How to measure a glove.

[Rous]

From the Glovesmith web site:

"Start at the top of the index finger and using a flexible tape measure go down the finger across the palm keeping the tape along the contour of the glove until you get to the bottom of the heel. Note: The tape measure must be touching the glove at all times to get a good measurement. It is best to go down a couple inches at a time keeping the tape against the glove with you finger. Both fielder gloves and first base mitts are measured using this method.

Catcher’s mitts are measured using a flexible tape measure around the mitt’s circumference."

For example...











Admittedly, once a glove starts to break in, the index finger and thumb will start to face each other more, meaning the tape will try to come down the finger, across the pocket, and up the thumb. Rather than giving up, try angling the tape from the index finger tip towards the base of the middle finger and across to the thumb side of the heel.

 

[Rous]

In fact, if you look at the palm piece of a glove (which is how they measure the size to begin with), measuring down the index finger to the heel is going to hit the heel closer to the thumb than the hinge.

 

[n8ers]

Sticky this!

 

[DIRTY 30]

True story

 

[10nike]

Do you stop where the leather meets the binding, or include the binding in your measurement?

 

[ilyk2win]

So many Vinci's. Is this a "how to" thread or a hate crime?

 

[Rous]

So many Vinci's. Is this a "how to" thread or a hate crime?

LOL, I though about that. I went looking for good examples of measurement, and Vinci's pop up a lot (ok, one of those is mine), probably because of the controversy.

I usually look to where the tape would touch the binding if the lace spiral were not there. As the heel curves down to the binding, and the binding curves back up, I usually hit it about midway through the binding. If you go to the outer edge of the binding, you probably get an extra 1/16".

 

[mikgars]

How about a couple more pics of my gloves.

The 13" Vinci PJV16S

Admittedly, once a glove starts to break in, the index finger and thumb will start to face each other more, meaning the tape will try to come down the finger, across the pocket, and up the thumb. Rather than giving up, try angling the tape from the index finger tip towards the base of the middle finger and across to the thumb side of the heel.

Rous would you care to comment/critique the measurement for this glove? Admittedly I don't think this is a 12.5 glove.

 

[Rous]

There is always going to be a little different opinion as to where you start at the index finger and how you define the "edge" of the heel, but those differences should get everyone in the same 1/4" window.

Assuming the tape is against the glove on that ELO-B and the start of the tape is at the top of the finger, I'd probably call that 12 3/8"-12 1/2" and the Vinci at 13".

 

[mr.augie]

This measurement is always a good starting point, but it doesn't say enough about the proportions of the glove to be all that useful on its own. It's sort of like just using height/weight instead of body mass index. The length of the thumb & pinky and obviously the width of the glove really give you the complete picture. For instance, the GMP7 might measure 12.75"+ using strictly this measurement, but it has a short thumb and a completely different feel than an outfield glove with a longer thumb/pinky, like the OT6 or ELO.

 

[Rous]

I agree with this 100%. The PRO303-6-HEY is supposed to be 13", but it measures the same as a BMB. The difference is that the 303 has much longer fingers and the BMB has a much deeper pocket.

I think the straight edge measurement from the index finger (by the web) to the edge of the thumb can give you a good measure of pocket depth while a measure of the thumb (by the web) to the edge of the pinkie can give you a good measure of the width. For length, a straight line from the top of the web (next to the index finger) to the heel will give you a good measure of reach (length). BUt these are more affected by break in -- at least the second one is)

But to further confuse things, some gloves can easily be worn with the heel of your hand almost completely out of the glove (e.g. Nokona 1275T) and others want you to have almost all of your hand inside the glove (e.g. Nokona WS1300/AMG650).

 

[Spackler]

I like how the guy measured the 4th glove down with the ball holding the tape looks shy of 12.5 that's strange for 13.25

Good point how some gloves sit high on high the hand vs others that the hand goes deeper into glove, I prefer the latter....

 

[Rous]

I like how the guy measured the 4th glove down with the ball holding the tape looks shy of 12.5 that's strange for 13.25

Good point how some gloves sit high on high the hand vs others that the hand goes deeper into glove, I prefer the latter....

Using the ball like that... PURE GENIUS!!!

 

[mr.augie]

Using the ball like that... PURE GENIUS!!!

UNT really ought to consider allowing you to teach some type of glove-related class..

 

[Rous]

Econ 270: Economics of Baseball Gloves: In this class we will analyze baseball glove production, consumption, and markets. Topics will include domestic vs. foreign production, the used glove market, diminishing returns to higher quality leather and glove size (at what price should you stop blaming the glove for errors?), will a grey-market Japanese glove (MIJ only) help you in the marriage market?, market segmentation and the softball specific pocket, the efficiency of spending $350 on a bat but only $60 for a glove, economies of scale in leather production, cutting costs with the padding and Vinyl, why camel laces cost more, why lefties get great deals (but get screwed on resale), ebay shill bidding, PI quality and how pro players choose a glove.

