breaking in a catcher's mitt

[hen]

Do you guys have a preferred way to break in a deep pocket for a fastpitch catcher's mitt?

The other day one of the players asked what was wrong as she kept having balls pop out of her mitt. It's a season old Wilson A2000 and her dad had been pounding it in the pocket and heel to soften it but to her a lot of catches just didn't catch solidly. After some questions I noticed that she had shifted her fingers over towards the middle of the mitt by one finger slot (she goes index finger out). That combined with how she closed the glove (thumb to index/middle instead of thumb to ring/pinky) to me, made the bottom of the pocket protrude out a bit and made it so the ball wouldn't sit deep in the pocket and consistently catch with that satisfying thwack. She has since gotten her fingers in the right slots and it's helping, but I was wondering if there was some secret to getting that deeper pocket. Btw, loosening the strings isn't an option as it's a closed web design.

 

[marriard]

Apart from the normal standard methods, the best way is for her to go catch her pitcher's pitching lessons. That way they get lots of catches and a lot of pounding. A few weeks of these and problem solved.

Also it is great for the pitcher/catcher combo as not only they get in sync but they also get to hear what the PC is trying to get the pitcher to work on.

 

[guero_gordo]

Closed-web will only go so loose, but helpful dads do sometimes over-tighten the laces. Never mind how I know this. ;-)
IIRC the web then has about as much give as a garage floor.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I bet that she has moved her fingers over, because she feels that there is something wrong with the pocket. Or does she wear her fielder's glove like that? (It is acceptable, by the way.) Have her wear the glove to play catch in for warming up and at home, too. Do you have a hitting facility, where she could go in and catch 100 balls?

 

[starsnuffer]

Her hands might be too small to play with the index finger out. Check to see if the glove is high on her hand and if it wears better when she puts her finger in. This is a very common issue for the regular A2000 fielders mitts with girls. I don't have a wilson catchers mitt handy to check.

You can also have her catch a batting machine. Once she can catch the rubber machine balls, regular softballs are cake.

-W

 

[hen]

Thanks for the suggestions guys (and gals). She actually has med-large hands as they're are big if not slightly bigger than mine and I just measured mine at 7" middle finger to wrist. I actually thought ahead to ask why she had her fingers that way and she replied that there were 3 slots for 3 fingers. The mitt has 3 slots (as viewed from the back of the glove) but the ring and pinky share a slot with the pinky in one of the sleeves like the thumb.

We've gotten her to use her mitt for warmup and bullpens but never thought to use a pitching machine. Just to be sure, there's nothing bad about it right? Machine balls vs glove, pocket, hand etc...

 

[starsnuffer]

No, the balls are a bit heavier but if you turn the machine down about 5mph from where her pitcher usually is, the impact is the same.

You don't mention how old she is in your post, but generally for training catchers with machines (you can use it to teach them blocking too) 40mph for 12u, 45mph for 14u, and 50mph for 16u with machine balls is good, you can adjust up or down from there.

You can also have the teams pitchers practice round robin to her, IE line up 3-4 pitchers and have each throw one pitch and move to the back of the line, all to the same catcher. She gets more reps this way and sees more pitches. She'll get used to catching the ball instead of anticipating the pitcher this way.

-W

 

[chazbz1]

How old is your catcher hen? Just confirming this is a Wilson A2403FPCM11-SS A2000? (The black one)

 

[hen]

She just finished 9th grade.. 14/15? She can definitely hold her own though. She really wants the glove to work because the family spent a good amount of money for the glove.

Chaz, I think it may be an earlier model, more like this: Amazon.com: Wilson A2000 ZCM 33" Fastpitch Softball Catchers Mitt - Right Hand Throw: Sports & Outdoors

We'll try out the pitching machine to get the most reps into the mitt. Thanks everyone and if you can come up with any other suggestions/tips please keep em coming!

 

[CPSBDad]

DD has a Nokona Buckaroo series catcher's mitt. She had the same problem of the ball bouncing out of the mitt. We went with another mitt she had and she started to hold on to the ball better. The Nokona is very smooth in the pocket so I wonder if the smoothness and the spinning of the ball had something to do with it. The Nokona is being used by a HS catcher for now to help break it in better. BTW, the mitt my DD is using is Louisville Catalyst. It's softer in the pocket and and more rough than the Nokona, if that makes any sense. The ball sticks in the pocket.