for younger plays, which would direction do you like

CoachJD said:

I don't really understand the $300 glove.

I was buying a glove for myself last summer (lost a glove I had for 20 years, and that nearly killed me). Every expensive glove at the store was just...terrible. Ended up with an $80 glove, spent a few days breaking it in (I like a glove super soft/flat so I can use it like an extension of my hand; I realize that this may not work as well for kids who have smaller hands/aren't strong enough to squeeze a glove), and it works great.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority on this, but I've yet to see anything from the gloves that cost hundreds that suggest they're better than a moderately priced glove. Once a glove is broken in, catching a ball is like 95% the person trying to catch it and 5% what glove they're using anyway.

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Actually I'm with you had the same thing happened to my old glove a few years ago inexpicably lost it...looked for a new glove and ended up with a nice $75 glove that works just fine and after you break it in which did not take long it was all good.

It really depends on a lot of factors. How much do they play? Are they going to play travel ball?

I look at it from two comparisons -

My DD jumped to travel ball as a second year 10 - we upgraded her from a 70~ sporting goods store glove, to a Vinci BV1929-L - justification being, going from playing 6 weeks for rec ball, to playing 70ish games a year, plus practices - she needed a glove that was going to hold up for her. Now, 3 years later - she could still use that same glove - even after almost 1000 hours of ball, if not more - in fact she could use it all the way to college if she really wanted to. The finger wells will expand as her hand grows, and there is no issue with quality and long lasting - at worse, you might replace some laces. The only reason we moved her to another glove is that I had NO idea what I was doing with a breakin when I bought it, and I moved her up to a custom Optimus with a proper pocket this last season,
and moved her to a smaller model as she settled into MI.

Now my DS - Just turned 10, not ready to make the jump to travel yet - he is currently using a fortus that he has been using for two years, great glove that is working great for him playing rec ball with a few weeks of all-stars after. I used his glove for the first time in a while to demo some fielding and it was super loose in the pocket- to the point where I had to run and get my glove as the support was not there. The glove works for what he does, but I would never put it through the ringer of 50-75 games a year for a few years - as it would just exceed what the glove was designed for.

The point is - buy the glove for the level she is playing at - if I was going to do a job for 100 days a year , I would want the best possible tools to do that job. Any of the upper end gloves by any of the manufactures are going to hold up for YEARS to come with proper care. If they are not that into it, or are unsure that they might be a catcher, or an outfielder - then a lower option might be best. There are tons of great deals out there for anything you are looking for

CoachJD said:

I don't really understand the $300 glove.

I was buying a glove for myself last summer (lost a glove I had for 20 years, and that nearly killed me). Every expensive glove at the store was just...terrible. Ended up with an $80 glove, spent a few days breaking it in (I like a glove super soft/flat so I can use it like an extension of my hand; I realize that this may not work as well for kids who have smaller hands/aren't strong enough to squeeze a glove), and it works great.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority on this, but I've yet to see anything from the gloves that cost hundreds that suggest they're better than a moderately priced glove. Once a glove is broken in, catching a ball is like 95% the person trying to catch it and 5% what glove they're using anyway.

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The better gloves hold their shape longer, and protect the hand better than the cheaper ones. I can tell you there is a significant difference in glove quality on balls that you dont catch cleanly.

CoachJD said:

I don't really understand the $300 glove.

I was buying a glove for myself last summer (lost a glove I had for 20 years, and that nearly killed me). Every expensive glove at the store was just...terrible. Ended up with an $80 glove, spent a few days breaking it in (I like a glove super soft/flat so I can use it like an extension of my hand; I realize that this may not work as well for kids who have smaller hands/aren't strong enough to squeeze a glove), and it works great.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority on this, but I've yet to see anything from the gloves that cost hundreds that suggest they're better than a moderately priced glove. Once a glove is broken in, catching a ball is like 95% the person trying to catch it and 5% what glove they're using anyway.

