ball. It comes pretreated from the factory, so it's probably 30% of the way there already.

[JRH11]

I highly recommend the Rawlings Gold Glove Series......Great glove at a great price......Very easy to break in.

[Baseball gLove]

I highly recommend the Rawlings Gold Glove Series......Great glove at a great price......Very easy to break in.

Gold Glove about $200. Better quality SSK $125 -$150. The SSK took less time to break in than the Gold Glove. The Wilson ProPreferred was easier to break in but those are almost $300. My son has all of the above in his bag plus a DASexy by Novack

[CircleChange11]

This is what my son is asking from us for Christmas ...



Some kids ask for video games and consoles, others ask for baseball equipment. He tried it on at Dick's and tears were falling as we left (he knew ahead of time we were just looking, so he wasn't angry ... just heart-broken). He was like a child leaving a pet store after locking eyes with the world's cutest puppy.

This is my ride (left-hander)



My advice would be to go for quality. If you're anything like us, you get a ton of use out of it and is a better "value" than say, other forms of entertainment.

I'm gonna check out the SSK based on the above recommendation. Where's the best place to look for SSK ... haven't seen them around for awhile.

[Ursa Major]

LAS, here's a picture of what I understand that you bought:

Seems like a pretty good choice to me.

The key thing is to prep it properly so that it will work for what you need. I'd work it up as an infielder's glove, as it will be fine for outfield work as well. The focus should be on having a wide but responsive pocket to trap most ground balls but that will retain nasty short-hopped balls taken on the backhand.

I've marked in red where I think any glove goop should go to help it hinge at the proper points. Also, I've marked in white where I think a small amount of goop should go and where some creasing should be added to give a little curve to the finger tips and a bit of crease at the base of the little finger to curve that finger in, to help keep balls from popping out. (If you've seen Brooks Robinson's glove in the HOF, you'll know what I mean -- as shown here:


If you go to SpecializedBaseballCamps.com and check out their infielding video on "Mastering Infield Play", Coach Stubbs talks at length about the the proper shape of an infield glove. It needs to be open and relatively flat -- if it just has one hinge in the middle, you'll have a lot of balls either pop out or be tough to find and throw with your throwing hand.

[CircleChange11]

The best fielder I have ever played with a 3B/IF from Victorville, CA (if memory serves me right).

This dude was nuts. At practice he would rarely use a glove and catch everything bare-handed (to keep his hands 'soft', he said) or block it with his chest.

I bring him up because he would always sit on his glove to keep it flat/open, so it looked more like a shovel than it did a glove. In the field, he didn't so much "catch" the ball as he did "redirect it to his throwing hand". It was pretty cool to see.

[Drill]

The best fielder I have ever played with a 3B/IF from Victorville, CA (if memory serves me right).

This dude was nuts. At practice he would rarely use a glove and catch everything bare-handed (to keep his hands 'soft', he said) or block it with his chest.

I bring him up because he would always sit on his glove to keep it flat/open, so it looked more like a shovel than it did a glove. In the field, he didn't so much "catch" the ball as he did "redirect it to his throwing hand". It was pretty cool to see.

Get him one of those glove with no pocket made for practice for exactly that purpose.

He will thank you when he is older.


IMHO,

drill

[CircleChange11]

We played college together in 1993. I haven't seen him since. I'd bet money he is unemployed, still livig at home, surfing or riding buggies in the dunes all day, and is happier than most everyone else. Fun dude, but strange.

[LAS64]

LAS, here's a picture of what I understand that you bought:

Seems like a pretty good choice to me.

The key thing is to prep it properly so that it will work for what you need. I'd work it up as an infielder's glove, as it will be fine for outfield work as well. The focus should be on having a wide but responsive pocket to trap most ground balls but that will retain nasty short-hopped balls taken on the backhand.

I've marked in red where I think any glove goop should go to help it hinge at the proper points. Also, I've marked in white where I think a small amount of goop should go and where some creasing should be added to give a little curve to the finger tips and a bit of crease at the base of the little finger to curve that finger in, to help keep balls from popping out. (If you've seen Brooks Robinson's glove in the HOF, you'll know what I mean -- as shown here:


If you go to SpecializedBaseballCamps.com and check out their infielding video on "Mastering Infield Play", Coach Stubbs talks at length about the the proper shape of an infield glove. It needs to be open and relatively flat -- if it just has one hinge in the middle, you'll have a lot of balls either pop out or be tough to find and throw with your throwing hand.

