As a longtime player and youth coach, one of the most common questions I get from parents is “How do I pick the right size glove for my child?” It’s an important decision to get right, as having a properly fitted glove can make all the difference in their comfort, ability to catch and throw, and even their desire to keep playing.
The two main factors in selecting the right baseball glove size are the child’s age and position. Check manufacturers’ sizing charts for age-based recommendations, then consider adjustments based on the child’s height, weight, and position.
Focus on Age First
The starting point in glove selection should always be age. Nearly all baseball glove manufacturers provide sizing charts and recommendations based primarily on the child’s age. This has to do with the average hand size and strength expected at those ages. Generally, they will recommend a certain glove size for children at each one-year age increment.
While it’s possible your individual child may be slightly bigger or smaller than average, age charts provide a standardized baseline in the selection process. At the very least, you want to be looking at gloves in the size range suggested for their current age.
Size Up for Fast-Developing Kids
Some children tend to physically develop quicker than others. If your child is tall for their age or has especially large hands, consider sizing up even if they haven’t reached the next age bracket yet.
It’s much better for comfort and control to have a glove that’s slightly too large than one that’s too small and restrictive. Just don’t size up more than an inch at a time to prevent getting one that’s awkwardly oversized.
Position Matters Too
While age is the starting point, the right glove size also depends partly on which position your child will be playing. Infielders and outfielders can typically use standard glove sizes for their ages, but catchers, pitchers, and first basemen may benefit from larger gloves to help handle their specific roles.
Catchers Need Extra Surface Area
The catcher’s mitt is a specialized glove designed with extra padding and a hinged pocket to better receive pitches. Catchers should use mitts sized for their age as a starting point.
However, those mitts often run smaller than standard gloves. Moving up an age bracket for catchers’ mitts usually makes sense for adequate surface area and wrist protection from pitches.
First Basemen Should Consider a Bigger Glove
First basemen may be scooping throws from all directions during a game, making a large surface area helpful. Most manufacturers recommend going one size up from standard gloves for first basemen’s mitts.
This provides some extra length and width for their specific needs while still allowing manageable control. It also adds some extra space for tucked-in balls on close plays.
Pitchers Gain Advantages from Bigger Gloves Too
While not all leagues allow customized pitcher’s gloves, there are good reasons for pitchers to use slightly oversized mitts. The extra surface area and depth helps young hurlers securely tuck away balls on comebackers and dribblers.
An oversized pitcher’s glove also shields more of the arm and wrist on self-defense reaction plays. When allowed, sizing up one stage is ideal for most young pitchers.
Custom Adjust Based on Hand Size
Even after taking age and position into account, the optimum glove size also depends on your child’s hand measurements. The glove needs to be large enough to handle the ball but not so oversized that wrist strength and control are hindered.
Take your child with you when shopping for a glove to get an ideal fit. Have them inserts their hand all the way into gloves they are considering while you assess the fit.
Allow Room for Hand Growth
It’s smart to allow for some anticipated hand growth when selecting a glove for younger players. Children under 12 years old or so often experience growth spurts that rapidly increase their hand sizes.
Choosing a glove that’s slightly large allows them to grow into it over a season or two rather than quickly outgrow one that fit perfectly at first. Just don’t get one so big it causes difficulty catching and throwing in the meantime.
Ensure a Comfortable Finger Allowance
With your child’s hand fully inserted, make sure there is some wiggle room for their fingers inside the glove’s leather fingers. You should be able to gently pinch the fabric over their fingers to verify a little extra space.
If their fingers are jammed tight into the edges of the glove, it will be uncomfortable and inhibit mobility. If there’s tons of excess room, though, the glove may be too oversized and unwieldy.
Break in the Glove Properly
A new glove often starts out quite stiff and unpliable. While you want a quality stiffness for baseball control, the glove also needs some flexibility to easily pocket balls on impact. Take the time to gradually break in a new glove.
