Break-In Your New BaseBall or Softball Glove the Right Way

Getting a new Baseball or Softball http://astore.amazon.com/citizen.titanium.watches-20 always has advantages to it. With the glove comes hope that this glove will bring you better luck than your old one. It brings a new since of entitlement, this glove is yours and only yours to break in and cherish. The problem is everyone on Earth hates to break it in. It takes work and patience, but with my help, I can guide you to the most effective way to properly break in your glove. Follow these steps and I will get you on the field with it as soon as I can. Just follow the steps......

First step after purchasing your new pride and joy is to get an oil that your are comfortable with almost all gloves need oil unless they are vinyl or already oil injected. If your glove is one of these stay away from oiling because it would be over kill and would weigh the glove down too much.

So know your Glove.

Once you pick out the oil you like, read the instructions. Glove oils are like opinions, everyone has one and some vary on what to do. For now we will say you have one that states To best apply conditioner, rub it liberally into the leather with your bare hands. Work it into every area including the laces and the inside of the glove where cracking generally takes place. What this basically means, is by rubbing the oil in with your hands it allows the oil to penetrate the leather for the best results. Grant it your hands get sticky but you know the oil is in the glove good. Do the whole glove including the inside and all the laces, the laces will stay soft and not get hard and brittle. A.K.A. BREAKABLE. The inside of the glove is important because that is where the sweat is. Over time that sweat eats through the glove, this will prevent that.

Second, take the glove and find to baseballs or http://astore.amazon.com/cartier-mens-watches-20 and a shoestring or piece of leather to tie the glove up. If it is a baseball glove, you take the first baseball and put it in the center of the pocket. Then take the next baseball and put it on top of the first ball. Then take the glove and go pinky finger to thumb. What that means, is the thumb should be a little exaggerated that way the pocket is deep not narrow and short. Then take whatever you have to tie the glove tight, I like to use a leather glove lace and tie it threw the middle of the glove. This way the glove is closed with the two balls of inside of it forming that deep pocket. Then tie a not and you are done for the night. The next day untie the not and take a dry cloth to the glove removing any excess oil. Then grab your Dad or a friend and play catch. At first, the glove will be stiff but you need to work with it. This takes some time but in the end, it will all be worth it because the glove will be broken in right. From here, all you can do is work with it, play catch, buy a glove mallet and beat on it or even just grab the pinky and thumb of the glove and tug it up and down repeatedly to loosen the leather.

Tips and Advice

- Go to a batting cage, put a token in and catch balls. (With a Helmet on)

- Buy a glove mallet, they usually have more weight to them, simulates a hard throw

- Next keep working the heel of the glove

- And finally play catch, play catch, play catch......

Things Not to Do

- Dip it in water, sure it loosens the glove but ruins it. That is why you dont leave it out in the rain.

- Bake it in the oven or microwave, ruins the lacing and leather forever!!!!!!

- Run it over with the car

You would not believe all the stories I (Scott Mathewson) have heard over the years to quickly break in a glove while running my Prime Time Sporting Goods Shop. The fact remains that the best way to break in new baseball gloves is the old fashion way by playing catch. Any other method to accelerate the break in process is just a quick fix that will shorten the life of a glove.

Find tips on the game of baseball and my personal commentary at the Prime Time Sporting Good's Coach's Corner for Baseball and Softball enthusiasts. And be sure to check out our article on how to pick out the right sized baseball hat.

Baseball Pitching - Coaching Pitchers to Succeed by Starting With the Basics

The coaching of baseball pitchers does not require a degree in "pitchingtology". There is no such degree to my knowledge. I just made that up. My point here is that coaching baseball pitching is not rocket science. However, having a basic knowledge of the terms and mechanics is a must. Having a commitment to be attentive to details in instruction and and to have frequent quality practice sessions is a good start toward becoming a coach of a successful pitcher at any level.

Here are the 5 basics elements of pitching success:

1. Beginning with the basics and keeping it simple

Let we first say that one of the basic rules on our high school team is that if you make our team, you are going to pitch. Every player participates in pitching workouts until it is determined that player simply can not help us on the mound. Over the years about 75% of our players pitch at least 10 innings during the season. With that said, I want you to know that my philosophy is to keep the terminology simple, the technique simple, and to make the process of pitching as easy as possible to master.

2. Balance is Key

The first thing we want out kids to understand is the importance of balance. Pitchers must learn to achieve and maintain balance from the start to the finish of http://astore.amazon.com/cartier-mens-watches-20 delivery. This is done by learning to keep the weight evenly distributed on the balls of the feet. Nothing happens on the heels. Keep head and body movement to a minimum. The head should stay still. This allows the head to stay over the ball of the pivot http://astore.amazon.com/citizen.titanium.watches-20 and over the body core or center. Special attention should be directed at eliminating any tendency to lean back, lunge forward, or to arch the back.

3. Knee Lift and Proper Stride Leg Motion

The lifting action of the stride leg should be smooth, straight up, and to a point of perfect balance. Make sure that the leg is not swung. The stride foot should go downward and then out. Many you pitchers want to lead with their hip and this cause major problems. Make sure that the leg action is down and out in smooth path. The stride foot should land on the ball of the foot. The stride should be in a direction with at least part of the foot landing on a straight line toward the catcher. Some pitchers will land more closed and some will land more open. The main point to remember here is consistency. A pitcher must land in the same spot time after time. If the landing spot is all over the place, control problems will be evident.

4. Elbow Dynamics

Much has been written and many studies have been made on the dynamics of the pitching process. To keep it simple, we want the following to occur. When the front foot lands both elbows should be up and even with each other on a direct line. The glove and ball may be above or below the elbow, but both elbows serve to reverse mirror each other. If the front elbow is tucked when the front foot lands, then a problem is evident. Both elbows should be extended away from the body in perfect opposite directions from the body to form a perfect straight line.

5. Late Break of the Hips

What I mean by this term is that we want the weight out and onto the front foot before the hip and trunk rotation occur. This late rotation generates velocity. Early rotation causes the pitcher to throw with all arm and will cause arm problems.

COACHING POINT: Make sure that the pitcher finishes low with the throwing arm finishing outside the stride knee. Many young players want to lock the front leg thus pole vaunting or lifting their body up and over the front foot. The stride leg should bend slightly.

As mentioned before, make sure that the stride foot is not heeling- out or landing on the heel. This is a flaw that causes jar and control problems. Also make sure that pitchers set up on the pitching rubber in the correct location. We want right-handed pitchers on the right of the rubber and left-handed pitchers on the left. This makes the ball more difficult to pick-up by the batter because of the increase in angle. It gives the pitcher more plate to work with.

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Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, the "Hit2win Company". Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Dixon is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products such as the Original BatAction Hitting Machine, SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, Original Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, Batting Cage Builder, the American Baseball Directory and the Hit2win Baseball Coaches Monthly Newsletter. Dixon has 5 blogs related to baseball training including the BaseballCoachingDigest Blog, CoachesBest Training Blog, Hurricane Machine Training Blog, Batting Cage Buyers Blog, and the Bat Action Training Blog.