How to Break In a Baseball Glove: 4 Old School Tips

There are many different ways people say to break in a baseball or softball glove. I have my own opinions on this, but one of the newer ways I have seen is really cool. It seems to do a better job in the break-in process, and it saves the user time and their hands and arms, lol.

What Is a Glove Pounding Machine?

A glove pounding machine (commonly known as a pneumatic glove break-in machine) is an industrial or pro-shop tool used to mechanically break in, shape, and soften stiff baseball and softball gloves. Instead of spending weeks manually hitting a glove with a traditional wooden mallet, these machines use a high-pressure pneumatic piston tipped with a ball-shaped mallet head to repeatedly strike the leather. This rapidly forms a perfect pocket and loosens the stiff heel and hinge points in a fraction of the time.

This is one of the newer trends that I've seen in the last couple of years. It could have been around longer than that, but I have never offered a break-in service. The companies that are using this machine will cut their time in half and save their hands and arms over time. They are also able to do a better, more accurate job, from what I have seen.

How Did I Break In My Own Gloves? The "Old School" Way

The way that I broke in all of my personal gloves is what we call "old school!"

Pounding the Pocket and Hinge Points

I would use a wooden pounding mallet and pound it into the palm of the glove, over and over again. Then I would take that mallet and work on the break points / hinge points, and that had to do with how I liked my glove.

I used the Flare type of glove, where the pinky finger and thumb finger are shaped out. When you look at the glove from the palm side, it looks like a V, and the tips are flared out, away from the palm.

Forming the Pocket When the Glove Isn't in Use

Once I did that, when the glove wasn't in use and I wasn't playing couch catch with it, I would put 2 balls in the pocket. Then I would wrap the glove with bands. Even shoe laces will work. This helps form the pocket while you aren't using the glove.

Playing Catch and Warming Up

The other thing I would do is play catch or warm up with the glove. Doing that over time, all by itself, will help the process a lot.

Using the Glove in the Field During BP

The last way I would do this is when we were taking BP. I would use the glove in the field, whether it was catching fly balls or ground balls. Just the use and manipulation of the glove, and then some mannerisms that I had, would help the glove break in a lot.

I swore by using it in the field during BP. Obviously, you never want to make errors or drop balls, BUT if it did happen, it wasn't going to cost you a run or cost your team the game at that moment. Like I said, you never want to have drops or make errors, but if it did happen, it shouldn't be detrimental to you and your team.

Should You Break In a New Glove During Tryouts?

Do not break in a new glove during tryouts or evaluations. A brand new glove doesn't need to make an appearance in one of the most important practices or tryouts of your life to that point. Save the Glove break in for actual practice or while your at home. It doesn't hurt not to use it but you don't want the brand new glove hurting your game. You will get to use it soon enough, you just got to put the work in to get it to that point.