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That first, good baseball glove is a big deal for every young ballplayer. This is the tool that assists in the process of perfecting the catch, which is among the first skills needed to play the game. All this considered, parents might feel some pressure to choose the right brand, style and model.
So, let’s take a look at an age when players should be in the phase of shifting from simple Tee-ballers, and up into the coach-pitch or self-pitch divisions. In other words, their first taste of “real” baseball (or fastpitch softball). That said, what are the best baseball gloves for 7 year old players?
Yes, we know that some players start younger — and most of the gloves featured below are appropriate for them, too. It’s just that we want to provide information to parents for gloves designed for real play, as many Tee ball-only gloves are not expected to catch real balls coming hard right at a young player.
Tee ball gloves are almost props … something to have so they look like a baseball player. But in reality, during play Tee balls rarely get much off the ground, let alone come on a line right at a player’s face. It’s around age 7 that players face real pitchers, with real throws at them … when they need real gloves that wear in and work well.
These first baseball gloves can go a long way toward ensuring a child enjoys the sport and wants to continue playing. Learning to catch properly is like taking a first step as a toddler … From there, the child can build upon that success and just get better at everything else physically.
Quick Summary
- The Rawlings Players Series glove for youths and Tee-ball players tops our list with its functionality and popularity, at a nice price.
- Gloves in the Mizuno Prospect Series might have portions that are soft as butter, meaning very comfortable for young ballplayers.
- The Franklin Field Master gloves are designed for easy breaking in, meaning, they can be used right away.
- For a glove to last more than one season, the Louisville Slugger Genesis brings much to the table.
- For help learning to catch, notice that it’s right in the glove’s name: Rawlings Sure Catch.
- If you want to help a new brand compete with the big boys, we suggest the FerDIM baseball or softball glove, good for youths, teens, adults, boys and girls.
Who Should Get These Products?
Any young baseball player age 7 — or a little younger, or a bit older.
What to Consider When Choosing Baseball Gloves for Youngsters
Weight
It can be fairly important to have a lightweight glove at a young age in baseball, both for its impact on moving the hands fast to grab balls mid-air, and for stamina. The difference of a few ounces might not seem a lot in print, but lug it around at the end of your arm for a couple of hours and eventually a kid will want to drop it. (Ever see gloves fall right off the hands of Tee ball players?).
Good gloves for younger players have specially designed pockets to help trap balls there and make it easier to catch. The depth and shape of these special pockets should decline as they age, so as not to become a crutch that they depend too much on down the road. Gloves are supposed to help make catches — not make the catches on their own.
Material
Many kid gloves are either all synthetic, or a hybrid of synthetic and leather. Leather lasts much longer but is more expensive and heavy, plus can be hard to break in for little ones (See below). But leather is much longer lasting. A hybrid with leather in the front and a synthetic material on the backside might be a wise investment.
Break-In
Leather must be broken in; some types more than others. Because younger players don’t yet have the strong squeezing fingers, or high-velocity balls popping onto the leather, they can struggle with stiff new gloves. Some models today come already broken in, or are marketed that they break in easily.
Backside
Two keys on the backside of gloves for kids. First is the backs of the fingers; it’s okay for this area to be a synthetic material to help reduce overall weight. But the second is really important: the bottom strap across the wrist. This should be adjustable, and possibly with a type of padding inside to prevent over-rubbing the back of the wrist.
Sizing
Baseball gloves are sized by a denotation of inches, which is the measurement from the bottom of the heel to the end of the index finger. For 7 year olds, the most suitable gloves are probably around 9, 10 or 11 inches. However, at younger ages beware of too-heavy gloves. For more details on sizing, see below for a section right after the last baseball glove review.
Best Baseball Gloves for 7 Year Old: Our Choices
We reviewed several baseball gloves based on factors that would help very young players, age 7 or younger, to enjoy and succeed in the game, along with price and user feedback. Under those parameters, here are our top choices:
1. Best Baseball Gloves for 7 Year Old Overall: Rawlings Players Series
These Rawlings gloves especially for youths and Tee-ball players are affordable, functional, and very popular. Players Series gloves are actually designed for players age 3 to 9, so you should be able to find a model appropriate for your little all-star.
