A new glove is stiff. A kid’s hand inside a stiff glove can’t squeeze, so balls bounce out. Five minutes a day of glove flexing fixes both problems and makes the glove feel like part of their hand.
What you need: Their glove. One baseball or tennis ball.
Setup: They sit cross-legged on the floor with the glove on their hand.
How to run it:
- Show them how to squeeze the glove closed with the throwing hand, then open it. Slow.
- Have them do that 20 times. The glove should feel a little floppier by rep 20.
- Now put a ball in the pocket. They squeeze the glove closed on the ball, hold for 2 seconds, open.
- 20 reps with the ball.
- Last drill: they pop the ball out of the glove with one squeeze, catch it with the throwing hand, put it back, repeat. 15 reps.
What to watch: Are they actually squeezing the glove closed? Some kids will fake the squeeze and the glove stays half-open. Hold the glove for them on a few reps so they feel what closed should feel like.
If they’re struggling: Use a softer glove or a glove a size too big. Some kids’ hands are not ready for their own glove yet.
If they’ve got it: Have them flex the glove with their eyes closed. They have to feel the open and closed positions without looking.