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Hey CoachJD, I don't know if you're the minority here or not but I've got to respectfully disagree with you on what you get with a $300.00 glove. I think I've owned maybe two gloves that retailed for that much, of course I didn't pay nowhere near that much for them. But to say a $80.00 Mizuno MVP for example is comparable to my Don Morton horween Rawlings Heart of the Hide is just not true, not even close! First off the leather is just in another world better, the internals are much better, the thumb and pinkie inserts are thicker and stiffer, if the $80.00 glove even has the inserts to begin with, then there's the lace.

Playing 100+ games a season plus practices........an $80.00 DSG glove won't even be close to a Heart of the Hide, A2000, or Kip leather Vinci, it just won't! My DD played on another team in the same organization last year, this teams gloves consisted of.....my DD's Vinci, another girl had a Mizuno Global Elite, and the rest were using the Mizuno Classic Soft that it seems that 90% of the fastpitch world uses. Now this was an extremely good team, only played "A" level tournaments and showcase events. I can't tell you how many errors I saw that were directly glove related! Some of these gloves were just scary! Floppy, pancake flat with webs that would bend backwards on hard hit line drives.

We had a college coach come to our field to run a practice one Saturday, she had all the girls get in a circle around her and had them all at the same time throw their gloves from waist high to the ground. My DD's Vinci and that Global Elite were the only two gloves to hit the ground and stayed open, she told every other girl on the team they needed a new glove, now!! Oh yeah, sorry to hear about your old glove, like losing a dear old friend!

Drakemir said:

The better gloves hold their shape longer, and protect the hand better than the cheaper ones. I can tell you there is a significant difference in glove quality on balls that you dont catch cleanly.

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Tried to click the thanks button 10 times, I guess one will have to do!

thanks for all the feedback. for now I guess we will stay with cheap/midrange. she is just not playing enough yet to justify anything more. duraility not an issue, played rec and one TB tournament this spring, last tournament scheduled for this weekend just cancelled due to low registrations (C bracket).

she really needs to start playing more games.

Drakemir said:

The better gloves hold their shape longer, and protect the hand better than the cheaper ones. I can tell you there is a significant difference in glove quality on balls that you dont catch cleanly.

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Here's the thing: I don't want gloves to "hold their shape." Like I said, I want my glove flat. I want to have full control over the glove, and for me, that only happens if the glove lies flat. The literal first thing I do when I get a glove is beat the crap out of it, oil it up, rubber band it (no ball) to keep it where the thumb/pinky are lined up as much as possible, and then put it under a bunch of heavy stuff. I don't even play catch with it until I get rid of the rounded shape.

A glove is an extension of your hand. If you can't have total control over how it moves, you're not going to use it as well as you can. Having a glove you can't fully squeeze (and if the thing doesn't lie flat, you absolutely can't squeeze it as you should) means you don't have total control over it.

Gambler Bob said:

I vote for getting a good glove. My daughter is currently an 8u player that is 9 years old and I bought her a 11.75" Wilson A2k during Black Friday sales last year. If I remember correctly the glove cost $229 or right around that range. Took our time breaking the glove in and by the time the season started it was game ready. No reason that glove won't last her 3-5 years. My other thought is if she ever outgrows the Wilson A2k there will always be a resale value on that glove, probably around $100.

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I agree with core and I would wait a little bit.

Now to side track this a little bit based on bob's response.

DD has used top quality bats for free since she has been 10 YO. Careful what we buy and can resell them for same price, probably could make money if wanted too.

Is there a used glove market Too? Never bought a used glove and do not know anyone on DD's team that has.

Drakemir said:

The better gloves hold their shape longer, and protect the hand better than the cheaper ones. I can tell you there is a significant difference in glove quality on balls that you dont catch cleanly.

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We need 12 of these, can we get a deal?

quincy said:

We need 12 of these, can we get a deal?

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Absolutely