How do they stand out? First, the Rawlings name for trust, since it’s the company that makes baseballs for the MLB, and it’s been around a long time. Second, these gloves are very lightweight and have soft built-in pockets that assist with learning to catch a ball without going overboard like some baseball gloves for new players.
Finally there’s the price, among the lowest you fill find — even though these gloves are made of more-lasting leather. For any brand-new player, really, find a version and you probably can’t go wrong. This glove is a top-seller on many platforms for many reasons.
What We Like:
- Designed for use at any position.
- Soft outer shell for easy closing, Velcro straps to ensure fit.
- Basket-web deep pocket.
- Very low-priced.
Not So Much:
- There is little to dislike about this glove for little baseballers.
2. Best Baseball Glove for 7 Year Old for Softness: Mizuno Prospect Series PowerClose
That Mizuno markets the palm liner of the Prospect Series gloves as “butter soft” says much about its research into baseball equipment for very young players. A very comfortable feel is a solid first impression. Add to that the full-grain pigskin leather for flexibility along with durability, and this glove ranks among the top sellers for baseball gloves or accessories overall.
While the leather takes care of the ball-playing front side, notice the air mesh backside, which not only allows for more flexibility, it also lets air flow through to keep hands cooler and less moist.
The above-mentioned lining not only is super soft, it’s designed to disperse perspiration away from the skin — a nice touch in baseball where dirt and dust sticks to sweat for a sticky feeling little ones are not fond of.
What We Like:
- Super soft, sweat-pulling inner lining.
- Hybrid pigskin leather-synthetic front-back.
- Affordable pricing.
Not So Much:
- Can’t really complain about this kid’s glove at that price.
3. Best Baseball Glove for 7 Year Old for Easy Break-In: Franklin Field Master
Sometimes the feature that the manufacturer leads with in advertising gives away the maker’s intent, so with Franklin’s Field Master gloves for baseball or softball, it’s about breaking it in. As noted above, young players can have a hard time breaking in new gloves, and Franklin knows it.
The soft synthetic leather material is light and easier to break in than leather or pigskin. Another trouble area for young players is the thumb strap, but Franklin addressed this too with a customizable thumb-adjustment system for a player’s favorite fit.
While this glove is synthetic, it’s a thicker style that can be more durable than the flimsy synthetics on many young-player gloves. Finally there’s the pocket, which Franklin designed for both comfort and feel for the best performance possible.
What We Like:
- Easy break-in.
- Lightweight.
- Very affordable pricing.
Not So Much:
- Nothing bad about this very popular young players’ offering by Franklin.
4. Best Baseball Gloves for 7 Year Old for Durability: Louisville Slugger Genesis
For parents thinking more durability from leather, the Genesis series of baseball gloves by Louisville Slugger are worth a look. The higher price tag makes this glove perhaps more appropriate for players a little older than 7 — or to buy with 2 or 3 seasons in mind.
The very neat looking nylon backside shell is sure to attract the eye, and the closed-channel web looks easily broken in, to a player’s preferred pocket shape.
Reviews for this glove will indicate how easy it is to break in, compared with the fairly typical stiff plastic stiff gloves too many players are forced to try when very young. But note: the Genesis is really for young players, say age 8 and younger; and they can tend to size small so perhaps plan to buy a glove one size larger than suggested.
What We Like:
- Leather material to last.
- Stylistic.
- Closed-channel pocket webbing.
Not So Much:
- Mid-range pricing may be a bit high for 7 year olds.
5. Best Baseball Glove to Help 7 Year Olds Catch: Rawlings Sure Catch
Another baseball glove for youngsters getting rave reviews from buyers is its Sure Catch offerings. It’s all-leather design, inside and out, ensures durability. This is a great feature since the Sure Catch is designed for a range of ages, from 4 up to 10.
Even though it’s all leather, Rawlings touts this glove as 90% factory-broken-in right away, meaning kids can use it immediately and the remaining break-in comes naturally during play. The purposely lightweight leather shell lets young players move quickly, and remain balanced while repeatedly catching balls and shaping the pocket.
