So you finally bought a new baseball glove after spending hours online comparing your options. Maybe you even read one of my buying guides here on Baseball Hover to help you land on the right one. But once the glove showed up, it felt a little too loose in your hand.
What do you do here? Send it back for a refund or a different size? Not so fast. If the glove is only slightly loose, it’s probably the right size and just needs a bit of adjustment. It’s annoying to have to fuss with a brand-new glove, I get it, but sometimes it’s just part of the process.
The good news is that tightening a baseball glove is pretty simple once you know the moves. With my walkthrough below, you’ll get through it a lot faster than if you tried to piece it together on your own.
I’ll cover how to tighten the finger laces, how to tighten the wrist strap, what tools actually help, and when a lace is too far gone to save. Let’s get into it.
Should You Tighten Your Baseball Glove?
A glove that fits snugly is usually better for your hand because it gives you more protection on impact and more control on the catch. When you buy a new glove, it comes at a factory-set size with some room for manual adjustment. A brand-new glove will never fit perfectly right out of the box, and it usually needs to be broken in before it feels comfortable.
Once you’ve broken your glove in, if it’s still loose around the fingers or the wrist, that’s your cue to tighten it up. Readjusting the fit matters if you want the glove to feel snug in your hand. It gives you better protection and better control when the ball hits the pocket.
Some players prefer a looser fit around the fingers, and while I wouldn’t recommend it myself, I understand the appeal. I’d still suggest tightening things up at least a little, but if a looser glove is comfortable and it’s working for you on the field, there’s nothing wrong with sticking with it.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Tightening the finger laces takes almost nothing beyond your own two hands. Adjusting the wrist strap is a bit more involved, so it helps to have a few basic tools on hand before you start pulling laces:
- A pair of pliers, for getting a grip on stubborn knots without slipping
- A leather lace threader or a lacing needle, for rethreading the wrist strap holes
- A bit of glove conditioner, for keeping the leather around the laces from drying out while you work it
If your glove came with a small care kit, you probably already have what you need. If not, a basic glove repair kit usually includes a threader, spare lace, and everything else covered here.
How To Tighten Fingers On A Baseball Glove
You don’t need to be a pro to tighten the finger laces on your glove. It’s a basic skill, and learning it will help you get a lot more out of every glove you own.
Some people suggest using pliers or a small steel rod to pull the laces, but honestly, you don’t need any of that here. Your bare hands are enough to stretch and tighten the lace. Explaining the whole process in text can get a little confusing, so I’ve dropped a video below to make it easier to follow along.
Step – 1
Start by untying the knot at the pinky of the glove. Hold the glove so the palm side faces you. Looking at the tops of the fingers, you’ll see the laces forming an X-pattern between each one. That X-pattern is what you’ll be working with to tighten the fingers.
Step – 2
Start with the X between the index and middle finger. Pull the lace sitting on top of the X to create some slack. Then grab the part of the lace coming out the back of the middle finger and pull it outward. That’s what tightens the gap between the index and middle finger.
Step – 3
With the index and middle finger tightened, move to the next pair, the middle and ring finger. Take the excess lace on the outside of the middle finger and pull it through the front. Repeat the same motion as before to tighten the lace between the middle and ring finger.
Step – 4
From here, the rest of the process repeats itself. You should be able to tighten the remaining fingers on your own by following the same pattern.
Step – 5
Once you’ve tightened all the fingers, you’ll notice the excess lace hanging past the pinky is longer than it was before. Tie off that excess end and your glove is ready to use. If you’re confident you won’t need to loosen it again later, you can trim a bit of that extra lace so it looks cleaner.
How To Tighten Baseball Glove Wrist
Adjusting the wrist strap takes more work than the fingers, but it gets easier with a bit of practice. You can always take it to a pro for a proper fitting, but if you follow this guide, you should be fine doing it yourself.
While you can tighten the fingers with bare hands, you’ll want a leather lace threader for the wrist laces. I’d also suggest a pair of pliers for untying the knots. Things go a lot smoother when you’re not fighting the laces or risking damage to the leather while you work.
Here are the steps. Like before, I’ve included a video to make things easier to follow.
Step – 1
First, take a close look at the default lacing on your glove. You’ll see eight holes on the wrist flap and four holes at the base of the thumb. Typically, the laces run through the middle four holes on the wrist flap.
To tighten the glove, untie the laces, pull them out, and rethread them through the top four holes on the flap instead. If you wanted to loosen it, you’d thread through the bottom four holes instead. While you’re at it, take note of the lacing pattern, since you’ll need to follow it when you rethread the wrist.
Step – 2
Next, untie the knots. Start at the base of the thumb and work the knots loose. Carefully pull the lace out of each hole. Don’t yank too hard from one end, since that can chafe the leather and mess up the finish of your glove.
Step – 3
With the lace removed, push one end through the head of your lace threader. Thread it through the bottom left of the four thumb holes from the top, pull it through the inside of the glove, and bring it up through the bottom left of the four wrist flap holes.
Make sure the lace lies flat with no twists in it. You can roll it between your fingers to straighten it out if needed. Then run the lace through the top left hole of the thumb part and pull it through. From there, thread it into the top right hole of the wrist flap and push it through.
Next, run the lace through the bottom right hole of the thumb part, which forms an X-pattern on the thumb section. Finally, push it through the bottom right hole of the wrist flap. This part is easier to follow with the video if you get stuck.
Step – 4
If you followed the pattern correctly, you should be left with two lace ends. Tie them together with whatever knot you’re comfortable with. I personally go with a double knot for extra security. That’s it, the wrist of your glove should now feel noticeably tighter and give you a better fit.
Is it Better to Make a Baseball Glove Tighter?
It really comes down to personal preference. A tighter glove gives you more control and better hand protection, so in most cases, tightening your glove so it fits snugly is the smarter approach.
That said, some players find a tight glove harder to work with in their hand. If that’s you, loosen it back up a bit until it feels comfortable. At the end of the day, go with whatever fit lets you play your best.
When Should You Replace the Laces Instead of Just Tightening Them?
Tightening only works if the lace itself is still in decent shape. If a lace is cracked, frayed, or so dried out that it snaps when you pull on it, tightening it further is just going to make it break sooner. That’s your sign to relace instead of readjust.
Rawhide laces don’t last forever, especially if the glove sees a lot of use or hasn’t been conditioned in a while. When that happens, a full or partial relace with fresh lace does a lot more for the fit and feel of your glove than trying to squeeze more tightness out of laces that are already worn out. I go through the tools and process for that in my baseball glove repair kit guide, and keeping up with regular conditioning is covered in my glove care guide, which is worth a look either way.
And if tightening the laces doesn’t fully solve your fit problem, it might not be a lacing issue at all. A glove that’s too stiff can feel loose or awkward in different spots depending on how it’s closing, so it’s worth checking my guide on how a baseball glove should close if something still feels off after you’ve tightened everything up.
The Bottom Line
Getting a good fit on your baseball glove matters a lot more than people give it credit for. Even the most skilled player will fumble the ball if the glove is working against them. If the fit is off, it holds you back no matter how good your hands are.
Hopefully, this guide on how to tighten a baseball glove helped you get a nice, secure fit without too much hassle. Good luck out there.
With 4 years of Division II experience, a .272 career batting average, .410 on-base percentage, and 7 home runs, I’m now in my fifth season. I’ve played baseball since age 3, alongside future MLB Draft picks, and I aim to pursue a career in baseball professionally, be it playing, coaching, or scouting.