How to Break in a Baseball Glove the Old-Fashioned Way

Related Links

Informative Articles

A Review of Popular Baseball Bats
Choosing the right baseball bat is as important as batting technique or selecting the right pitch to blast over the center field fence. There are many different kinds of bats designed for Little Leagues, Senior Leagues, college, and pros. Each...

Could Baseball Ever Return to the City of Saints?
It became official on September 29, 2004 - Major League Baseball's run in Montreal was coming to an end after 36 seasons. On that day, the announcement was made that the Montreal Expos were moving to Washington, D.C., beginning with the 2005 season....

How to Break in a Baseball Glove
Baseball gloves are available in almost every size, color and material known to man. Traditional gloves are made from leather or faux-leather and more recently from buffalo and kangaroo hides. No matter what the material, baseball gloves need to be...

Plan to Succeed - As a Baseball or Softbal Coach!
If it's so easy to coach youth baseball and do it well, why do you see so many poor coaches? In my years as a player and as a coach, I can tell you that my opinion of poor coaching can be simply boiled down to: A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND A LACK OF...

Three Ways to Destroy Your Ability To Compete-Quickly!
If you want to become the kind of athlete that people always talk about in terms of "potential" rather than results, following the following formula: 1. Focus on that which you are scared of In the world outside of sports, a common...

How to Break in a Baseball Glove the Old-Fashioned Way

You learn how to break in a baseball glove as soon as you're able to hold a baseball mitt with one hand. It was a tradition in my family each winter. Come late October or early November, after the leaves had already fallen and been raked up and when the air smelled like peanut butter and jelly, my dad would take me down into the garage.

With a secret batch of ingredients, a few old stained rags, and our elbow grease, we set to work breaking in a new glove so it would be ready to play catch come April.

Everybody's dad probably has their secret formula for what ointments, homespun compounds, and techniques used. Whatever the means, the ends justify the means. A broken in glove means that is has been softened up, adding flexibility and comfort. Besides the soft leather, a broken in glove also has a worked-in pocket.

Of course, experts out there will tell you that your dad's baseball glove alchemy was all hokuspokus. They'll tell you that there are no secrets on how to break in a baseball glove. The best and more commonsense way to do it is to simply apply oil that's specifically

designed for this purpose. Make sure to rub the glove oil on every glove part, including the inside and the laces.

This oil helps the glove stay moisturized so it won't dry and crack. The glove webbing will also not come loose. Best of all, according to the experts, this oil won't damage the glove, whereas many other compounds will.

The other compounds include everything that only a dad could come up on how to break in a baseball glove. There's foam shaving cream, Vaseline, saddle soap, mink oil, or tanners glove oil. Some secret glove recipes even call for you to put the glove in the oven for a few minutes to bake in the foams and oils. Whatever you choose - your dad's family tradition or modern science - hopefully you'll find your glove soft and ready to play come springtime.
About the Author

Adrian Mybo is the owner of http://www.melayuboleh.org/ - Almost everything that matters. He writes to amuse and iritate his readers. Read more Baseball articles at Mybo!