How protective should a catcher be of her mitt?

[UB40]

I know nothing about being a catcher, and the use of their equipment. DD said her school HC picked up and used her mitt a few times during practice (without asking her). She doesn't like him putting his bigger hand in her mitt. Her hands are on the smaller side.
Is it reasonable for her to say her mitt feels different after he uses it?

 

[Cannonball]

Ok, so I never let anyone put my glove on when I played and I will never put a player's glove on.

 

[The Man In Blue]

It sounds petty, but yes, it is totally reasonable that her glove feels different.

Catchers are some of the most protective people of their equipment. Part of the personality traits that draw a person to catching. I still have the mitt I got when I was 12 and used it the whole time I caught my daughter at pitching lessons.

 

[Lozza]

Holy hell I would LOSE it if someone picked up my glove and used it! I *moght* let someone borrow it but honestly? It’s just not done.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Not petty!
He’s an adult, he should have the common sense to keep his bear paws out of a girls glove / mitt!

 

[sjw62000]

I concur with ANNASDAD. Not petty. Bats are a different matter, but mitts are sacred. Also, from a catchers point of view, the thing we are asking them to do requires that they feel secure in their equipment and the first part of that is the security they get from trusting their glove; it's the first line of defense.

 

[chardrok]

My DD doesn't want anyone else on her team including coaches using any of her catcher's gear at all including her mitt. We're talking real fire, brimstone, wrath of a woman type of reaction here. She won't say anything, she'll just boil until we get in the car later. In fact, if she allows someone to borrow a piece of her equipment, it's a huge statement as to how my daughter feels about that particular girl. She's not nearly as protective of her bat or her fielders glove, but her catcher's kit goes into battle with her.

That being said, she will let me use her glove playing catch or warming up and has never thought it felt different afterwards.

 

[Fluid Fastpitch]

I'm a woman, a player, a coach with smallish hands. There have been times where I've let people with bigger hands borrow my glove and I always regret it. It does feel stretched afterward, and can even be a safety issue imo as you lose some feel and control. I've been annoyed when I've let people borrow it. I'd be downright p!ssed if someone helped themselves. And I'm a super-chill person about most things.

 

[Rolling Hard]

So coaches if you need to warm up the pitcher between innings use your own damn glove. Better yet, send out the sitting catcher.

 

[softgabby]

I am majorly protective of my catcher's gear and I include my glove and my shields as part of my gear. I'm a small player for my position (I've grown a little since I started posting on here back in 2016 going from 4'10" to 5'2" and going from a little over a hundred pounds to now weighing 140 pounds) and it's important that my equipment fit me like a glove. Thankfully, since I'm a lefty, I'm not as likely to have my glove just borrowed without my permission. But I remember we had a coach with freakishly large hands. He's a lefty and he didn't have his catcher's glove with him. So he went into my bag and grabbed my glove knowing I'm a catcher and a lefty. I'm already protective of my catcher's gear and being that time of the month left me particularly moody and I too am a chill girl. I was hot when I saw him using my glove. I didn't scream at coach but let him know I didn't like him just borrowing my gear without asking me first.

But, I'm usually pretty chill when it comes to teammates wanting to raid my snacks, borrow my fielder's mitt or borrow a bat or a bat weight. But my catcher's mitt didn't feel right until I had a chance to pound it back into shape with my glove mallet and using glove oil at home.