How to Break in a New Baseball Glove

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Did you just buy a new glove, and want to give it that "seasoned veteran" feel? Read this article to find out how.

Steps

Purchase a new glove. Choose a glove that you can fit your hand all the way into and that wont slip off your hand. If you play a certain position, get that type of glove.
Purchase baseball glove conditioning oil. This oil will soften, enrich, and preserve your leather glove. It will also get that sweaty hand smell out.
Get a baseball or softball, depending on your needs for the glove.
Put the ball in the glove, tie it with string, and leave it out in direct sunlight for most of the day. This will get the leather hot and easy to shape.
After you take the glove out of the sun, untie it, take the ball out, and shape the glove by pressing in the pocket and opening and closing it. Throw the ball into the center of the gloves pocket as hard as possible. Repeat this step several times.
Close the glove around the ball tightly and wrap it with the string again and store it overnight or over a weekend in a dry, dark corner away from small children.
After the set time is up, retrieve the glove and remove the string and ball.

Another way of breaking in your glove is by putting it under your mattress while it is tied up with the ball inside. You can put it under the mattress, sleep on it, and take it out in the morning.

The best way to break in a new glove is to simply play catch with it. Everything else is cheating that process and can harm your glove, it takes a week or two, but your glove will last much longer.
Try the inverted glove trick for extra break-in. This can also be used for a makeshift opposite hand glove for skill building.
There are now foams available in sporting goods stores. Apply the foam and lather into the glove. Place glove in a 300-degree oven for four minutes. Work glove repeatedly every which way while still warm for 10 minutes. Repeat this process four to five times. After taking the glove out of the oven for the last time, insert a baseball or softball into the gloves sweetspot - or where youll most likely be wanting to catch the ball. Allow the glove to cool around the ball. This method is akin to breaking in a new glove for six months. Most Glove manufacturers do not recommend this, in fact most say that you should NEVER put your glove in an oven or microwave.
Avoid plastic gloves at all costs.
Rather than buy foam from a sporting goods store, cough up a dollar and use regular shaving cream (not gel). Used it all the time to condition gloves. Cheaper and works better.
Beat the glove every which way. Be careful not to injure your hand.
Throw the ball into the glove repeatedly and as hard as possible.
Breaking in your new glove may take some time, so be patient with the process.

Do not bust up your fingers when beating the glove.
Do not buy gloves that do not fit perfectly at the store. Its like a shoe; buy one that fits when its new.
Do not do any of this with any glove you spend more than $100 on, youll want to actually break in this glove the old way, as your parents wont want to spend $100 on a new glove every season because they get worn out too fast.
Do not let anyone else use your glove.
Big leaguers occasionally put their glove in the microwave to soften it up. The doneness is when it smells like a steak cooking. However, realize that most major leage players also get free gloves and can just grab another if the glove gets too soft.
Gloves are usually kept by outfielders the longest, with middle infielders usually preferring a relatively stiff glove -- middle infielders will replace gloves sooner also because they tend to get their glove dirty faster than an outfielder. There are no rules to the stiffness thats proper for your hand or playstyle, however.

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