What is the best way to break in a catchers mitt?
543623
neatsfoot oil and a baseball in pocket wrapped with a band ...make sure you use the oil generuosly to work into the leather. The oil not only conditions it but breaks it in so you can catch the ball instead of it popping out.
548088
My favorite is an overhand sinker. Hold the ball with your pointer and middle finger on the top and your thumb on the bottom and the slots facing your palm. Throw the ball over hand with kind of a football throwing motion bring your two finger snapping over the top. The ball goes much faster than a curve or slider and has a sharp, late drop that fools most hitters. Best when thrown in on the hands. \n\nI also like the sidearm riser. Hold the ball like you would for a curve. Throw the ball with a big, sweeping submarine motion and the ball will rise and break across the plate.
999709
As a coach I teach my kids to:\n1. grip the ball across all four laces.  \n2. Plant your throwing foot, step towards your target with your glove hand.\n3. Reach back with your throwing hand(stretching your arm all the way out) Keep your throwing elbow up\n4. Pull your body through with your glove hand, throwing the ball with your arm in an overhand motion(try not to drop down sidearm)\n5. Follow through, snapping your wrist at the end to give the ball a bit of backspin so that it will stay in the air a bit longer.\n\nRelease point will have to be adjusted according to who you are playing with(their height) \n\nPractice, practice, practice and have fun!...use a tennis ball(or a spongey baseball) and a brick wall.\n\nGood Luck!!
1054270
Combination of two things, store the glove in a warm dry place with a ball in the glove. Coat the glove every few days with Mink Oil. The other thing is to just plain use it. How will it fit to your hand if you don't use it?
309883
there are plenty of ways, the one I use that has been most successful is this:\nstart with a two-seam fastball grip. move your fingers in between the seams. When you come aroudn to throw (starting your throw the way you would normally with a fastball) co-ck (they wouldn't let me write it without the hypehn) your rist inward and snap your fingers so the ball rolls off the top of your index finger.\nDepending on your arm slot you should get a movement either 12-6, 1-7, 2-8, or even 3-9. (those movements are for right handed pitchers, opppsite movement is for left handers)\nSometimes this grip is misconstrued to be a hard slider grip, but with the cock of the wrist a lot fo pressure is taken off the elbow.\nWork with it a lot and it should become a very effective pitch.
575769
Start with the fastball, and work on placement and control.  Try different grips, holding the ball across two and four seams (two seams is along the stitching, four is across, most basically).  See how the ball moves, and perfect those pitches.\n\nThen work on a circle change.  Hold the ball with your index finger completely curled up so you can't see any light through the center of the curl.  Position you other 3 fingers naturally, and throw like a fastball.  It'll give you screwball action without hurting you arm, and it'll take 12-15 mph off the pitch, too.\n\nOnce you have those mastered, try the other pitches.  Get a good pitching coach to teach you how to grip them best.  A split-finger fastball (a/k/a a forkball) is a great pitch to have; it dives at the last second.  A curve is okay IF you can throw it naturally without anything hurting.  At 13, though, you're too young to be throwing it.  I'd wait at least 3 years, until your arm grows more.\n\nWith respect to one of the other posters, I would NOT learn a slider.  It's hard on your elbow... you don't snap your wrist when you throw it, so you do more of a stiff-arm with it.  Plus, if you throw it poorly, it gets hit about 500 feet.  If you want to try it, learn the curve first and see how it is for you.\n\nThe one pitch I advise against ever throwing is the screwball.  It is the hardest pitch on your elbow and shoulder, because you are throwing against your body and wrenching your arm the wrong way for the spin.  The circle change is better, has similar action, and acts like a reverse slider to a degree.\n\nHope all this helps... oh, and you may want to see how a knuckleball works for you (2- or 3-finger style).  If you can kill all the spin, you have a trick pitch that nobody can hit.  It got Tim Wakefield to the majors when he failed as a 1st baseman... and got Phil Niekro to the Hall of Fame... :)
411563
Forget all those methods and listen closely.  Your new glove is something that needs to form around the way you want it.  Everyone likes there glove a different way.  Take a ball (either baseball or softball, depending on which sport you play and treat it with oils one night and let it sit for a little while.  After that take it and with that ball you got, catch the ball and close your glove how it feels comfortable.  Once thats complete, keep that form and remove your hand while placing the glove under the matress.  Leave it under there for the night and check on it in the morning.  Reset the glove and reoil again to make sure the form stays.
672273
Well first of all, keep it wrapped in ice as much as possible to keep it from swelling and making things even harder.  Also, before the game ice it again to keep it a little numb. Before u put the gloves on, tape it a little to keep it from moving to much, and geting unconfortable. After you have put your gloves on, even though its not recomended for a goalie since you depend on your reach, tape your pointer and middle finger together, so that it stays imobilized, and that way you´ll protect your finger as much as possible, and compromise your goalkeeping as little as possible.  But keep in mind, that neither your finger will be protected nor will your goalkeeping be unaffected, you must find a half way point, because things will change.  You have to compromise to a confortable point.
692339
kind of a mix of a regular glove and a catcher's mit.  see the link below.
618886
Put paper towels in the inside of the glove in order to remove more of the water and to help maintain its shape. Also you may want to place a ball in the pocket of the glove, like when you break it in, to keep the pocket in the correct shape as well. Periodically change the towels in the glove. Watch it and if it seems to be drying out use some oil on those dry spots, shaving cream will also work in a pinch.
624418
Go to a sport shop, get oil for your glove.  Rub it in really good, and bend and twist the glove to loosen it up.  Then you need to put a ball in the web and tie it up.  Make sure you line the edges of the glove up when you close it.  Put it under your mattress over night.  The next day, cut the string bend and twist it, play catch and repeat above at night again and again.
394489
if they're leather then try soaking them in a lot of hand cream. this is only speculation as ive never tried to resurect batting gloves i usually just replace them. good luck.
428365
First face front, put your left foot backand to a side and then your right feet straight.  Lift your left foot to the front and then stride stright to home plate and bring your arm toward home plate at the same time.  Don't forget you bring your right foot toward the home plate too.\n\nYou have to find your own release point.
938551
The first step is to establish a proper grip, putting two fingers (index and middle) around a seam of a baseball. Then pull back behind your head and during the act of throwing pull down on the ball to produce the rotation, releasing the ball at the proper point.\n(the two links are alternate grips for a curveball)\nhttp://www.hellbored.com/uploader/uploads3/DSCN1761.JPG\nhttp://www.hellbored.com/uploader/uploads3/DSCN1762.JPG
72599
There are several different products on the market, but good old fashioned neatsfoot oil is probably best. Put it on, let it soak in for several days wraped up with a ball in the pocket of the glove (to preserve the shape of the glove). It may take several applications, but it will work like a charm.
1005974
Believe it or not (I work in a baseball pro shop), a glove that you are most comfortable with. Outfielder's usually have longer gloves than infielders do. A good outfield glove for someone your size should be around 12 to 13 inches.
180297
Use the glove a lot.  When not in use, rub it with some glove oil, place a ball in it and tie it closed with a piece of cloth.  Do not use string or a rubber band as it could cut into the leather or leave a mark.