Flaring a baseball glove is a process to have shallow, flat pockets in the glove. Though many players don’t prefer a shallow and flat pocket, flaring helps to have a larger catching surface in the glove. A flatter glove pocket helps the infielders to move the ball faster.
Let us understand how to flare a baseball glove to help you enhance your game, as given below.
How To Flare A Baseball Glove?
You will need some materials before you start the process of how to flare a baseball glove. Keep the following materials ready.
- Baseball glove.
- Baseball.
- Shoelaces.
- Glove oil.
- Oven.
1. Preheat your oven
Preheat your oven and maintain a uniform temperature. Ensure you set the temperature at 200° F. Initiate your next step immediately once you complete your preheating. This step is crucial for flaring your baseball glove.
2. Oiling the glove
Now is the time to grease your glove. Since it will take some time, you can start greasing your glove as soon as your start preheating your oven. So by the time the oven preheats, you have your glove greased and ready to be immediately put into the oven. Feel free to use any baseball glove oil to grease, if there’s no specific recommendation from the manufacturer.
If the manufacturer recommends a specific oil, use that, or else you may have the risk of damaging your glove. Apply a small amount of oil to the fingers and laces and also at the back of the glove.
You may use this step whenever you break in new gloves also. Avoid the usage of water to soften the glove. Also avoid regular oils like hair/olive oil or petroleum jelly, as they aren’t appropriate for leather.
3. Putting the glove into the oven
Insert the baseball glove on the oven rack and ensure the minimum temperature is set. Avoid setting high temperatures for a prolonged time. Heat the glove for a maximum of 5 minutes at a time.
4. Review the flexibility
Take out the glove from the oven after five minutes and check its flexibility. If you are not happy with the flexibility, as in the gloves don’t shape up easily as you want them to be, place the glove in the oven again for a few minutes. You will need to repeat this process till the gloves attain the flexibility that you need to adjust the gloves as per your requirement.
5. Stretching the glove
For flaring your baseball glove, work on the pinky finger stalls and the thumb. At one instance, eventually, you will notice your glove has become flexible when you stretch it out. It will be now easy to stretch to shape up as per your hand grip. Ensure to apply appropriate pressure while stretching the glove. Extra pressure may flare the glove more than you require.
6. Build the pocket
Once you get the desired grip after flaring the glove, now is the time for pocket creation. You can simply place a baseball in the pocket of the glove and tie it around the pocket with a shoe-lace. Keeping it overnight will form the shape of the pinky finger stalls and thumb. It will help you to get a well-defined pocket. A baseball glove pocket is crucial when you break in or flare your glove.
7. Repeat the entire process
It is essential to repeat the entire process several times. If you aren’t getting the desired flexibility, reapply the heat till the glove attains the flexibility you need to flare it. It may take several days to get the perfect result you require.
Alternate ways to flare Baseball Glove
Other than the above method, there are a few alternative ways to flare your baseball glove.
1. Flip inside out
Hold the glove with fingers facing up and the palm facing down. Using your first 2 fingers and thumb pull the top of your glove towards yourself. You are free to go the reverse way too, like holding the glove with fingers facing down and the palm facing up. Then using your first 2 fingers and thumb, push the top of your globe in the opposite direction, which means away from yourself.
2. Using fingers to open it up
Flaring can also be done by opening the glove with your fingers and pushing out the side of your glove with your thumb. You can also open and reshape your glove using your thumb and fingers. You will have to practice regularly to get hands-on with the motion and ensure you get a well-flared glove.
Is flaring a baseball glove good?
Flaring is good and will benefit you as an outfielder or infielder. Flaring gives you a flat and shallow pocket and increases the surface area. It helps to have extra space to catch the ball.
Players in the middle infield will benefit more from flaring, as they need to quickly throw the ball in the diamond area. A flared glove helps them transit from glove to hand quickly. The baseman with double play also benefits from the flaring of the glove.
Flared gloves ease your ball through in an accurate way. Due to the large area created by flaring the glove, it helps to release the ball near the center of the body.
Flaring the glove also has its disadvantages. To flare the glove is based on the fielder’s personal preference and position. So, you must flare your glove considering your field position and preference.
You won’t be needing flaring of the glove if you prefer to catch the ball in the deep pocket. Flaring needs to be done following the correct methodology, or else it may damage your gloves.
Do MLB Players flare their gloves?
Since flaring allows the players to catch the ball easily, most MLB players flare their gloves. Flaring helps to catch the ball with the fingers preventing it to rebound off your palm. A few players prefer using curved designed gloves, which help them to catch the ball in challenging positions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should you flare the first-base glove?
The Flaring of a first base glove depends on the fielder’s position. If you are an outfielder or infielder, it’s ok to flare it. Do not flare the gloves if you want to trap the ball in a deep pocket.
Should you flare an outfield glove?
Flaring the glove mainly benefits the infielders, but outfielders too are following the style.
What is the fastest way to soften a baseball glove?
The best way to soften a baseball glove is to stretch the glove to spread it at the outer side and hit the leather with a mallet till it leaves its rigidity and gets softer.
Why do people flare baseball gloves?
Flaring offers a couple of benefits, like the glove, which gets a flat and shallow pocket, which helps in catching and throwing the ball quickly and accurately.
Conclusion
Flaring a baseball is common and offers many benefits. It helps to reshape the glove as per the arrangements of the fingers, which vary from human to human. That’s why you must learn how to flare a baseball glove as it helps the players to enhance their performance.
To go for flaring or not is a personal choice and mainly depends on the fielder’s position. If a fielder wants to trap the ball in a deep pocket, he should avoid getting the glove flared. There are a few procedures to flare your baseball glove.
And if you don’t want to do it on your own, you can buy a pre-flared glove online.
