It seems like when people talk about advancing the skill of a youth baseball player in their family they always talk about hitting, hitting, and more hitting. Sure hitting is a big part of the game of baseball but fielding is half of the game too. Many people just do not emphasize that part of the game enough to the youth baseball player but they should.
A big part of being able to learn to field a baseball is having the proper glove for the youth player to wear when fielding. There are so many youth baseball gloves out there, how do you know you are buying a quality one? Well, we are here on how to pick a youth baseball glove to help you.
Important Things to Know When Picking A Youth Baseball Glove
There is nothing that sets an athlete back further in sports than having the wrong equipment. This holds true in baseball too and more in particular when a youth player is fielding a baseball. If that player does not have the right size baseball glove on, then that task becomes a whole lot harder.
Here are three very important glove characteristics to consider when picking out a baseball glove for your youth baseball player
Size
I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to a t-ball or little league game and seen a player that has a baseball glove that looks like they borrowed it from their older sibling because the glove is bigger than they are. That is a glove that will be hard for a youth player to maneuver and trap balls the way they need to. So glove sizing is very important. Youth players are better served using gloves that are smaller in length. This means the glove they are using will be easier for them to open and close. This is very important because a youth player’s hand muscles are still developing so they are not as strong as adults.
Weight
You most likely would not tie a weight to your child’s hand before they take the field in a baseball game. Well, that is essentially what you are doing when you buy your youth baseball player a glove that is too heavy. Baseball is a game of skill that requires fast reactions and smooth fielding. A lighter-weight glove will help a youth baseball player considerably in both those areas.
Material
The material your youth baseball player’s glove is made out of is very important too. The general rule here is the softer the leather the better. Softer leathers are easy to break in, take less effort to close and many times are lighter than rawhide and other types of material that baseball gloves are typically made of. Take the time to know the material any youth baseball glove you are thinking about is made of. Having a glove that is made of the preferred material can be a huge factor in how your youth player’s fielding skills develop over time.
If you find a youth baseball glove you like and thinking about purchasing but don’t know all of these characteristics about it. Then take the time to place a call to the manufacturer to find out before buying it.
Youth Baseball Glove Sizing
We just finished mentioning how important baseball glove sizing is to any youth player. Many parents and guardians do not know the first thing about baseball glove sizing, though. Well, once again we are here to help. Keep in mind that every child is different in terms of physical strength and development so it is hard to say exactly what glove size works for every child. With that being said, here is a baseball glove sizing chart that should work appropriately for most children who play the sport of baseball.
If you are buying your youth baseball glove in a store make sure your youth player tries it in before making a purchase. Make sure the glove fits well and is not loose when they try it on their hands. A glove that has many adjustments on it is never a bad purchase either because you can make it fit as your child’s hand grows.
If you buy a baseball glove online that is the way you can usually find your best deals. The only problem with that is your youth baseball player cannot try the glove on before purchasing it. That makes it extremely important for your youth baseball player to try that online glove purchase BEFORE they use it. That way if it does not fit you should be able to return it for a glove that fits your youth player better. You don’t want them stuck playing with the wrong size glove just because you did not try it on and it has signs of use and cannot be returned.
Coaches, store sales personnel, and company reps usually will know how to help you size a glove properly for your youth player so do not be afraid to consult these people as you are trying to decide with youth baseball glove model you will purchase.
Again, it cannot be emphasized enough what a big role proper glove sizing plays in helping the youth player learn to properly field a baseball.
Tips For Choosing The Right T-Ball Glove For Your Child
When you are talking about a youth baseball player that is playing t-ball you are usually referring to a child between the ages of 3 to 7 years old. Needless to say, that is an important period in the development cycle of any youth baseball player. Part of that development is getting your youth t-ball player a glove that fits well and is easy to play with. Here are a few tips along the same parameters as we mentioned above for sizing youth baseball gloves in general.
Size
If you look at the baseball glove size chart above you will see that the recommended size for baseball gloves for t-ball players is much smaller than those of other ages. This is so they do not have to work as hard to open and close the glove around a baseball. A part of having a smaller size of glove for a t-ball player is also to slowly get them used to wearing a baseball glove. A bigger size glove may be annoying to them and discourage them from playing the sport altogether.
Weight
We have suggested throughout this article that you pay close attention to glove weight when you are selecting a mitt for your youth baseball player. That becomes even more important when you are talking about selecting a baseball glove for a t-ball player. Most t-ball-aged children do not have the arm strength to move a bulky and heavy baseball glove around with their arm for hours. So be sure to get a glove that uses premier material that will tend to help keep some weight off it. The general rule here is the softer the material the lighter it will weigh when the glove is on your youth baseball player.
Materials
It’s a lot harder for a youth baseball player to break in their baseball mitt than it is for an older more experienced player. That is why the material a glove is constructed with becomes ultra-important to the youth baseball player. Some rough animal skin and predominately rawhide baseball gloves can be extremely hard for a youth player to break in. Soft leathers and imitation leathers often take little or no time to break in and this will greatly benefit your youth ballplayer.
So make sure you highly consider all of these characteristics before buying a baseball glove for your youth t-ball player.
Final Thought
The advice I have given you here not only comes from my numerous years around the game of baseball but also from baseball experts on our staff that know even more about baseball than me. So when you are going shopping for a youth baseball mitt make sure to consider the advice that was given to you here. It is sound advice that comes from some people who really know how to help you find the right baseball equipment for your youth baseball player.
You also can never go wrong with purchasing any of the very good youth baseball gloves that we reviewed for you. Keep all this advice in mind when shopping for a glove and you should have no problem finding the best youth baseball glove for your child.