The padded lining inside the fingers makes it plenty comfortable, an important feature for young baseball players. However the primary differentiation with this model is the “Sure Catch Technology” — which has an aim right in the name. Rawlings wants to build confidence in their ball-catching abilities.
What We Like:
- Padded lining and taper wrist opening for comfort.
- Cutout heel design to allow closing immediately.
- Moderately priced.
Not So Much:
- As all-leather, it might be a bit too heavy for very young players.
6. Best Up-and-Coming Baseball Glove for 7 Year Old: FerDIM Baseball Glove
Not yet a household name is sports, but working on it, is FerDIM, including with its baseball glove marketed as a kind-of everything for everyone. If you find it online, you might notice that it’s for kids, youths, adults, softball — whatever suits your fancy!
But for this list, let’s think like 7 year olds. Then, we would like the artificial cowhide which is lighter (very much so, at 8.75 oz.) and less costly. While synthetic leather does not last as long, this manufacturer attempted to make up for it with double threading or double cord in the right places.
They gave a little attention to the wrist strap area, to prevent scrapes back there, and a thicker design at the thumb, both aimed at comfort. After all, if a little one is not comfortable with his or her equipment, how likely are they to continue using it?
What We Like:
- Very low-priced.
- Multicolor, which is more attractive so “Your kids will like it and be more interested.”
- Ergonomic touches align with age group.
Not So Much:
- New brand in the market, not as many user reviews.
Sizing
Thank you to FerDIM for providing this baseball glove sizing guidance for its products:
- 10.5 inch: For ages 4 to 10 years old
- 11.5 inch: For players age 10 to 16
- 12.5 inch: For adults over 16 years old
However, as players age, you probably should consider the position they play most in terms of glove sizing. For instance, outfielders will want longer gloves (12.5 inches from bottom heel of the glove to the end of the index finger), while infielders will want smaller models so they can more quickly get a ball out of the pocket for quick throws.
For pitchers the most important element is a closed pocket — that is, the webbing between the index finger and thumb. It needs to be closed, and not net-like so you can see through it, to hide grips on balls about to be pitched. A lot of pitching depends on deception, and they don’t want to give anything away before the pitch!
Related Questions
Question: Should glove oil be purchased along with a new glove for young players?
Answer: Not necessarily. Many gloves just for young players, including some in our list above, come close to broken in. Glove oil is only for leather, and should not be applied to synthetic portions of baseball gloves. Oil is mainly for the pocket and crease near the bottom, to help close the glove upon ball impact. Not many youth gloves have leather thick enough to require oiling.
Q.: What’s so bad about synthetic gloves?
A.: They really don’t like the elements. Sunshine and moisture cause synthetic materials like vinyl or plastic to crack. This is most evident on the seams of synthetic baseball gloves, but also ultimately elsewhere. Unless you really take care of faux leather baseball gloves, like constantly wiping off sweat and water, and keeping it stored nicely and out of the sun, they usually only last one season, two if you’re lucky.
Summary
While getting a young baseball player an effective first glove can be important, it does not have to be the end of the world to play just one season with a particular tool, then try something new the next year. At younger ages in baseball, it’s difficult to imagine many gloves lasting more than 2 seasons mainly due to rapid growth.
Their little hands and wrists just grow each year. However that does not mean it’s a great idea to get him or her a very cheap “disposable” baseball glove — especially if they already played Tee ball and like the game enough to keep playing and move up. So around 7 years old, it’s okay to start thinking about durability, and paying attention to whether or not a baseball glove model has real leather.
Our list of top baseball gloves for 7 year old players provide numerous positive attributes, from low cost to ease of breaking in, comfort, and even style in some models. The bottom line is the little player has to feel comfortable wearing the glove, since the first job of any parent is just to ensure they play the next season. Picking among these gloves should help in that realm.
See Also:
6 Best Baseball Pitchback Nets to Buy
How Much does it Cost to Make a Baseball?
7 Best Baseball Cleats for Flat Feet
9 Best Baseball Bats to Buy
7 Best Baseball Cleats for Youths
