Breaking in a catcher's mitt

A friend's son gave me his catcher's mitt and asked me to break it in for him. This thing is rock hard and he wants to be able to use it as soon as possible. I have never had to get a catcher's mitt broke in. The friend simply told me that he didn't want to know what I did to it, just get it ready. Only problem is that it is a pro preferred and it has to last him awhile so I don't want to ruin it or discolor it (solid black). Catch with it alot I know but is there a way to soften it up, I know alot of catchers dad's here with a vast array of knowledge in this field. Overwhelm me with how to do it.

 

Well, Aguyyouknow is an expert at breaking in catcher's mitts and rcbaseballfan is too.You may or may not like the way AGYK does it, but it has worked for him for many years...and it has proved successful for him in pro ball.

 

Breaking in a glove

This may seem weird but I have used this on many a glove, including a few catcher's mits, and it has worked.
If it's a preoiled glove I wouldn't do this but here it is:
Soak the glove in warm water over night.
The next morning take the glove out and ring out as much water as possible.
Dry it a little more with a towel getting as much water out as possible.
While it is still damp apply vasoline all over the glove working it in as best you can.
Let the glove sit for a few hours and then wipe the excess vasoline off.
Put it in a warm dry place overnight.
Wipe it off the next morning and begin to play catch.

 

.

 

1. Take a can of non-menthol shaving cream (prefer Barbasol)
2. Pre-heat oven to 275.
Heat glove till warm but not so hot you can not put your hand in it. Take out of oven work it with a ball. Take shaving cream and rub it in really good, repeat till glove softens. Takes me about two days of working it. He does the rest.

 

Pro Preferred

My son has 2 pro preferred catchers mitts right now. both were broken in (by me) the way described above. pm me and i'll walk you through it.

 

This may seem unorthodox but it works.

After the above process, go to your favorite indoor hitting facility, pay your money, get in the cage and catch. Leave your bat at home for this trip.

 

Thank you......

Thanks for the responses guys. After speaking with "aguyyouknow" I am going to undertake the water, drying, and shaving cream application over the next couple of days.

I appreciate all of your help and looking at all the threads in this post, they are all pretty much along the same line so I am confident in the results.

 

Let us know how it turns out?

 

The Result

Well after alot of deliberation and prayer, I put a 300 dollar catchers mitt that wasn't mine in a bucket of warm water for five minutes. I spent the next 30 minutes squeezing excess water out of every stitch. 2 days later the glove still felt like it weighed 50 lbs and I was a little worried to say the least. Finally tonight, after 5 days, it was completely dry and the weight seemed normal. So then I gritted my teeth and began to rub barbasol shaving cream into it. To my surprise, the leather absorbed it right in, just took a matter of seconds of rubbing.

The young man too whom the catcher's mitt belonged came by my house about 9:30 and was ecstatic to say the least. He is going to practice with it tomorrow and play with it on Friday. That is how soft it was!

To each and everyone of you, Thank you. A special thank you goes out to
"aguyyouknow" who was kind enough to give me his phone number for those times when I was sure that it was going to remain 50 lbs and turn different colors. I appreciate your time and help and if I can ever return the favor, you have my name and number.

All I can say is, IT WORKS, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.