Use Steam and Conditioner
One of the fastest ways to accelerate break-in is applying steam and leather conditioner. The steam helps loosen up the interior linings, creating a pocket shape faster. Rubbing conditioner into exterior leather makes it more malleable.
Play Catch Often
Nothing replaces putting in the repetition of catching balls with a glove to mold its shape. Have your child play catch frequently with the new glove to create a natural pocket from impact. The body heat from their hand flexes the leather too.
Rub Your Hands on It
In idle moments like watching TV, have your athlete rub their hands vigorously on the outside of the glove to warm it up. Bending and twisting the glove by hand, such as bringing the thumb and pinky together, also helps. Periodically apply more conditioner.
Take Care of It Properly
With structured break-in and care, a properly fitted glove should last at least a couple seasons as your player grows. Teach them habits to preserve longevity of their important new glove.
Always Wear a Batting Glove Under It
Even minor perspiration from a bare hand can begin deteriorating glove leather over time. Always wear a thin batting glove or glove liner under the baseball mitt to protect from acidic hand sweat.
Store It Correctly
When not in use, the glove should be stored loosely wrapped in a ball rather than crunched tightly in a ball bag. Tight compression can warp the shape. Storing in climate controlled areas avoids extreme temperature damage too.
Frequently Condition the Leather
Making conditioning with leather oil or cream a habitual routine ensures suppleness and longevity. Treat it once a month during seasons and a couple times during off months. Follow conditioning treatments by rubbing the glove and working the pocket.
Proper Glove Size Enables Better Ball Control
Once your child has a properly fitted glove, the right size allows much greater control grabbing balls out of the air or scooping up grounders. Their hand should inserted deeply enough while allowing full mobility without restrictive edges. If sized right, the tip of their middle finger should reach about the middle of the glove pocket.
Gloves that are too small inhibit the ability to use the entire surface area of the pocket to control balls. During catching, undersized gloves often result in the ball striking more palm than pocket. This leads to stingers and difficulty securing balls with fingertip control. Slightly oversized gloves, on the other hand, still allow them to control balls even towards the edge of the surface while having ample room to handle bad hops.
With infielders, having ample glove surface area aids cleanly funneling the ball into the throwing hand pocket after picking ground balls. Outfielders also rely on maximum surface area when tracking fly balls to get their whole glove behind it and pulling it into the pocket. Getting a glove large enough for your player’s hand is vital for allowing full flexible use of the entire glove asset.
Ensure Proper Depth Too
In addition to fitting the width of their hand with a little extra room, an adequately deep pocket is vital as well for securing balls instead of popping out. This may require breaking in the pocket properly to get that formed shape capable of cradling baseballs and softballs. When receiving balls in the glove, players should practice letting the ball bury into the pocket while relaxing their grip to cushion the impact rather than fighting it. Proper pocket depth achieved through break-in and practice helps young players gain confidence in cleanly handling all kinds of throws and hits.
Get the Right Balance of Flexibility and Stiffness
For easier control, gloves shouldn’t be so stiff that they feel like trying to catch balls with a piece of plywood. But having some firm structure helps channel balls fluidly to the pocket as well. Find the sweet spot for your young player based on factors like hand strength and position demands.
Consider Hand Strength Limitations
Especially at younger ages where hand and arm strength are still developing, you want a glove that’s pliable enough for their hands to actually close and control properly. Highly rigid gloves, while helpful for older players, can overwhelm boys and girls still growing arm muscles. There should be just enough stiffness to direct balls into the pocket while allowing them to mostly squeeze the glove around the ball by hand as needed.
Infielders Can Use Stiffer for Grounders
Because of the unique demands like hardened infield hops, infielders can often handle slightly stiffer gloves even at young ages. The extra rigidity helps provide structure for setting their glove hand properly to block shots up the middle or driving down through choppy ground balls while the ball sticks firmly in the pocket.
