need advise on breaking in a nokona catchers mitt.

[irishfanrock34]

Just bought a new nokona cm275k catchers glove for my daughter and was wondering if anybody could recomend the best way to soften it up.

[NuNu's Dad]

No Shortcuts! Do it the old fashioned way by catching a lot of pitches. Preferably fast pitches. It will break in in no time.

Maybe Watcher can give some wisdom here.

[Lefty's Dad]

You can use glove oil or vasoline but with DD's nakona, I just made her use it. It did take awhile to break in but mostly because she kept complaining about it and using her old wornout one until I tossed it. It's a great mitt, she's had for almost 2 years now I think and it's in great shape. Of course she doesn't catch everygame but it does get some use, especially in HS ball.

[Joe]

THE best glove...IMO.

[dgorsuch]

Just bought a new nokona cm275k catchers glove for my daughter and was wondering if anybody could recomend the best way to soften it up.

Get a tube of the Nakona glove conditioner. Apply generously, wrap an old ball in the glove with a piece of string or rope over night. It will be soft and ready to go.

[THE MAD-DOG99]

Do you know anybody on the older level teams...?

We had a catcher from the Gold team use the glove at their practices....

Broke in alot faster....

[Realist]

Even better, give it to a pitcher's Dad to use for a few weeks. They will give it back to you in game ready condidtion.

[jofus]

Even better, give it to a pitcher's Dad to use for a few weeks. They will give it back to you in game ready condidtion.

That's exactly what a girl on our team did with the Nokona mitt she got for Christmas.

I got my DD a Nokona glove for Christmas (fielder's glove, not catcher's mitt), and I've been using it for catching her in pitching practice, and it's breaking in very nicely. Every now and then I don't catch one clean and pay for it with a little stinging. I told her she had better appreciate it, but she usually just laughs when she sees me wince after catching one more in the palm than I would like....

[absdad]

The same way you get to Carnegie hall....

And just like dgorsuch said, get the Nokona conditioner. I think it's like $5 for a tube. It shouldn't take long at all if she is using it alot. When my dd first got her 275, she was using it during infield and outfield practice too. Every chance she got.

[Skarp]

I'm pretty sure the Nokona "conditioner" is just petroleum jelly, which is what they strongly recommended before they came out with their own product.

Petroleum jelly is what I use, because it softens the leather without absorbing into the glove. And it has the added benefit of lifting out dirt when you wipe it off. I initially only use it to help form the creases (the flex lines) between the heel and pocket. Then, after the creases are well-formed, it's lots of catch and, my best advice, catching balls off of a pitching machine. With someone feeding she can get hundreds of hard catches and a well-formed pocket in a short period of time. Then, yeah...always store it with a ball in the pocket.

Later, during use, I periodically condition the glove all over with petroleum jelly, to clean it and protect the leather from cracks, etc.

It seems like everyone has a different opinion about how to best break gloves in. I rejected most of the crackpot sounding ideas (soaking, baking, etc.), and didn't like the idea of a heavy, oil-drenched glove, so Nokona's advice was the most attractive to me. It has worked very well for us.