****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
We have been searching for an infield glove designed to fit youth-sized hands for our son, and Buckler nailed it with this one. The hands, palm, wrist, and finger stalls are significantly more tailored for youth than other youth gloves we have tried. At this price, there are hardly any downsides to this glove. The break-in process was very easy; it's almost game-ready, but breaking it in one hinge (my son's preference) was easy enough. The glove swallows the ball and has a really nice shape all around. It looks good outside and feels amazing inside. Everything is very cushy. I do wish there was slightly more padding on the palm area, but since it's for youth and they're generally not throwing hard enough to cause a major sting sensation, it's not a big issue. My son always wears a batting glove inside his glove anyway. Over the past few baseball seasons, we have tried many different gloves and have been very pleased with this Buckler glove for infield use. This 11" glove has been great for infield use. I would recommend not breaking in the glove as you would with other steerhide leather. No beating it, no dunking in water etc. This Java Steerhide comes very supple and is game-ready after an hour of playing catch. We did use a tiny bit of leather balm over the whole glove, just to bring back the life of the leather from staying in the Amazon warehouse, and to help as we shaped the glove for his style of play at 2nd base. We keep its shape by protecting it with a glove case so the shape doesn't flatten. I highly recommend getting one. Overall, after trying many gloves at ridiculous prices that do not truly fit a youth-sized small hand, this is a no-brainer for our son. We don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a glove because our son is growing and will need a new one soon. However, we absolutely need it to be of good quality and comfortable. This was a very pleasant surprise. This one should last a few seasons with competitive travel ball until he gets bigger and needs to go up a size. Thank you, Buckler!