Outfielders and catchers need more flexible gloves for grabbing fly balls and receiving pitches out of the air with cushioned impact. First basemen utilize extra flexibility to reach for errant throws in stretch positions. Assess your individual child’s strength, skills, and role to decide whether to focus on more structure vs more give.
Ensure Proper Wrist Support and Fit
While hand fit is the emphasis for glove sizing, you still need to account some for the size of your child’s wrist which must slide all the way into the glove’s wrist opening. It can inhibit mobility if the wrist area is too snug. But going too loose can also let the glove slip around on their hand and compromise control.
Ideally you want the glove’s wrist opening hugging cozily around their wrist bone. It should slide on without excess tugging but avoid major slipping during use either. Most break-in methods will expand wrist openings a bit more too.
For positions like catcher which see a lot of wrist impact and torque force on receiving, ensure the protective wrist guard built into mitts properly cushions their wrist with no major gaps. Catchers can wear adjustable wrist bands too to customize the fit if needed. Check periodically that swelling during games isn’t making their wrist area too tight.
Personalize the Glove’s Adjustable Elements
While the overall glove size, determined by factors like hand measurements and age, can’t easily be altered much once selected, many modern gloves incorporate various adjustable elements. Personalize these variables for your child as well.
Customize Wrist Fasteners
Many gloves feature adjustable wrist straps or fasteners to snug up looseness in the wrist area once the hand is inserted. The tension can be customized to keep the glove secure on their hand without restricting blood flow. Try different velcro tightness levels during practice to determine what they prefer.
Double check during games that adjustments are made to account for wearing sliding wrist bands underneath too. Keeping the wrist area stabilized avoids the glove flopping around and balls popping loose on contact.
Tailor the Finger Stalls
Better gloves allow the tightness of individual finger stalls to be tweaked as well. Having finger separation is ideal for digit control while catching balls. But some youth players prefer the feeling of no finger divides as they evolve coordination. Let your young athlete try gloves both ways to determine if they want single finger stalls adjusted tighter or left more loosely as a single finger catch area. Getting the finger stall tension dialed in can help gloves feel like customized extensions of their hands.
Shop Together In-Person for Best Fit Assessment
When my son Dylan turned 8, I knew it was time to upgrade him from his starter glove to something more structured for coach pitch baseball. But browsing gloves online left us guessing at proper sizing. So I decided we should make a father-son day of hitting local sporting goods stores to actually try on models in Dylan’s age range.
At the first store, I had Dylan insert his hand fully into several 11” and 11.5” gloves. An 11.5” infielder’s glove finally struck the right balance of snug while allowing wiggle room. Dylan instantly took to the look and feel. I had him try catching some soft tosses in the store and could see the excitement building in his eyes. We had found “the one” glove to match his burgeoning passion for the game. Over milkshakes afterwards, I taught Dylan the importance of patiently breaking in and caring for his new glove.
Key Takeaway
Promising young players fall in love with the game in big ways when you put the right fitting glove on their hand. Seize opportunities for meaningful mentoring during key gear selection moments.
Gradual Break-in Prevents Injury Later
Eager to flash his slick new glove on the first day of 9 year old Kid Pitch practice, my overzealous son Ryan stuffed his hand forcefully into the stiff raw leather. I cringed seeing his hand badly contorted by jammed fingers and crimped palm. Ryan grinned through the pain but I noticed him shyly favoring the reddened hand between plays.
Back home I gently lectured about gradually working gloves looser through proper break-in techniques before heavy use. Then together we rubbed conditioner into Ryan’s glove and played easy catch for 10 minutes to mold its shape. A week later at his next practice, Ryan’s glove pocket and mobility felt beautifully broken in. With high fives, we marveled at how crisply he fielded grounders thanks to diligent daily break-in sessions.
Key Takeaway
Rushing brand new stiff gloves onto the field before proper break-in can damage young hands and confidence. Stress measured adjustments over days, not forcing instant pliability.
