Your body weight while sleeping on the glove causes the tautness of the glove to dissipate. This way it gets to meld into the shape of your hand as it is being broken in. GloveBreakIn2.JPG For instance, a glove made of leather is not easy to break in. Get a hammer and beat the inside of it. Don't waste your money buying "break-in" kits for new gloves. Put a softball in the pocket and tie the glove with a rubber band or string to hold the ball tightly in the pocket of the glove. A hot car: Also works better in the South or West. If this is the case, you may have to use tools to get the job done. Wearing your glove a lot, squeezing your glove a lot and working the leather simply with your hands, can help to break it in. ". Fortunately, there are a few widely recognized methods to help make your new glove soft, flexible and grippy. To do this, you must place the ball into the glove and put it under your mattress. If the microwave doesn't seem to be having an effect, stop and try other methods. Put two baseballs or a softball in the pocket and tie a string around it. Before you try and oil your glove, be warned that there are theories that it can make your glove heavy and lead to deterioration. There are many available oils in the market to do this job. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. This time the glove is not drenched in water, but covered in shaving cream. There are lots of different tricks and ways to do it, but ultimately the best way to break in your glove, is to give it some good tender loving care. When catching a softball with a new glove, concentrate on enveloping and squeezing the ball with the area around the thumb and forefingers to form what is known as a “pocket.” This will give the glove a natural contour the size and shape of a softball and make catching easier as a result. Try kneading your new glove while you’re watching TV, talking with friends or sitting in traffic. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. How To Break In A Softball Glove. Join the discussion - Leave a comment below, How to Break in a Softball Glove with Oil, How to Break in a Softball Glove Without Oil, How to Break in a Softball Glove with Shaving Cream, How to Break in a Softball Glove with a Break-In Kit, MIZUNO BASEBALL ACCESSORIES - BALL GLOVE SHAPING MALLET G2 - 370149, Rawlings Gold Glove Butter, 2 Ounce (Pack of 1), Barbasol Thick and Rich Shaving Cream, Original 10 oz (Pack of 3), Hot Glove Break-in Kit Glove Care Management System, The Package Height Of The Product Is 30.48 Centimeters, The Package Length Of The Product Is 7.62 Centimeters, The Package Width Of The Product Is 7.62 Centimeters, Designed for use on higher-end gloves; also works great for conditioning any glove, Thick and rich shaving cream specially formulated to moisturize and lubricate even the toughest facial hair. All other All-Star gloves should break in a bit more quickly, but ANY glove will take a little work to get game-ready. The Glove Locker (SGL) is a great option. We recommend using a classic style of foam lather shaving cream and not any of the more new gel kinds if possible, similar to the Barbasol shaving cream below: You can find some kits which include oil and other tools to help break in your new softball glove. In addition, it can soak into the padding of the palm. This will allow it to stretch and form a near perfect softball sized pocket. Rigid, unyielding leather makes movement and catching difficult, and you don’t always have the luxury of breaking in a new glove naturally over time. There is a method when doing this that you should always adhere to. When using oils though, it is important not to use too much because you don’t want the glove to be drenched as this will make it heavy and hard to use. There is only one thing to be mindful of if you decide to manhandle your glove, which is to ensure that you avoid delicate areas of the glove, like where it is connected by stitching and so on. GLOVE STEAMING. Take care not to burn your hand or wrist if you're wearing your glove while steaming it over a pot of boiling water. Go easy on the oil. If you do choose an oil to break in your glove, use only manufacturer-suggested products. Between the two, the glove should be thoroughly broken in in no time. Once you purchase a new softball glove, you will have to break it in. Macy's discounts colorful Le Creuset cookware Another manual approach on how to break in a softball glove fast is kneading it. One of the quickest ways to break in your softball glove is to simply play catch with it. This sounds odd, I am sure but you may find it less monotonous than kneading the glove. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Continuous pressure from your hands as well as the constant touching will begin to slacken up the tightness of the glove, making it more malleable. Most of these just contain basic oil and expensive bands used to wrap the glove. Baby oil, lanolin or an oil specifically designed for use on baseball and softball gloves. Barbasol Shaving Cream is proudly made in the USA, Break-In and Maintain your glove with the Hot Glove Break In Kit Value Bundle, Includes Hot Glove Treatment to Break In your glove, Cream Conditioner to preserve and maintain your glove, and two Wrap Bands to wrap your glove around the included practice softball to maintain the glove pocket. Don't ask me why, but I've always hated doing this and have never done it to a single one of my gloves. Some of our favorite oils and conditioners can easily be ordered online with your new glove purchase: You can also break in your softball using heat. Now, here’s what you CAN do – 1 – Play catch with it. Some ways are more radical than others but which technique you choose to undertake is dependent upon how fast you need your glove ready for your next game. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Any time you're catching or beating the glove to soften it, focus on squeezing the area around the pocket to make it soft enough to mold itself around the ball. Just like hitting a bunch of balls with a new bat to improve the sweet spot, playing continuous catch is one way to loosen up your glove. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Use the same glove for games and practice to subject it to more rough treatment. COVER ALL YOUR BASES WITH THE BASICS OF GLOVE CARE!!! Heating can cause the glove to shrink or crack, and as a result it may deteriorate faster with use. Grip the striking implement firmly as you make impact to get used to squeezing around an object, the way you would when catching a ball. 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