Breaking In Your Baseball Glove - The Traditional Method

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Akadema Gloves

Glove Hammer

For some reason, there are a ton of methods to break in a glove…maybe because there are so many baseball dads out there... lol
Some work, most, destroy more than they help.

I look at it this way, its leather, so if it sounds like it might create permanent harm to a good, well-tanned piece of leather, think first.

First, Lets Look At Various Glove Materials

1. Synthetic Gloves – Please don’t buy them… better to save up or buy something used that’s made of real leather.
2. Lite Leather Gloves – these can be known by many names (our Akadema Prodigy series is our best seller for up to age 12... our Akadema Prosoft Series is perfect for coaches or part time position players who want their glove almost broken in).
3. Pro Leather - Real Steerhide that is graded…price usually tells you the quality of the leather (but as soon as I say that, I strongly feel that our Akadema Pro Stock is of the same quality as the Big Names who’s high end gloves are well over $200...ours should save you $30-$80!
4. Pre Oiled Gloves – These are fine if this is your preference…but do note that pre-oiled may be pre-broken down. Some can be heavy and lack “feel” and historically, this has allowed some glove makers to produce gloves of less-than-perfect hides which covers blemishes under certain colored oils.
5. Exotic Hides – There are some great “trick leather” gloves but I have no experience here and will need to leave this with your better judgement).

Simple Options & Absolutes

1. Play catch with your new leather, better yet, can you get in front of a pitching machine? This will give you a lot of hard throws to catch in the right spot…a great idea. Note that younger players cannot throw hard enough and may not be catching balls that have enough velocity for this to save you much time.
2. Glove Stuff & our Glove Hammer - I really like the Glove Hammer I designed because it hits the pocket most accurately with least amount of force and will never wear out. There are many glove oils out there but I don’t know them all so I recommend the best I have ever found. It is called Glove Stuff and is the creation of ”The Glove Lady”…a lifelong leather worker who has repaired tons of Big Leaguers aging gloves…all oils have weight but Glove Stuff is light... just start slow and easy; you can add more later!
3. The Water Method - I’ve had a lot of success using this alternative. Click the link if you are interested in seeing the only odd and different method I have had success with using my own pro leather gloves.

Then place 1-2 balls in the pocket and wrap with a belt, bungee cord or even string until your next use or “pounding session”.

You will notice progress and a loosening of the leather after each session.

Note that you may need to re tighten some lacing as your glove is molded to fit you. Take your time and be patient…the more effort you add during this process, the longer your new best friend will take care of you…slow is fast so do it right.

Absolutely NO:

1. Don’t run it over with a car
2. Don’t put it in an oven
3. Don’t leave it in a hot place
4. Don’t lubricate with shaving cream (there’s no lanolin in them anymore)
5. Don’t store your glove without a ball in it for lengths of time
6. Don’t store it in a dry, hot place
7. Don’t leave it in your bat bag between seasons
8. Don’t leave you glove on concrete (it sucks up moisture)

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