Valle Eagle Pro 27WT Weighted Catchers Training Mitt
The Valle Eagle Pro 27WT is the weighted version of Valle's 27 inch Pro catchers training mitt, built in Japanese kip leather for baseball catchers who want to train the strength and stillness of the glove hand as well as where the ball is caught. It keeps the closed two-piece web, open wrist back and added palm padding of the Pro 27 and adds roughly eight ounces.
What a Weighted Mitt Trains That a Small One Does Not
In baseball, an undersized mitt trains where you catch the ball. A weighted mitt trains the hand that holds it there. Those are different faults and most catchers have one of them rather than both.
The catcher this mitt is for is the one whose mitt drifts on contact: the receiving hand gives way under a fastball, so a strike arrives in the zone and leaves it before the umpire has finished looking. Eight extra ounces makes that give-way obvious, and then makes the muscles that prevent it work. After a block of weighted receiving, a game mitt feels light enough to hold exactly where you put it.
Valle's figures are approximations. Unweighted gloves run about a pound, weighted models about a pound and a half, and the difference between a model and its twin is around eight ounces. That relationship is what we can state honestly; nobody has published a per-model weight.
Twenty-Seven Inches, With Weight on Top
A game mitt is thirty-two to thirty-four inches around. At twenty-seven this is much smaller with a much shallower pocket, so a ball caught off-centre comes out. Adding weight stacks a second demand on top of the first: get the mitt to the right place, and be strong enough to keep it there when the ball arrives.
That combination makes this the most demanding 27 inch mitt Valle builds, and it is a poor first trainer. A catcher who is still finding the pocket should work in the unweighted Pro 27 or the S-Series 27S first.
Japanese Kip and an Open Wrist Back
The shell is Japanese kip, lighter and finer-grained than steerhide with a tighter fibre structure, laced with USA-tanned leather. It breaks in faster than steerhide and then holds that shape, which matters on a mitt taking repeated velocity into a small pocket.
The wrist back is open, as on every Pro Series glove. The S-Series Eagle 27WT is the same weighted 27 inch idea in Japanese steerhide with an adjustable Velcro strap, at a lower price. The strap holds the mitt tighter to the hand, which some catching coaches want on a weighted mitt precisely because it removes one more variable.
Who This Catchers Mitt Is For
Baseball catchers at high school level and up, and catching instructors who have already fixed a catcher's positioning and now want the hand to hold up. It is a strength and stillness tool, and it works best on a catcher whose receiving looks good in a bullpen and falls apart late in a game.
If the fault is where the ball is being caught rather than how the mitt behaves when it gets there, the 27HW half web teaches that lesson better. Most programmes end up owning one of each.
How to Train With It
Short blocks of receiving, never a full bullpen. Ten to fifteen baseballs, then out. Work the pitches at the edges of the zone rather than down the middle, because that is where a mitt drifts and where framing is won and lost. Finish the session in the game mitt.
Do not block in it. It is a receiving trainer and neither the mitt nor the hand inside it is built for balls in the dirt.
Valle Eagle Pro 27WT Weighted Catchers Training Mitt Specifications
- Size: 27 inch catchers training pattern, measured around the circumference
- Series: Valle Eagle Pro Series
- Leather: Japanese kip shell with USA-tanned leather lacing
- Web: closed two-piece
- Wrist back: open
- Weighted: yes, roughly 8 ounces heavier than the unweighted Pro 27
- Padding: additional palm padding
- Color: white
- Hand: right hand throw
- Sport: baseball
What Is Included
The mitt. The weight is built in; nothing is added or removed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much heavier is it than the Pro 27?
About eight ounces, which is Valle's own figure for the gap between a weighted model and its unweighted twin.
Weighted or half web, if I can only buy one?
They fix different faults. Take the weighted mitt if your catcher's mitt moves on contact; take the 27HW half web if your catcher receives inconsistently and catches off the pocket.
How is it different from the Eagle 27WT?
Leather and wrist back. This is Japanese kip with an open back; the S-Series 27WT is Japanese steerhide with an adjustable strap.
Can I block with it?
No. Receiving only.
Is it available for left-handed catchers?
No. Right hand throw only.
Care That Does Not Void the Warranty
Kip is a fine-grained leather and it rewards being left alone. Let the glove air dry after a wet session rather than putting it near heat, store it with a ball in the pocket instead of flat in a bag, and wipe the white leather down now and then so it stays white. If it needs conditioning, use a little of the Valle glove conditioner and use it sparingly. Avoid the shortcuts entirely: steaming, soaking, microwaving and baking all void Valle's warranty, and on a trainer they also soften the glove into the very pocket it was built to deny you.
Valle covers the glove with a one year limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship, running from the date you receive it. Worth knowing: the warranty is void if the glove is steamed, soaked, microwaved or baked to speed up break-in. Playing catch with it is the method that keeps it intact.