How to Buy a Baseball Glove

Know what position your child will be playing. If your child plays catcher or first base you will need to buy a baseball mitt which has no fingers and is better at directing incoming hard balls into the pocket. All other positions wear baseball gloves (they have fingers). If your child has not yet settled into a position or is in a league where they rotate kids through all of the positions - buy a glove. The league will supply at least one set of catchers gear which will come with a catchers mitt.

How much to spend. You can buy Mizuno's (and others brands) that range from 30.00 to 300.00. Today's gloves are made with soft, maleable leather that are a far cry from those cardboard boxes we got when we were kids. The $30.00 glove will be less durable than the $300.00 glove, but you probably will not be able to tell the difference. Kids will need larger gloves every year or so depending on your childs growth rate. I have always told the parents of the boys I coach that are 11 and over to buy a Mizuno in the $60.00 range and I have never seen the kids have problems such as a glove that is too stiff or incorrectly shaped.

If your child is younger, be careful about the size of the glove that you purchase. Typically, 5-6 years old need a youth glove size = 10-10 1/2. 7-8 years old need a youth glove size = 10 1/2 to 11. 9-12 year old need a youth glove seze = 11 to 11 1/2. 13 years old and up are out of the youth models. (Reference - Dick's Sporting Goods) They need adult gloves. For a 13 year old and older buy either an infielder size 11-11 1/2 or and outfielder size 12 - 12 1/2 or both. I have seen boys get dependant on one glove when they played an entire season in the infield or the outfield. Buying a new glove of a different size can cause an adjustment period. If they have both in their bat bag and move back and forth between gloves when shagging flys during practice or fielding grounders it can help to keep them fluid as they change positions and equipment.

Conditioning gloves. The new gloves do not need nearly as much conditioning as those we used as kids. An occassional oiling is OK but never put a glove in the microwave or heat in the oven as we used to do in the old day.

Tips & Warnings

Pick up a mitt of your own so you can throw with your child. Repetition is the most important way to gain the muscle strength and instinct for catching balls.
 
Always focus on the positive. As you are driving home from games and practice review the things your child did well. This will 'replay the tape' to place into permanent memor the good play that your kid did. This will help hardwire the brain to be ready to execute the great play again in the future. You want to avoid replaying the tape of the negative plays.