catchers mitt

Question
Hi,  My son is 10 and has played both rec and travel baseball since he was little.  He tried the catcher's position a few weeks ago and loved it.  We wanted to get him a mitt to practice the position, but need to know how to pick the right one.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we don't want to buy another one a few months down the road because we were not informed.  Thank-you,  Lori

Answer
Hi Lori,

Catching is not exactly my specialty as my background was more as a pitcher and other positions.  However, I have heard some good things about a few catcher's mitts and will pass this on.

Popular catcher's mitt choices include All Star Pro edition, Rawlings Pro Preferred, and Akadema.  Of these, All Star offers a good product that is made from a high quality leather, but it tends to be slightly bigger than other mitts.  Depending on one's personal preferences, this may be a plus or a minus.  I would suggest you have your son go to a sporting goods store and try out a few different types and opt for the one he likes the feel of the most.  If he likes the feel of the glove initially, the odds are good that he will like it later on as well.  

Also, I would not worry too much about this decision as baseball players go through equipment very quickly at this age.  In a couple of years, he will have outgrown his current equipment and be needing larger gloves, bats, etc.  Don't be too concerned about getting the best equipment now as their will be plenty of time later on to buy top of the line equipment while he is playing in middle school and high school.  Better to save this money now when you can as you will be likely paying good money on baseball lessons and equipment in the future.  

Hope this helps and good luck to your son with upcoming season.

Best,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com