Seeking advice on mitt problem/thinking problem

[Pop time 00]

I'm not sure which it is, a mental issue or a mitt issue. Sorry this is long...Ok, DD has been playing great, blocking like a beast and hitting has been hot lately. She is having one small problem. She's been dropping some pitches. I would say maybe, at most, 4 to 6 per game. The problem is this past weekend all came in the first inning, like 3 in a row and it stood out because they were all together. The coach made some sort of comment, she seemed to settle down and was fine the rest of the game. On Sunday, first inning dropped third strike, which resulted in an overthrow to first, which then led to an overthrow at third, which led to a home run on errors. This from a team that has been playing great this Spring but this weekend, not so much. So coach wasn't happy. (I don't blame him.) he kept my DD in the game though, until the last inning and pulled her and a few other players to get the girls on the bench some time because it was quite obvious we were going home. DD again settled down and played well the other innings. So tonight at practice the assistant coach takes a look at her mitt and tells me the leather is still too stiff and she recommended trying to condition it to soften it up. It's an Easton NE 2FP. She's been using it full time since the Fall/late summer. She suggested she use her 1st base mitt until we soften this one up. I have a real concern with this. Her 1st base mitt doesn't have nearly the padding that her catcher mitt does. She's had thumb injuries in the past. But not with this mitt. So, do I go and buy her a protective glove or a thumb guard and go with the 1st base mitt? Or do I insist she wear the catchers mitt and hope she doesn't drop anything? I like her coaches but I think I disagree this time. My DD by the way, tells me sometimes she has a problem feeling the ball hit the mitt. Like maybe, too much padding? Advice?

 

[JAD]

Treat the glove with Obenhauf LP and then volunteer to catch for your pitchers bucket time during the week or ask a bucket mom or dad for help.

 

[Lenski]

The Easton NE2FP should not be hard to break in. Is it a new mitt? Have you put anything like a cream or oil on it? Can your dd close the mitt?

Many new mitts have machine oil residue on them. I would suggest:

1. Beat the living s#!+ out of the mitt, then form it back into shape, play catch for a while, then place a ball in the pocket and wrap it tight. Let it sit overnight.
2. Clean the entire outside of the mitt with a cloth dampend with soapy water. Wring the cloth out as much as you can and rub the leather as hard as you can.
3. Let the mitt air dry. Do not stick in the oven, dryer, or microwave!
4. Once the mitt is completely dry sparingly apply pure lanolin to the outside of the mitt. An amount the size of a pea should do half of the mitt. Lanolin is a sticky wax that will protect the leather. When done, put a ball in the pocket and wrap it up overnight.
5. Play catch, play catch, play catch!

 

[Eric F]

My DD has had this exact experience with a number of mitts. Sometimes the issue has been too much padding to feel the ball, and others have just been an un-explained incompatibility between her and the mitt. Our most recent time through the buying process, I bought 3 mitts, and had her try them all (justballgloves.com has an awesome return policy). Very quickly, it became apparent that one of them was a lot better for her consistency in simply catching the ball. Being that catching the ball is the #1 priority for the position, this was a pretty critical part of picking the mitt. Despite being a lesser-quality mitt to the others in the running, and knowing it would need to be replaced soon, we went with the one that works best for my DD right now.

 

[Pop time 00]

I don't think it's a break in problem. I think it's a padding issue really. The coach said it's broken in, but the leather needs softened up? She says sometimes she can't feel the ball. (That's why I think it's a padding issue) I think it's being made into something bigger than it should. If they just left her alone I feel like she would work through it. But, my question is, do we go against the coach and insist she wears her catcher's mitt? I'd rather risk a dropped pitch than an injured hand. Her 1st base mitt just doesn't have the padding.

 

[Lenski]

The Easton NE2FP is not loaded with padding. As a matter of fact, the padding is thin compared to more expensive catchers mitts. The Easton NE2FP is an entry level adult sized catchers mitt that is meant to be very easy to use right off of the shelf.

Maybe it's the way your dd closes the mitt. Does she put her thumb and pinky through the loops? Are the loops properly adjusted? If she's not using the loops, the pressure applied by her in the mitt would be mainly her thumb, index finger, and middle finger, which is undesirable because it distorts the pocket of the mitt. When the mitt closes, where is the thumb in relation to her fingers. Would her thumb touch her index finger, middle finger, ring finger, or pinky? Ring finger to pinky is the most desirable. There are many reasons a ball pops out of a mitt. The tricky part is pinpointing the problem.......

 

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I thought it wasn't a great mitt because I got it through her team last year, the lady who ran the program was an Easton rep. I got that glove relatively cheap. However, she likes the padding. No thumb pain or hand sting. Like I said, sometimes with the girls that don't throw as fast she has problems feeing it. That's why I thought the padding was good. Honestly, it may not be the mitt but it might be just her. I don't think switching to her 1st base mitt is a good idea. This really was never a problem before. She just dropped a few in a row, and the coach said basically "catch the ball or I'm pulling you", and it got in her head. (He never did end up pulling her until the last inning, but he pulled multiple players to get some other girls playing time). I really think if last week's dropped third strike didn't end up turning into multiple errors we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I feel like if everyone (including myself) left her alone she would be ok.

 

[Longshot]

If you have any close up pics of the mitt you can post it might help.

 

[Pop time 00]

don't know if this helps

 

[Tom]

Is there any consistency to way she drops balls? ie. coming over the top of web, popping straight out, hitting outer/inner edge and deflecting, etc. Is it any particular type of pitch that she occasionally drops, or from a particular pitcher? If she got a new pitcher who has a good spin and/or movement it may just be an instance of needing to get used to catching her.

If her receiving mechanics are right, you may want to check that the mitt sizing for her hand is still OK and try tightening laces or re-lacing. My DD had same issue earlier in year. Got her a new Nokona last Nov as early Christmas present, to replace a worn out mid-grade Mizuno, thinking that 3-4 months would be plenty of time to break it in. By the time Spring practices started in late Feb. it was (what I considered to be) broken in. Used the Wilson glove conditioner with Lanolin & Vit E (which worked well), and played a ton of catch with it. She could close it, but we could never get it adjusted to fit her hand well so she could close it effectively and easily. The hand pocket is just way to big for her hand (average hand size). Even though it was promoted as being cut for women, my hand fit in it just fine (and I've got pretty big hands). Same thing was happening where she would receive the ball well, but would drop one on occasion and said that she couldn't really feel it. She went back to the old Mizuno (which fit her hand, I cant get mine in it at all) and random drops haven't been an issue all season.

To resurrect the Mizuno I replaced all the laces and double laced the top of the pocket to keep it from folding outward and to help hold shape. I conditioned the laces prior to installing and tightened after every couple weeks of use until there wasn't much expansion occurring. There are places that will re-lace for a fee, but it's really easy if you buy one of those lacing needles available at most sports retailers (they usually come in the lacing package). Also made her get religious about keeping a ball in mitt and got one of those velcro glove wraps that has given it it's shape back. Made sure to show her how to align heel of glove when wrapping so that it doesn't get the fold on the bottom. We still need to get a new one and from what I have read on here, the Vinci seems to be a good option.

If your DD's issue is mental a new glove may help, plus you'll get to have the fun of buying equipment.