Is it possible to stiffin up a "floppy" glove?

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Permalink Reply by Kagan Hudayar on March 9, 2018 at 12:02am

Funny that I cam across this again.  I forgot all about posting it.

Update;

I'm still using and loving this Nokona.  Bought 2 Pro-Preferred gloves 2 years ago for about $700.  One for me and one for my son, who was playing JV at the time (now varsity).  These are great gloves, but simply don't have the feel of the Nokona.  I go out with my Rawlings game after game, and come back for my Nokona.  It just feels like I'm not wearing a glove at all.  Everything sticks, there's no trampoline effect at all, and I never fumble for the ball because I know EXACTLY where it is as soon as I catch it.

Last year, my son made an error with his Rawlings and I saw he was pissed.  Kept staring at his glove.  On a hunch, I went over and gave him my Nokona to try.  He didn't want to give it back after the game.  He steals it out of my bag all the time now.

It's a 10 year old glove at this point.  The floppiness was a problem, but once I stiffened up the finger stalls, it's magic.

NOKONA, if you're listening, take note!  Just add something to the finger stalls to stiffen up the tips.  Apart from that, you may have the best glove in the world.  The leather takes a beating and just gets nicer as it ages.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Stanton on March 9, 2018 at 1:27pm

Wow!  Great update. The baseball glove is a very personal thing.  It's very cool that you found one that fits you so well. I love hearing these stories.

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Permalink Reply by Brian E on May 25, 2018 at 8:41pm

I just came across this post and thought I'd reply in case it might be of use to someone else.  In my experience, in order to stiffen up a glove, the most effective things to do would be to:

1) tighten up the 3 or 4 stitches that go up the center of the thumb.  Use a large pair of needle nose pliers to pull the laces tight stitch by stitch and re-tie.  

2) Tighten the similar stitches in the little finger.  The purpose of these laces is to stiffen the outside edges of the glove - I can usually get an inch or more of slack out of each end.  

3) Tighten the finger-tip laces - pull through with the needle nose hole by hole starting at the index finger and work out.  

4) tighten the laces around the perimeter of the web (if you're glove isn't a trapeze type).  

Typically this will bring back much of the firmness in the right places while leaving the hinge and pocket pliable.

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Permalink Reply by Kagan Hudayar on May 26, 2018 at 2:22am

Good advice Brian.

You could also go the whole 9 yards, and re-lace the entire glove.

In fact, I recently did this to the glove I wrote about above.  It gave me an opportunity to open it up and remove the wire from the stalls.  I replaced them with a very thin thermo-plastic that I could heat and shape as needed.  I also added a very thin sheet of rubber to the palm to absorb some shock.  

Once it was completely re-laced, it felt like a new glove, but still had the same buttery soft leather and feel I love.

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