DECISIONS... DECISIONS... SELECTING THE RIGHT GLOVE. Prince: AGES 9 - 12
Selecting a glove for your child at this age is very important as it is in this age group that they really start to develop their baseball skills. The right glove can continue to aid them in their development during these years.
I will break down this topic into three sections:
Knight: For young kids; tee-ball through rookie ball (Ages 3-8)
Prince: For older kids; minor through major ball (Ages 9-12)
King: For teenagers and older (Ages 13+)
This post is for the Prince age group.
Prince: For kids in this age group, a glove should be selected for a mix of comfort and performance. I recommend graduating from the softer leather/fabric glove that they used in the previous divisions to an "intermediate" glove. As your child ages, the firmness of the regulation baseball in their league will change, progressively getting less "squishy". Kids will also begin to throw harder in this age group, both of which will require a tougher glove for safety.
Things to Consider
Price
While an upgrade (and I mean literally) will cost more than your child's youth glove, this doesn't mean that you should break the bank. Unfortunately, there will be more pressure from peers in this age group, and your child may be made to feel like lesser of a player if they do not have the fanciest equipment. Fortunately, there are a lot of "mainstream" glove brands that have tiered products; meeting families at various price points. At this age, your child is still in the prime of their baseball development and coaches should be moving players around the diamond giving them as much exposure as possible (more on this in a later post).
Size
Glove size is more important in this age group than in prior years but I generally recommend an 11.5 to 12-inch glove for this age group. As your child moves around the diamond and understands which positions they enjoy and others that they might not, this size glove will allow them the best opportunity to move between these positions seamlessly.
Breaking in
As a result of the glove being made of a tougher material, it will be a requirement to break it in. I will cover breaking in a glove in more detail in a separate post, but just understand that breaking a glove in, and breaking it in correctly is an important step in the journey to becoming a good baseball player. A poorly broken in glove will negatively affect performance in both practice and games.
Glove maintenance
Another important part of being a good baseball player is taking care of your glove. At this age, the two worst things that could happen to a glove are 1. It gets lost or 2. It gets wet. Avoid these at all costs.
Tip from the Coach: If you are enrolling your child in baseball for the first time during this age group, firstly, it is not too late to start playing baseball. However, baseball has an incrementally steepening learning curve the older you get, so to get "caught up" to other players who started at a younger age, it will require more dedication and more practice. It can be done! **Read my post on the Knight age group - specifically the handedness tip!**
The Coach "Debunks" Myths:
Finally, to wrap this post up, I wanted to debunk some of the myths surrounding gloves in general but specifically gloves at this age.
It doesn't matter whether I buy a new or used glove. FALSE. It definitely does matter new vs. used. While a used glove will save you a few $$, this glove was most likely broken in by another player and was possibly broken in incorrectly. At best, you are conforming to learn how to catch as the first owner of the glove used to. Not ideal for building good habits and development.
I cannot wear a batting glove under my glove while fielding. FALSE. You most certainly can wear a batting glove under your glove while in the field (the only exception being pitcher). In some cases, it makes sense for your child to do this as nobody likes to unexpectedly catch a ball in the palm of their hand - OUCH! A batting glove will lessen the sting of such an event.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at:
mk.kingofthediamond@gmail.com