 

[mr.augie]

Econ 270: Economics of Baseball Gloves: In this class we will analyze baseball glove production, consumption, and markets. Topics will include domestic vs. foreign production, the used glove market, diminishing returns to higher quality leather (at what price should you stop blaming the glove for errors?), will a grey-market Japanese glove (MIJ only) help you in the marriage market?, market segmentation and the softball specific pocket, the efficiency of spending $350 on a bat but only $60 for a glove, economies of scale in leather production, cutting costs with the padding and Vinyl, why camel laces cost more, why lefties get great deals (but get screwed on resale), ebay shill bidding, PI quality and how pro players choose a glove.

will the final exam be open book??

 

[Podo]

will the final exam be open book??

Man I hope so!

 

[Rous]

Research paper on optimal glove size at each position.

 

[grubd]

Measured my nokona wb-1275 and it was 13 inches. Has a really deep pocket and shorter finger length.

 

[Rous]

My AMG1250 was 12.5" on the nose when new, but now is almost 12.75". Oddly, my GS1225USA has not gained any length since new. Not sure why the difference, but I know some leathers stretch more easilty than others.

 

[grubd]

The index finger looks like it was just mistakenly made a bit longer than rest of fingers. Hand made craftsmanship type deal.

 

[Samuelkeesee12]

I thought I read somewhere you were supposed to measure down the pointer-finger to the heel where it meets the base of the pinky. I think it was on glovesmith's site. I measured my old glove ( made in like 97) by their method and it comes right to 14" which is what is stamped on the glove. By the method listed on here it bairly measures out to 13". My question is do different companies use different methods to measure their gloves. My glove is a 14" softball A2000 if that makes a difference.

 

[Rous]

The description at the beginning of this thread is off the Glovesmith site. To a large degree, measuring a glove is a fool's errand. There are so many shapes (deep versus shallow, and width varies and matters too) that no one measure tells you a whole lot. That being said, for gloves with similar proportions of finger length to pocket/palm size, comparing simple length is useful. Several different measures would work easily well, but we sort of have to agree on one to be consistent. Glove makers have long used the measure of the palm piece (index finger to heel in a straight line) before assembly as their measure of glove length. However, we can't measure our own gloves that way and the curvature and sewing makes gloves measure shorter than the original pattern size. So we do the next best thing, which is try to measure that same dimension on an assembled glove. Index finger to palm and over to heel would be a curved measure on a flat palm piece. Without defining the curve, measurements would vary even more. I'd call your glove 13".

I think overall width and the distance from the base of the index finger where it meets the web over to the thumb are equally important and useful.

 

[Samuelkeesee12]

I agree that it seems to be more important to measure from the base of the index finger to the base of the thumb since that would be a better measure of pocket depth and width. Thanks for the response. I'll try to find an actual cloth tape measure and check again.

 

[chrometip78]

Perfect sticky, thanks Rous! This should have been done long ago and noted that it's just an indicator such as you did.

 

[mikgars]

This measurement is always a good starting point, but it doesn't say enough about the proportions of the glove to be all that useful on its own. It's sort of like just using height/weight instead of body mass index. The length of the thumb & pinky and obviously the width of the glove really give you the complete picture. For instance, the GMP7 might measure 12.75"+ using strictly this measurement, but it has a short thumb and a completely different feel than an outfield glove with a longer thumb/pinky, like the OT6 or ELO.

Couldn't agree more. These two gloves measure out similarly but it's clear they will play nothing alike.

 

[Rous]

I think these pics get to the heart of the ever-present BMB discussion. When guys think about a 13" glove, I think they have in their mind a glove as long as the ELO-B. My BMBs looked to me to be about as long as my old 12.25" Spalding. So while my BMB measured at 12 5/8", I always felt is played smaller because it felt shorter. ANd while I look at an ELO at a store and think it must measure 13", I think it really is more like 12.75". Looking at my RV23 next to my Nokona AMG600 and it looks like the Nokona is 3/4" longer, but the measured difference is 1/4".

 

[chrometip78]

It's kinda like capt. Barbosa says "They're really more like guidelines" The size is a general indication of the glove size but how the glove is constructed, fits you and your play is the ultimate deciding factor.

 

[Rous]

Here is a different measure.

Leather thickness is measured either in mm or ounces. Essentially, 1 oz = .4 mm = 1/64". Or 1 mm = 2.5 oz = 3/64".

Hides are rated (at least by the tanneries Nokona uses) as to the general thickness with ratings including M, H, HH, HHH.

HHH is 5.5-6oz
HH is 5-5.5oz
H is 4.5-5oz
M is 3.5-4 oz

One of the things I have learned is that a hides can vary from hide-to-hide and across each hide. So if a company says the hides they use are 5 oz. the hides may range from 4.6-5.2oz. The part of the hide at the "bend" (near the back bone) is toughest, but the belly can be thicker, albeit spongier. Also, stiffness of a hide can vary from hide to hide and across batches. Beyond that the person stamping the pieces will do a bunch of each piece needed all at once. Parts of a glove may come from 4-5 different hides. Hopefully, all the palms are coming from the bend.