Custom catcher's mitt

I'm currently using a Vinci Forsus 32.5 inch catcher's mitt. I absolutely love it...a great mitt. But I can't help but think that I'd like to have a custom mitt. Have any of you guys had custom mitts made for your daughter's (softball), sons (baseball) or for yourself (if you wanted one for one on one sessions or it you play in a red league or play for a business) and what were your or your players impressions on them? Are they worth it? What are the best brands for custom mitts?

softgabby said:

I'm currently using a Vinci Forsus 32.5 inch catcher's mitt. I absolutely love it...a great mitt. But I can't help but think that I'd like to have a custom mitt. Have any of you guys had custom mitts made for your daughter's (softball), sons (baseball) or for yourself (if you wanted one for one on one sessions or it you play in a red league or play for a business) and what were your or your players impressions on them? Are they worth it? What are the best brands for custom mitts?

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Interested in reading what others have to say. AND - how is the healing going?

Mom_Coach_Fan said:

Interested in reading what others have to say. AND - how is the healing going?

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Hi, Mom_Coach_Fan. I can update you on the healing. The bone and other structures in the elbow are healing nicely. I'm still in the splint and the long brace which is like what you would wear to keep your knee stabile after knee surgery on my elbow. I have a lot of my range of motion back and the doctor says I'll probably get all my range back. Right now they have me working on getting range back using stretch bands and barbells. I'm also doing light, short throwing drills. No more than about 15 feet. We will work in 5 more feet every week until I'm able to throw with no pain. I am also no longer in the hospital and I love being out.

If you like your current Vinci, going with a custom Vinci seems to me like a reasonable path to take.

I'm glad to hear that the healing is progressing well.

I find that people order custom gloves when they really want to showcase a quality piece of equipment - my DD currently uses a custom Vinci infield glove - She loved her name on it, though we didn't do anything too crazy with the coloring (just a black glove with gray laces) the options out there are huge. Cost wise at least for Vinci, there isn't a significant amount of increased cost doing a custom glove over a non-custom, mainly you will just have to wait for it to be manufactured so they can take 4-6 weeks to get in. As for reaction of the team - most the girls that don't have a custom glove, want one at least for their name on it . I would say that on my DD's 12u Travel ball team - maybe 25% have custom ones. And there is never any confusion of whois glove it is when you have a white glove with pink laces and your nickname embroidered on the side =)

Really what you are looking for is what glove you are comfortable with, and then you can order a custom model of it if you want - most of the major brands offer some sort of customization. I'm sure you have read all the posts about the Vinci gloves on this board, and they make an amazing catchers glove - that can be fully customized .

This is Vinci's flickr page - shows tons of their custom gloves, with a good chunk of catchers mitts thrown in there so you can get an idea of what kind of crazy options are out there .. yell if you have any questions , I'm glad your recovery is going well!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/vincipro/sets/72157635737879023/

softgabby said:

Hi, Mom_Coach_Fan. I can update you on the healing. The bone and other structures in the elbow are healing nicely. I'm still in the splint and the long brace which is like what you would wear to keep your knee stabile after knee surgery on my elbow. I have a lot of my range of motion back and the doctor says I'll probably get all my range back. Right now they have me working on getting range back using stretch bands and barbells. I'm also doing light, short throwing drills. No more than about 15 feet. We will work in 5 more feet every week until I'm able to throw with no pain. I am also no longer in the hospital and I love being out.

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Hi, In my humble opinion, the custom gloves offer higher quality leather and better quality. My DD uses a Vinci Mitt. She got it before her Freshman year in HS. We wanted to find a glove that is going to last through HS. So we tried to stay away from low quality mitts and synthetic materials (Again, IMHO) Vinci offers a "Semi Custom" model. that comes in the same leather as the fully custom model, and stitched with her name. You don't get the choose your custom colors, but you get the same quality and made to order quality. Full disclosure, it took almost a full year to break in. But now she is in love with it.

JCV-VM 33 inch Women's Fast Pitch Catchers Mitt - Baseball Gloves, Softball Gloves and Equipment from Vinci

The JCV-VM is available in custom colors now - all the same high quality leather.

And yea- a better part of a year to break in - less if you have access to a pitching machine :0 but, its going to last longer than a bat..

Coach Jim said:

Hi, In my humble opinion, the custom gloves offer higher quality leather and better quality. My DD uses a Vinci Mitt. She got it before her Freshman year in HS. We wanted to find a glove that is going to last through HS. So we tried to stay away from low quality mitts and synthetic materials (Again, IMHO) Vinci offers a "Semi Custom" model. that comes in the same leather as the fully custom model, and stitched with her name. You don't get the choose your custom colors, but you get the same quality and made to order quality. Full disclosure, it took almost a full year to break in. But now she is in love with it.

JCV-VM 33 inch Women's Fast Pitch Catchers Mitt - Baseball Gloves, Softball Gloves and Equipment from Vinci

View attachment 10685

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softgabby said:

Hi, Mom_Coach_Fan. I can update you on the healing. The bone and other structures in the elbow are healing nicely. I'm still in the splint and the long brace which is like what you would wear to keep your knee stabile after knee surgery on my elbow. I have a lot of my range of motion back and the doctor says I'll probably get all my range back. Right now they have me working on getting range back using stretch bands and barbells. I'm also doing light, short throwing drills. No more than about 15 feet. We will work in 5 more feet every week until I'm able to throw with no pain. I am also no longer in the hospital and I love being out.

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Really glad to hear you are healing well!

Drakemir said:

The JCV-VM is available in custom colors now - all the same high quality leather.

And yea- a better part of a year to break in - less if you have access to a pitching machine :0 but, its going to last longer than a bat..

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I'm not proud, I will accept money for my endorsements. LOL. She catches a lot of lessons and even caught 20-50 balls a night from the pitching machine. But we did not have it steamed and only use conditioner (no oils because they make the glove heavier).

We shopped around a lot, but since DD is a lefty, there were limited choices for high quality mitts. The Nokona mitts are very nice, but not available in LHT.

Coach Jim said:

I'm not proud, I will accept money for my endorsements. LOL. She catches a lot of lessons and even caught 20-50 balls a night from the pitching machine. But we did not have it steamed and only use conditioner (no oils because they make the glove heavier).

We shopped around a lot, but since DD is a lefty, there were limited choices for high quality mitts. The Nokona mitts are very nice, but not available in LHT.

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Ive had this same issue too being a left handed catcher. Seems like your daughter and I are rare breeds, lol.