Condition

Baseball gloves, are made with leather and other similar materials and will crack and tear during the breaking in process if not conditioned properly. You can soften the leather of your glove by applying glove oil or cream to the surface of the glove.

Any glove oil will do. Apply a coating of glove oil to your baseball glove. You can apply it directly with your bare hands or use an application pad. Remember, less is more when it comes to glove oil.

Once you have worked the oil into all of the nooks and crannies, wipe it down with a towel to remove any excess oil.

After breaking in the glove it is a good idea to condition your glove once per baseball season. If at any time your glove feels dry condition it again with oil.

Shaping

To shape the glove place a ball inside the pocket of the glove and secure it using large rubber bands. You want to close the glove over the ball with the rubber bands.

Once you have wrapped the ball in the glove place the glove inside a bag and leave it out over night.

Breaking iYou can either use a mallet to break in the baseball glove or you can use a baseball. I recommend using the mallet as it is much easier to strike your baseball glove with the same force each time as opposed to a baseball.

Put the baseball glove on your hand as if you were going to play a game of catch and take the mallet or baseball in your other hand. Now, repeatedly smack your hand with the mallet. This will create a pocket for your glove and loosen up the leather. You want to strike your glove for a good ten minutes. I usually do this while watching television.

Play Catch

Playing catch with your baseball glove completes the breaking in process in two ways: You will stretch and shape the leather to your hand as you open and close the glove to catch the ball and the force of the ball as it strikes your mitt will deepen the pocket. Play catch until you feel the glove is sufficiently broken in.