Thread: Glove recommendation for 12U

My almost 12 year old DD just made the switch from Rec + PT Travel this year to 12U FT Travel + middle school team.

She has developed a very good glove and strong arm and will be playing SS and outfield positions this season.

Her current glove is a 13" Wilson Tempest from Dick's Sporting Goods 2 years ago that has done her well through rec ball to this point but needs to be retired, although she still plays it very well even as worn as the glove is. She's not thrilled about switching.

She likes the open back design. Since she will be splitting her duties at SS and Outfield I was thinking of dropping her to a 12.5" glove.

Reading through this forum. I started looking at the Nokonas, Vincis, and Worth Liberty's knowing there would be a long break in process but wondering if this would be too big a switch from her basic soft "ECCO" leather entry level Wilson glove. I'm starting to think maybe getting her into something more in the line with a Wilson A1000.

I live in the south suburbs of Chicago and have yet found a store in the area that stocks a decent assortment of FP gloves especially this time of year.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

SSK J-1000 must be steamed, or find used one.

i've found in my experience..let her find a glove that she likes and is comfortable on her hand..whats more important is the care of the glove to keep the shape and durability of the glove. she doesnt need a 200 dollar glove but 70-100 dollar range she can find one that will serve her well. in baseball you would use different size gloves for outfield and shortstop but in softball a 12.5 or 13 in glove would be fine at ss

I bought a very nice 12.5" rawlings fastpitch glove at of all places Walmart on clearance for $25.00. It's really nice I oiled it put a ball in it and have tucked under my matress to form. She is still 10u but will be playing some 12u next year. I was surprised by the quality. All leather very nice. Nice looking two tone leather as well. Retails at Walmart and on Ebay for around $60.00

Next glove dd will get is a vinci.

Go to Sportstation in Tinley Park, they have an excellent selection of gloves -- right there in the south suburbs.

I stuck with the sub-$100 Wilsons with my most recent purchase, I can't make the plunge to buy a $300 glove to go with $300 bat : >

Thanks for the feedback.

My wife kept telling me I was going overboard looking at these $200 gloves.

Originally Posted by RichK

Go to Sportstation in Tinley Park, they have an excellent selection of gloves -- right there in the south suburbs.

I stuck with the sub-$100 Wilsons with my most recent purchase, I can't make the plunge to buy a $300 glove to go with $300 bat : >

I live in Tinley and stop at Sports Station often. Because of the season their inventory is pretty limited.

I think I'm getting too wrapped up in researching the internet and buying her the best that money can buy instead of just letting her pick something out that feels right and that she'll have confidence using.

I tell you what guys I have played the game forty plus years and have had so many gloves over the years including the original Wilson A2000 XL and top of the line Rawlings gloves. So I have pretty good background with gloves. However when I went looking for a glove for my daughter and needed one that would break-in quickly because she had left hers at a game of mine. She was playing on an elite level team in the chicagoland area and we needed to find one right away and break-in quickly because it was mid-season.
I looked at quite a few gloves out there and kept coming back to the Wilson A440. It's a 12.5 size glove and I really liked the Monster Web for 12" play and yet it has the fastpitch finger stall layout(built for the female hand). The leather was very pliable and broke in very easily. She has absolutely fallen in love with this glove. Well here it is a about 4 years later and I am a bit of an equipment nut and have volunteered to upgrade her glove to either a Vinci mesh back fielder's glove or an Ackadema Reptilian fielder's glove and she refuses to change she absolutely loves this glove. By now this thing is pretty much a dish rag but everyting that goes into this thing stays there. She doesn't even store this glove properly, I mean she doesn't put a ball in it and wrap it up like I have tried to get her to do, and yet it just conforms to her hand everytime she puts it on.
The absolute best thing about this glove is that I paid less than $40 for this thing. I looked at gloves two to three times as much and kept coming back to this one. Money well spent!!! Hope this helps.