Breaking in Catcher's Mitt

[catcher22]

When breaking in a girls fastpitch catchers mitt, do you recommend putting 1 or 2 (12") balls in the pocket overnight. One in the webbing and one in the palm.
of course 2 balls would form a bigger/deeper pocket, but would this cause problems getting the ball out of the glove for the transition to do throwdowns.

Thanks for any opinions.

 

[625ender]

One in the pocket. Put the mitt in a hot car of in the sun to warm up and spray it down with Lexol. Then lots of reps. Cheap mitts will break in pretty fast more expensive pro style mitts will take considerably longer

 

[Josh Greer]

I like using just one ball. Also use a wooden mallet the same size as the ball. So you can oversize the pocket a bit, but more accurately than using 2 balls. Also, and I know they tell you not to, I steam the mitt if it needs to be put in place quickly. The best scenario is just using the mitt in practice, catching pitching machine balls on a regular basis. Do that a season in advance, it will be broken in perfectly and steal little life from the mitt. That is a good theory, but never seems to work out in reality for us. We generally have to break them in quickly; hence, steaming. You steal life from the mitt, but sometimes you just don't have a choice.