Thanks Ursa Major, that is the glove. He is thrilled with it and it seems to be perfect for him. We will take your advice on breaking it in, that is along the lines of what we were thinking but weren't exactly sure of how to go about it. We haven't added any goop to it yet, any advice on the best product to use for this?

[baseballdad]

I really like the looks of the open pocket style of the 11.75 Mizuno Classic Pro for replacement infield glove for my 11 year old son- based on the picture shown above. Anybody use it?

[Ursa Major]

The best fielder I have ever played with a 3B/IF from Victorville, CA (if memory serves me right).

This dude was nuts. At practice he would rarely use a glove and catch everything bare-handed (to keep his hands 'soft', he said) or block it with his chest.

I bring him up because he would always sit on his glove to keep it flat/open, so it looked more like a shovel than it did a glove. In the field, he didn't so much "catch" the ball as he did "redirect it to his throwing hand". It was pretty cool to see.

Circle, this is exactly the philosophy espoused by Coach Stubbs in the video I recommended (which I bought after numerous folks here recommended it). You want a flat glove in which you can trap the ball in the pocket with your bare hand (but want to have enough responsiveness for those occasions where you can only reach it one-handed).

LAS said: Thanks Ursa Major, that is the glove. He is thrilled with it and it seems to be perfect for him. We will take your advice on breaking it in, that is along the lines of what we were thinking but weren't exactly sure of how to go about it. We haven't added any goop to it yet, any advice on the best product to use for this?

I'm a big believer in Glove Stuff, a lanolin-based lotion that we've used with great success on half-a-dozen gloves over the last five years. You can get it here for $6.50 plus $2.50 shipping: http://www.sandalady.com/ Some folks recommend lanonlin-based shave creams, but the prevailing wisdom is to avoid those, because the soap that dominates those shave creams will dry out your glove. I only use the goop for a couple of nights during the first part of the breaking in process so that it's you who defines where the 'creases' are. I'd stop using it while the glove is still a bit too stiff to be game ready; let the final part of the process come from playing catch.

When the glove is not in use, I'd store it with something round the size of a softball or larger in the pocket to keep creases from developing. You don't need to wrap a strap or something around it after it becomes game ready; the purpose of the ball is mostly to make sure it's not crushed flat with a single crease by being shoved in an equipment bag.

[soceric]

I really like the looks of the open pocket style of the 11.75 Mizuno Classic Pro for replacement infield glove for my 11 year old son- based on the picture shown above. Anybody use it?

Have the 11 inch version. The pocket is huge and wide. These Mizunos get loose, so you'd better like the glove loose.

[escort1991]

Get him one of those glove with no pocket made for practice for exactly that purpose.

He will thank you when he is older.


IMHO,

drill

Drill,

You speaking one of these?

[baseballdad]

What are your thoughts on where to put the Glove Stuff for breaking in a catcher's mitt?

LAS, here's a picture of what I understand that you bought:

Seems like a pretty good choice to me.

The key thing is to prep it properly so that it will work for what you need. I'd work it up as an infielder's glove, as it will be fine for outfield work as well. The focus should be on having a wide but responsive pocket to trap most ground balls but that will retain nasty short-hopped balls taken on the backhand.

I've marked in red where I think any glove goop should go to help it hinge at the proper points. Also, I've marked in white where I think a small amount of goop should go and where some creasing should be added to give a little curve to the finger tips and a bit of crease at the base of the little finger to curve that finger in, to help keep balls from popping out. (If you've seen Brooks Robinson's glove in the HOF, you'll know what I mean -- as shown here:


If you go to SpecializedBaseballCamps.com and check out their infielding video on "Mastering Infield Play", Coach Stubbs talks at length about the the proper shape of an infield glove. It needs to be open and relatively flat -- if it just has one hinge in the middle, you'll have a lot of balls either pop out or be tough to find and throw with your throwing hand.

[baseballdad]

I am looking at getting the Akadema ASD111 infielders glove for my 11 year old son. I am alos looking at getting the AMO 102 for myself. Our team is sponsored by Akadema so we get a good deal on price which is one of the reasons we are looking at Akadema, but have also heard good things from others on the team that have gotten them. Any one have experience with these models? Thanks.

http://www.akademapro.com/precision_infield.html