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.
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.