Finger In, Finger Out, or double up - What Do You Prefer?

[docglov]

not to hard to tighten back on your glove if you want I will tell you what to do

Bob

[RedSoxFan81]

Hmmm, I have been wearing my new glove as I break it in with the ring/pinky fingers in the pinky stall and with my pointer finger out the way david wright and utley do. I think I am going to wear it like this.It definitely gives me better snap action like previously mentioned for closing the glove.The other thing I like is it seems to make backhands easier. Wearing it this way allows me to wear the glove further off my hand increasing my range, but also making it a lot easier to catch those balls that hit directly in the palm and sometimes want to not stay in and squeeze out when you close the glove.I'm gonna try and take a number of infield practice sessions w/ this technique of wearing the glove and see what results I get.

[glovefan]

In my gloves i have always had two in the pink. my first glove which was a glove my dad bought for himself was an older heritage rawlings and he shifted his fingers in the glove so when i convinced him to let me use it it naturally went on my hand like that because the pinky looop was tightened around the pinky and the ring finger was put next to it in the pinky stall. when i was about 12 i got a pro perferred and i could barely move or close it at all. to make it easier i shifted to two in the pinky and that helped and my hand was small so i figured why not put two in the ring finger slot as well. the glove was a little snug but i liked that i could close the glove easier. i broke it in this way and the finger stalls just expanded to fit my hand as i grew. 4 years later the glove still fits well like that and feels wierd to use it with my fingers in that particular glove any other way. Older with bigger hands, that way is not as easy or comfortable with a new glove. Now with a custom glove i have the finger hood over the middle finger slot with just the two in the pinky hole ( like in the first picture in the post) since i am a pitcher but even when i play infield i still stick with the two shifted method. For me the one exception is certain gloves that have been broken in previously and just feel right with the standord finger configuration.
Glovefan

[wjr953]

For me, it depends on the glove. I have never tried the pinky/ring finger together in the pinky slot, I may try that the next time that I play catch with one of my older gloves. As far as the index finger out, I usually do that on gloves that feel comfortable with it out. I tried it with my Nokona AMG650CW, and it didn't really feel right, so I went back to the conventional five fingers in approach. I always use index finger out anytime I'm using a catcher's mitt. I learned to do that catching in LL, many years ago. I had so many problems with my palm swelling (right at the raised part of the palm, just below the index finger)when catching one of our pitchers, that I had to make some kind of adjustment. I tried using a protective pad for a while, but I felt that I couldn't control the ball in the mitt as well. Seemed like the pitch would hit that sponge and just want to jump out of the mitt. That's not good for a catcher, for sure. I recently purchased an Akadema Reptilian Series (AXX21), which is designed to have 3 fingers in the pinky slot (it's made extra wide for that purpose), and the index finger goes into what would have been the ring finger slot. I haven't had a chance to play catch with this one yet. It's designed that way to help the fielder by allowing more power in the closing action. We'll just have to try that one out. It feels very different on your hand, I can tell you that.


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[wjr953]

On a little bit of a side note, I know some of the people on this forum also umpire. For anyone that does LL games, have you noticed more catcher thumb injuries in the last few years? I've noticed that the newer mitts have a hinge that helps the mitt to close better around the ball. However, what happens with LL aged catchers is that they tend to relax their hand inside the mitt, and this pulls their thumb forward, basically pointing at the pitcher. When the pitch hits the mitt in that spot, the catchers' thumb ends up getting jammed and it's a very painful injury. When I coached (8/9 yr olds) the last two years, I tried to teach our catchers to hold their catching hand fully open, with the thumb basically pointing towards 1B. This little change eliminated all of our catchers' thumb injuries. We're still working on the shift/block training to prevent low pitch passed balls, but it takes a couple of years to develop a good catcher. Sorry to get off topic here.

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[DT]

As far back as I can remember, I've always played with my index finger out and all other fingers in the correct stall. Sometimes I try putting my index finger in, or doubling up the pinky and ring-finger, but like others have said, it feels unnatural.

