There is still snow on the diamond, and if you got a new glove in the off season, you might be wondering if you can break it in or do the glove conditioning yourself before game time.

The answer is yes, but with a caveat – should you?

A brand new glove can sometimes feel like it will never properly break in. It’s stiff and you can’t catch like you are used to – balls are bouncing out of the pocket. It can be frustrating.

But ProRollers has a solution! We can handle your glove conditioning in no time – so you don’t lose time when that first pitch is thrown.

Our glove conditioning ensures that your glove is in peak condition before the first game, making it feel like an extension of your hand that has been there for years. Let’s face it: Nothing beats the feeling of a well-conditioned glove!

Our ProRollers professionals have glove conditioning down to a science. Here’s how we make your new glove feel like your old favorite.

  1. We have the right tools for the job. Our experts have access to six different glove shaping mallets in our shop, as every glove needs something different. We know your glove is unique so it gets special treatment as well. We use each specially designed mallet to either break down each glove at its specific flex points, form a pocket or help break in the palm with a weighted head. This specific working of the leather increases the effectiveness of the manual labor process. Since every glove is built differently, this is where our knowledge and experience comes into play. The forming of the leather on the these proper crease points while holding the integrity of the rest of the glove is the key to success. This process is completed in 4-5 sessions over the next 2-3 days. Working the gloves by hand along with our conditioning is the key to proper break in.
  2. Leather hydration is key. We apply a small amount of specially formulated glove conditioner to the leather and laces, both inside and out. This conditioner will be absorbed by the glove’s pores which helps keep the glove in top condition all year. This extra conditioning step will help by keeping dirt and debris out of the newly stretched out leather pores. Hydrating the leather will also help the glove last longer as it will resist absorbing water which can lead to early dry rot.
  3. We achieve proper form. To get that perfectly formed pocket, each glove has 100 weighted baseballs caught in the web helping form the pocket and laces. Once the glove has a nice pocket formed, we need to make sure the glove maintains it true form as it gets back to you. After the glove conditioning process is completed, we put a ball in each glove and wrap them up with rubber bands prior to shipping them back to you. This ensures the glove holds its form. We take these extra steps to ensure the full effects of our break in process.

PROROLLERS

At ProRollers, we don’t want any athletes playing with an unconditioned glove, so we take these steps to ensure that each glove we handle is properly broken in and conditioned – and ready for that double play. Contact us today to learn more.