Valle Eagle Pro 29 Catchers Training Mitt
The Valle Eagle Pro 29 is a 29 inch catchers training mitt in Japanese kip leather, sitting between Valle's small receiving trainers and a game mitt. It exists because MLB catching coaches asked Valle for the size. It has a closed two-piece web, an open wrist back and additional palm padding.
Why Twenty-Nine Inches Exists
Valle's baseball catching trainers start at twenty-five and twenty-seven inches, sizes small enough that a catcher cannot hide a bad catch anywhere. That is useful, and it is also a long way from a game mitt at thirty-two to thirty-four inches. The jump is large enough that some of what a catcher learns in a 27 inch mitt does not obviously carry back.
Twenty-nine is the answer to that. It is still meaningfully undersized, so a ball received off-centre still comes out, but the shape and reach are close enough to a game mitt that the receiving position a catcher trains is the receiving position they will actually use. MLB catching coaches asked Valle for it, which is a reasonable indication of who it was designed around.
It is the only mitt in the Valle catalogue with no S-Series counterpart. If you want a 29 inch trainer, this is the one that exists, in kip, with an open back.
Where It Fits in a Catching Programme
Think of it as the mitt for volume work. A 25 or 27 inch trainer is punishing enough that most catchers use it in short blocks. At twenty-nine inches, with the extra palm padding, a catcher can take a longer bullpen without their hand ending the session for them, which means more repetitions of the thing being trained.
It also suits a catcher stepping up in class. Moving from a smaller trainer to this one, then to a game mitt, gives two smaller steps instead of one large one, and each step keeps the honesty that makes the tool worth using.
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. Kip breaks in faster than steerhide and then holds that shape rather than continuing to soften. On a mitt built for volume receiving, holding its shape is most of the job.
The wrist back is open, as it is on every Pro Series glove. The S-Series trainers use an adjustable Velcro strap instead, and the nearest S-Series sizes are the 27S at twenty-seven inches and the T25 at twenty-five.
Who This Catchers Mitt Is For
Baseball catchers at high school level and above, catching instructors, and programmes that want one trainer that can carry a full session rather than a block. It also suits a catcher who has found the smaller Valle mitts too punishing to use often enough to benefit from them.
A catcher who wants maximum difficulty in short doses is better served by the Pro 27 or, for a different demand entirely, the weighted Pro 27WT.
How to Train With It
Receiving work, and enough of it to matter. A full baseball bullpen is realistic in this mitt in a way it is not in a 25 or 27 inch trainer, so use it for the sessions where you want repetition rather than shock. Work the edges of the zone, and pay attention to whether the ball finishes where it was caught.
Blocking still belongs in a game mitt. This is a receiving tool with training padding, not protection.
Valle Eagle Pro 29 Catchers Training Mitt Specifications
- Size: 29 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: no
- Padding: additional palm padding
- Color: white
- Hand: right hand throw
- Sport: baseball
What Is Included
The mitt. No break-in service is included.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does 29 inches compare to a game mitt?
A baseball game mitt is thirty-two to thirty-four inches around, so this is still meaningfully smaller. It is close enough that the receiving position transfers, and small enough that a poor catch still comes out.
Is there an S-Series 29?
No. Twenty-nine inches exists only in the Pro Series. The nearest S-Series sizes are the 27S and the T25.
Is it weighted?
No. The weighted Pro catching mitts are the Pro 27WT and the Pro 32WT.
Can I block with it?
No. It is a receiving trainer.
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.