I guess it all comes down to whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

[Cowboy7130]

On a little bit of a side note, I know some of the people on this forum also umpire. For anyone that does LL games, have you noticed more catcher thumb injuries in the last few years? I've noticed that the newer mitts have a hinge that helps the mitt to close better around the ball. However, what happens with LL aged catchers is that they tend to relax their hand inside the mitt, and this pulls their thumb forward, basically pointing at the pitcher. When the pitch hits the mitt in that spot, the catchers' thumb ends up getting jammed and it's a very painful injury. When I coached (8/9 yr olds) the last two years, I tried to teach our catchers to hold their catching hand fully open, with the thumb basically pointing towards 1B. This little change eliminated all of our catchers' thumb injuries. We're still working on the shift/block training to prevent low pitch passed balls, but it takes a couple of years to develop a good catcher. Sorry to get off topic here.

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Hey, that happened to my kid about four years ago! He started two games as a catcher at age 9 in the 9-10 minor leagues. But after the second inning of the second game he wouldn't go back to catcher, and the coach took him out. Turns out he was catching the ball incorrectly, as you described. The coach didn't have any other positions for him; the manager's kids and the coaches' kids pretty much hogged up the good positions! Well, at least the ones he could play adequately ... so the bruised thumb turned him from a starter into a mandatory two-inning guy ... and he never liked playing baseball again!

[wjr953]

Cowboy,
I coached LL baseball for 14 years, and umpired for 8 years before I finally stepped aside for the younger guys. I wish I could tell you that your son's story is one that I hadn't heard before. It isn't. I really hate it that some coaches put winning and their own personal agenda before the best interests of the kids. It happens over and over and over again in youth sports, and each time that I see it, it gets more sickening and more tiresome. I have always tried to teach my players the nuances of the game of baseball from the ground up, all the while motivating them to achieve bigger and better things both on and off the field. My end objective always was to help these kids to challenge themselves and to develop a passion for this game that I love, and to learn something about life in the process. When all is said and done, most kids won't even remember whether they won or lost. What they will remember is who their teammates were and whether or not they had fun. My Dad also coached LL for 30 years, and I learned an awful lot from him. He had also seen more than his fair share of this scenario played out many, many times. One thing that I did learn from him was this: If a manager or coach looks you in the eye and tells you with a straight face that he is "in it for the kids" RUN, don't walk in the opposite direction because what that person is telling you is the farthest thing from the truth. Good managers/coaches and truly knowledgeable baseball people prove their worth through their actions, not their words. They don't need to hold up their lifetime won/lost records to prove themselves to anyone. Instead, they see the kids that played for them, that are still playing past LL age, and they're loving every minute of it . They smile a knowing smile, because they know that they played some small part in that players' life. Why some adult coaches don't get this is beyond me. The best thing that I could ever say about another coach or manager at the youth level is that this person "gets it". They get it, they understand what's truly important in all of this. The bottom line in youth sports is simply this: It's never been about just winning at all costs, and it never will be. It's not about the personal glory of adults, and it was never supposed to be. If adults don't understand these very basic principles, then they really have no business being involved in youth sports, period.

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[dwags4him]

As far as I know, there is no easier way to break in a glove with a nice pocket area than doubling up.....I double up with no finger out.....later I will move the index finger over as I see fit....

For example, my 12" A2000 XLC is worn normally for pitching or third base in baseball...

But, I'll use the fingers doubled up to play OF or 3B for 12" softball

It offers a nice way to expand the usefulness of one glove into two.

[Buzzer]

I usually use the finger out position when im in the infield and the double up position when im outfield as I feel it extends my reach a bit.

[robin_buckeye]

My Dad taught me to use two in the pinky stall so that I could get more leverage when I was a kid. That's been my habit ever since. It just feels weird to me to have a finger in every stall.

For a while, I tried using two in pinky and index out for pitching, SS, 3rd base and outfield but one finger in every stall for 2nd. At the time it seemed to me that I could make the dp transfer quicker. I gave that up eventually and now I use two in pinky and index out for everything -- doesn't seem to affect the dp.

[RedSoxFan81]

Now wait, I know Utley and Wright do the pinky and ring finger in the pinky stall and leave the index finger out. My question is where do they put their middle finger? Do they continue to put it in the middle finger stall? or do they slide it over and put it in the ring finger stall since it is no longer occupied?

[Mike_2007]

you slide it down to the ring finger stall

[swingman]

Yup just slide one finger down.

I can only do this with my 11.25 gloves. Can't do it with anything bigger.

[RedSoxFan81]

K, thanks for explaining. The one thing I really notice especially for softball, is on any backhand ball that happens to hit square in the palm area will want to stick and won't tend to squeeze out when I am doing the double up method. If I do the traditional method the glove closes more along the diagonal of the palm and will want to squeeze out on occasion.