How to Choose the Right Baseball Glove – 5 Steps

In this article I want to help answer the question, “How to Choose the Right Baseball Glove”.

I put together 5 questions that will help you figure out the best glove.

Step #1:  What hand does your kid throw with?  Are they right-handed or left-handed?

If your kid throws with his right hand, then they will need a glove on the left hand.  If they throw with the left hand, they will need a glove on the right hand.

I know that this is pretty simplistic to start with, but it doesn’t matter what glove you pick out if you choose the wrong hand for the baseball glove.

Step #2:  How old is your kid?  If your kid is 9 years old or older, then you can move on to the next step.

If your kid is under 9 years old, then you will want to choose a baseball glove on these criteria:

• Can your child close the glove?  When you choose the right baseball glove, it has to be closable.  If they can close it, then they won’t be able to catch.
• Is it too small?  Is it too big?  This is a preference.  I would tend to go with bigger rather than smaller.  It is intimidating to try to catch a ball with a small glove.
• Is the glove soft?  If the glove is too hard, your child won’t be able to close it.

Step #3:  Is your kid between 9 and 12?  If not, move to the next step. Then you need to invest in a better glove for your kid.  They need something that is a little more durable, but they still don’t need a specialized glove.  You may start looking for a bigger glove for an outfielder and smaller glove for an infielder, but that is stretching it a bit.  Most kids are still playing a lot of different positions.

Step #4:  Is your kid older than 13 or in High School?  Then you need to start thinking about buying a glove based on their main position.  They are starting to settle into a position and different gloves can make a difference with their success.  Here are the main groups.

• Catcher: This glove is specialized for the position.  It has extra padding and a unique pocket.  It can be difficult to break in with all of the extra padding.
• First Base:  This glove is a hybrid between a catcher’s glove and a regular glove.  It has an extra bit of length for scooping up balls that bounce to first.
• 2nd Base and Shortstop:  You want a glove with a smaller pocket.  Especially if your kid plays 2nd base or Shortstop.  If you watch the professionals, they don’t even close the glove when they play these positions.  They use two hands.  The main goal is to be able to get the ball out of the pocket.
• 3rd Base: You want a mitt/glove that is a little bigger than the middle infielders, but not an outfield sized glove.  You still need to get the ball out of the glove fast to throw it to first base, but you won’t be turning double plays like the middle infield.
• Outfield:  You will want a big glove here.  The outfield is all about keeping the ball in the glove.  When the outfielder is diving for balls or on a dead sprint, they need the extra glove.
• Pitcher:
   You don’t want any open weave.  You want the glove to be closed so that no one can see inside.  This keeps people from seeing the pitch.

That’s it.  If you follow the steps you won’t have any trouble with deciding how to choose the right baseball glove for your child.

I went ahead and linked to some of these items so that you can see what you would be looking for in a glove.

The age group of 13 to 15 are a special group of kids that don’t quite need the specialized glove, but you will need to find something that allows them to play multiple positions.

Step #5:  Purchase the glove.  You can purchase the glove online or in a store.  For a more specialized glove, you will probably have to go online, but you can easily find one that works from Amazon.com.

See full story on theschoolofbaseball.com

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