How to Choose a Baseball Glove

Take a trip down to your local sporting goods store and you might be overwhelmed by the number of baseball gloves on the shelf. Important factors such as the age of the player, the player's position and budget should help you decide which glove to buy. If you don't want to spend all of your rainy day funds to buy a glove, consider some lower cost options. Read on to learn how to select a baseball glove.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Set a Budget Before Buying Your Glove

1. Consider whether you are buying a glove as an investment piece for competitive play or whether this is just a hobby for your child.
2. Select a baseball glove in the lower price range if you are fairly certain your child is solely playing for recreation.
3. Brace yourself for sticker shock if you plan on buying a top-of-the-line glove. Quality gloves are made to last years, made with more expensive materials and sold at higher prices than starter gloves.
4. Check resale sporting goods stores to see if used gloves are available. You can find items in good shape for a fraction of the retail price and you can sell it back to the store when the season ends.
5. Look through the sporting goods section on online auction sites for bargain deals on gloves. Sometimes new equipment is offered at prices comparable to or lower than wholesale cost.

Select the Stiffest Glove

6. Select quality materials such as walnut leather. True, walnut leather is much harder to break in, but the result of your hard work will be timeless.
7. Stay away from preconditioned gloves. While they meld into shape much quicker, these gloves will not last as long.
8. Look forward to a lengthy relationship with your glove. You will need to spend lots of time wearing your glove for it to break in properly.
9. Rub leather oil on your glove, then place a baseball in the web of the glove. Wrap a strong elastic band around the outside to form a cradle around the ball.
10. Avoid floppy gloves. Floppy gloves are difficult to shape and the proper shape is the key to a comfortable fit.

Tips & Warnings

• Select a glove that is specific to a position for the best results. The style of the glove is different for pitchers and catchers, as well as for infielders and outfielders.
• Consider buying used gloves online or at resale sports stores to save money.
• Check online auctions to find new equipment at reduced prices.