Valle Eagle Pro 975WT Weighted Infield Training Glove

The Valle Eagle Pro 975WT is the weighted version of the Pro 975, a 9.75 inch infield training glove built in Japanese kip leather for baseball and softball players who want the demands of a Valle trainer in the softest shell the company makes. It is the same I-web, open wrist back and 9.75 inch pattern as the unweighted Pro 975, with roughly eight ounces added.

Why the Pro Series Uses Kip

Kip is a lighter, finer-grained hide than steerhide, with a tighter fibre structure. In a glove that means two things a player notices inside a week. It breaks in faster and with less fight, and it holds its shape better once it has broken in, because the fibres are packed more closely and stretch less. The trade is cost, which is why kip sits on the Pro line and steerhide on the S-Series.

The shell is Japanese kip and the lacing is tanned in the USA. Those are different components and both are accurate: the hide comes from Japan, the leather laces do not. On a training glove the lacing matters more than it sounds like it should, because a trainer takes the same repeated impact in the same small area for its whole life.

What Eight Ounces Trains

The added weight is not about strength in any gym sense. It is about timing and about honesty. A heavier glove has to start moving earlier to arrive on time, which is the habit good infielders already have. It also exposes a lazy move, because a heavy glove punishes lateness in a way a light one absorbs.

For context, Valle's unweighted gloves run about a pound and the weighted models about a pound and a half. Eight ounces is meaningful across a hundred repetitions and irrelevant across five, which is the argument for using it in short blocks and then taking it off. Most players do a round with the weighted glove, then a round with their gamer, and the gamer feels quick.

An Open Wrist Back, Which Is the Pro Line's Other Difference

Every Pro Series glove has an open wrist back. The S-Series uses an adjustable Velcro strap instead. The open back sits looser and lets the glove move on the hand more freely, which is what most infielders who have grown up in game gloves are used to. The strap holds the trainer tighter to the hand through impact, which some coaches prefer precisely because it removes a variable.

Neither is better in the abstract. If you want the glove tied to your hand, the S-Series 975SWT is the same 9.75 inch weighted idea in Japanese steerhide with a strap, at a lower price. If you want the glove to sit the way a game glove sits, this is the one.

Who This Training Glove Is For

Baseball and softball middle infielders and third basemen who already catch cleanly in an undersized glove and want to add a demand rather than start with one. It also suits pitchers working on fielding their position, which is why Valle lists it across the infield and beyond. It is not a first glove and it is not a game glove: 9.75 inches is well under regulation, deliberately.

A player still learning to catch in the middle of the glove is better served starting unweighted with the Eagle 975S or, for a much harder version of the same lesson, the 7 inch K47. Add weight once the catch is reliable.

How to Train With It

Short rounds, full attention. Fifteen to twenty-five baseballs off a fungo or a machine with the weighted glove is a block; two blocks is a session. Work both the routine ball and the ball that makes you move, because the weight changes how early you have to commit on the second one. Then take it off and hit the same round with your game glove.

Pair it with the Valle G-Pad if the index finger takes a beating, which it can on a trainer with less padding than a gamer. Do not use the weighted glove for a full team infield session; it is a training tool, not a substitute glove.

Valle Eagle Pro 975WT Weighted Infield Training Glove Specifications

• Size: 9.75 inch infield training pattern
• Series: Valle Eagle Pro Series
• Leather: Japanese kip shell with USA-tanned leather lacing
• Web: I-web
• Wrist back: open
• Weighted: yes, roughly 8 ounces heavier than the unweighted Pro 975
• Color: white
• Hand: right hand throw
• Sport: baseball and softball

What Is Included

The glove. No weights are added or removed, and no break-in service is included; the weight is built into the glove itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the Pro 975WT weigh?

Valle does not publish a per-model weight. What they do state is the relationship: a weighted glove runs about eight ounces heavier than its unweighted twin, unweighted gloves are around a pound and weighted ones around a pound and a half. We would rather give you that than invent a number to the ounce.

What is the difference between this and the Eagle 975SWT?

Leather and wrist back. This is Japanese kip with an open back; the 975SWT is Japanese steerhide with an adjustable strap. Same 9.75 inch pattern, same added weight, different feel and different price.

Is it available for left-handed throwers?

No. The Pro 975WT is made in right hand throw only.

Can I use it in a game?

No. At 9.75 inches it is well below a regulation infield glove and it is built to make catching harder, not easier.

How long does the kip take to break in?

Less time than steerhide, and the way to do it is to play catch with it. Do not steam, soak, microwave or bake it. Beyond softening a trainer past the point of being useful, all four void Valle's warranty.

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.