Shared Gloves Can Spread Contagions
When my daughter Abby’s 12U team battled for a travel ball championship one steamy Georgia weekend, reserve catcher Stacy lent her backup mitt to Abby between innings since Abby’s good glove was soaked in perspiration. In the excitement of rallying for the title, I didn’t intervene about the shared glove. Two days later though, Abby awoke with the telltale blisters of hand, foot and mouth disease – a highly contagious virus probably transmitted via Stacy’s glove.
Abby courageously played through painful blisters in the next weekend’s regional tournament, though I shuddered seeing her handle balls all tournament long with open blister wounds. After Abby’s infection finally cleared, I gently emphasized to both girls the importance of never sharing used gear with skin contact areas.
Key Takeaway
Other players’ gloves harbor all kinds of contagion risks to hands, respiratory systems, and immune defenses. Stress to your athletes the importance of never sharing gloves and mitts at any level.
Glove Selection Impacts Position Viability
My talented 14 year old travel baseball son Derek badly wanted to transition from middle infield to catcher. But selecting gear for a new position brought sticker shock. High quality catchers mitts ran $250-$300, often custom-sized with a three month backorder.
Wanting to support Derek’s dreams without breaking the bank, I bought him a cheaper $89 catcher’s mitt online which arrived seeming the right size. But the stiff budget mitt never broke in with ideal pliability no matter how much oil Derek worked into it before practices. Balls plopped out the sides too frequently when receiving pitches during Derek’s tryouts week as back-up catcher.
Seeing Derek dejectedly relegated to infield subs again, I realized investing in top notch fitted catcher’s gear truly made the position viable for aspiring young backstops. If he commits to catcher for next season, we’ll budget right for suitable mitts.
Key Takeaway
Shelling out a bit more upfront for position-appropriate gloves tailored to your child gives them the best tools to validate role changes. Don’t let budget gear shortcomings limit their dreams.
Final Thoughts
Selecting the ideal size baseball glove for a growing young player involves carefully balancing multiple key factors. While manufacturers’ age guidelines provide a general baseline, also account for atypical physical development, fielding position demands, detailed hand measurements, planned usage per week, and anticipated growth in the coming seasons.
Taking the time to properly break in the glove and teaching young players vigilant glove care habits will then help maximize the glove’s usable life as your athlete progresses in the game.
With the right diligence on sizing, breaking in, and maintaining their glove, it can become a beloved companion bonded to their hand as they take their baseball journey. An optimal fitting glove won’t just help them perform their best now, but build skills and passion that last well beyond this season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What size glove does a 5 year old need?
A: The typical recommended size for a 5 year old is a 9-inch child’s glove or mitt. Some leagues don’t start organized play that young, but this size is ideal for very early catch and throwing skills development.
Q: Should my 8 year old use a baseball glove or softball glove?
A: While some brands market “softball gloves” separately, at young ages like 8 the gloves are typically quite similar in design. Either can work. Just focus your 8 year old on getting a properly fitted baseball or softball glove in the recommended 11 to 12-inch range.
Q: Can my 10 year old use a 12 inch glove if their hand measures 6 inches long?
A: Hand length isn’t the only factor, but a 12-inch glove will probably be too large and unwieldy for a 10 year old with a 6 inch long hand. Referring to sizing charts, a 11 or 11.5-inch size sounds more appropriate. Consider breaking in the glove well to account for imminent growth.
Q: Is there a big difference between infielders’ gloves and outfielders’ gloves?
A: For younger players like Little League ages, there actually isn’t much specialized difference between gloves marketed specifically for infield vs. outfield. They player can use either from a proper size range interchangeably. Later on, outfielder gloves may evolve to be a bit longer with added wrist support and pocket depth.
Q: Can my 11 year old pitcher use a bigger baseball glove?
A: Yes, it’s very common and advisable for 11 year old pitchers to use a slightly oversized glove, up to an extra inch or so. This provides some additional protection and ball control
