How to Buy a Softball Glove

Know what position you are buying the glove for. If the player is the catcher or first baseman (first basewoman) you will need to buy a softball mitt which has no fingers and is better at directing incoming hard balls into the pocket. All other positions wear softball gloves (they have fingers). If your child has not yet settled into a position or it is an adult league where positions are rotated - buy a glove. The league will supply at least one set of catchers gear which will come with a catchers mitt. If the softball glove is being purchased for slow pitch softball there is no need to buy a softball catchers mitt, a softball glove is all that is needed. In slowpitch softball the person who will be catching that hardest thrown balls will be the first baseperson and they may want to invest in a softball mitt. If you purchase a mitt you will also want to have a glove in your bat bag in case you are rotated through another position. If you play both baseball and softball, buy for softball and use it for baseball. The large pocket of a softball glove will NOT negatively effect baseball play, the small pocket of a baseball glove WILL negatively effect softball play.

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, malleable 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. Kids will need larger gloves every year or two depending on your child's growth rate, so spend the amount of money that you want to invest each year. I have always told the parents of the girls I coach that if the girls are under  11 to buy in the 30.00 range, for those that are 11 to buy a Mizuno in the $60.00 range.  Following these guidelines I have never seen the kids have problems such as a glove that is too stiff or incorrectly shaped. (And the parents appreciate having some sort of guidelines as they stand in front of the massive wall of gloves at the sports store.)

If this is for an adult softball player, use $60.00 as the least amount that you will spend and go up from there. You will be using the glove for years.

If you are purchasing for a child, 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 size = 11 to 11 1/2. 13 years old and up are out of the youth models. 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 girls 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 occasional 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.

If buying a fastpitch softball glove search also search for woman's softball gloves as well. The middle and high school players are many times as large as full grown women. The glove will be made to fit the smaller hand which equates to more control.

And a couple tips that have nothing to do with the Softball Gloves:
Pick up a mitt of your own so you can throw with your child. Or find a kid or a neighbor in the neighborhood that you can throw with if you are an adult player. Repetition is the most important way to gain the muscle strength and transform catching from a thinking act into an instinctual act.

Always focus on the positive. As you are driving home from games and practice review the things that you or your child did well. This will 'replay the tape' to place into permanent memor the good play. 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.