Gloves

[mleber]

I am looking for a new glove for my daughter. Primary position is pitcher followed by 3rd base. She is almost 5' 10" at 12 yrs old. Was thinking a 12.5". I hate the gloves with velcro. What are you guys using and what do you recommend or what should I stay away from?

 

[YOCOACH]

DD, when not catching, plays 1st and 3rd and uses a 12.5 Nokona Buckaroo. It's a great glove that will last her quite awhile. If I were to get DD another glove, I'd probably go with a VINCI. Send a PM to casedawg51 on here and he'll help you out. He sells the VINCI line.

 

[nanotech14]

Just ordered dd today a glove smith glove in 12 3/4. But kind of pricey. So not really sure how much you want to spend.

 

[chrispots]

Do you have a budget you are looking to stay within?

12.5 or 13" is right in line with what my 2 DD's use for TB.

10 year old uses a 12.5 Kelley as her gamer with a 12.5 Wilson a1000 superskin as her backup.

13 year old uses a Mizuno Classic Series 13" (outfield), Mizuno MVP 13" (infield) and Mizuno 34" MVP catchers glove depending on where she is playing.

I'm a bit of a glove whore, so I don't really help the situation
Let's just say I have a lot of gloves...my recent addition was an A2000 catcher's glove because my DD and TB pitchers are killing my hand!

On the high end...what I see within our organization and in our indoor leagues (again, the glove 'ho in me looks for what the girls (especially the studs) are playing...

On the high end
Vinci and Nokona rule the roost. Go to the D1 games in my area and these labels rules there too!
Wilson A2k's
A few Insignia's

Median End: Let's say $100-$150 range
Akadema and Mizuno are tops but the mid-range Rawlings are also a presence here.
Plenty of Kelley gloves too. They have a decent presence at local tourneys and a solid gloves. It took a LONG time for us to break ours in!

Less than $100:
In this area, because Dick's sporting goods has a strong presence, Mizuno gloves get a ton of play...However, most of these Mizzy gloves are of the lower end, pig-skin variety.

My 2 cents:

If it was my DD...spend the $ and buy a Nokona or Vinci...in fact, prior to my 10U DD getting her Kelley, that was the plan...she loved the Kelley. In that same vein, I don;t like to catch with her Kelley because of the thumb/pocket relationship...just my personal preference and not a knock on the glove - the quality is outstanding. She uses the G-Pro 126 as a reference.

One other thing, and I may catch some disagreement on this...at your daughter's age, forget about mesh, or superskin or the overall weight of the glove. IMO, gloves have their own "balance" to them much like the swing weight of a bat...to one, it may feel great...to another, the same glove may feel unwieldy. The mesh/superskin to me really sucked at holding it's form. I have a Rawling's 550 series and a Worth TX lite that pancaked inside of 90 days...my DD's A1000 is holding up OK but she only uses that one 1x/week.

My last words...buy something that is 5-6 oz. leather and make it the last or 2nd last glove you have to buy her...CP

 

[Perfect Circle]

SSK.........NIKE.........SKLZ

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have a 10yo student that plays P and 3rd. (12u travel) She got her glove, last month, (Vinci) from Casedawg. It only took a couple of weeks to break in. She loves it.

If you want to buy a glove that she will use through HS, a higher end glove is the way to go.

Consider what we spend on bats and then, gloves don't seem so high.

 

[Westwind]

I have bought several Akadema gloves over the years, the last being a few months ago.

The quality has steadily declined. First one I bought was great leather, hard to break in next was softer. The last was soft like a low end glove. I should have sent it back immediately. Complete junk.

Bought a Mizuno Classic instead yesterday for dd#1, couldn't find a fastpitch Nakona within reasonable driving distance. DD #2 will be sporting a Nakona or Vinci as soon as it warms up and I can work some O.T.

 

[iMlearning]

vinci

Vinci RV1961 for DD at 3rd and she loves it.

 

[James Smith]

12.5 is the biggest glove I would get her, even a 12 or 11.75 should be OK with the positions she is playing.

DD is still growing so I am not ready to jump on the top gloves yet. She currently uses a 12.5 Akadema which she likes.

 

[mleber]

Thanks guys. I PM'd casedawg51.