Baseball
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Whether you are preparing for all-stars, tourneys, or fall ball, you probably want the same thing I do. You want your mound and batter boxes to stand up to intense competitive play. Here are 5 tips that your players need in a batter box and a mound for maximum performance. I felt I really needed to share these with you now so you can help your players be as successful as they can. And successful players are happy players! 1. Build a solid base, A little more about the mound table top: A mound is not supposed to look like a bump or a hill on the field. It needs a large flat area at the top and then gradual sloping to the grass. Otherwise the thing is actually dangerous for a pitcher. For example, a high school size mound should have a top that is 3 feet by 5 feet and level. A little league field should have a table top that is 2 feet by 4 feet wide. Baseball fields gone bad - see case study number 7 - mound template |
Apr 23, 2010, All about nail drag and bolt drag for a baseball field
How the nail drag and bolt drag fit into your arsenal of baseball field maintenance tools
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Apr 21, 2010, Baseball field maintenance ezine April
Baseball field maintenance ezine number 13: taking your field to the next level
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Apr 20, 2010, How to Figure Square Footage on a Ballfield
pictures and formula for square footage on baseball and softball fields
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Apr 16, 2010, What Baseball Players Never Tell You About Their Baseball Field
Find out what ball players never tell you about the field, unless you ask. Then you can fix it.
Apr 15, 2010, Top 10 Most Viewed Content
Top 10 Most Viewed Content - a look at the year's best to help you plan ahead
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Apr 14, 2010, Baseball field - getting ready for spring baseball
Baseball field advice for a high school about adding dirt and sod, and dealing with the freeze/thaw cycle
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Apr 6, 2010, Aerate your baseball field turf
Aerate your baseball field turf : the single most important thing you can do so it is healthy and plays good
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Apr 3, 2010, Baseball Field Maintenance - how to get started
Get started with baseball field maintenance using some basic need-to-know information and then some choices for whipping your field into shape
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Mar 28, 2010, MLB tryout: what you need to know - part 6 conclusion
What you need to know about an MLB tryout. Following a player from childhood through liittle league, high school, and college to an MLB tryout.
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Mar 27, 2010, How to Improve Your Baseball Field with Limited Revenue
Joe in California writes: Our league is looking to bring our fields up to a safer playing condition. Please advise what we can do! Thanks. ---------------------- Hi Joe, A ballfield that is most safe and playable is really only three things: So, you need to work on these three things. Here's what to do to get started. Some people have all the info they need by surfing the info at this link. I wrote a handbook that tells you specifically how to do this. Well worth the small price for making a better baseball experience for everyone using your ball park. |
Mar 24, 2010, A checklist to audit your baseball park preseason or pretournament
A great preseason audit checklist for your baseball field and park activities
Mar 23, 2010, The tale of two pitchers - part 5 in a series
Follow a young man from little league to his MLB tryout. This is his story as he meets an old baseball buddy who did not apply what he learned.
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Mar 20, 2010, Why you should aerate after rolling turf, not before
Texas Charlie writes:
I did an awesome job on my field last year. I used your info to support all of the things I did on the field. The rest of the league was very impressed and I have been given free reins to do anything I want this year and they trust me.
But have a question:
I read that you said roll before aerating, why? Don't you want the roller the last thing on the fields to really have the smoothness. Will the roller push the lips out or do I have to use the sod cutter. My lips are not bad this year. I cut them out last year. Do you shave the lips with the sod cutter? My sod cutter really sucks and is hard to control.
Thanks for the help
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Hello Texas Charlie,
Regarding your plan. It will work. There are 'rules of thumb', but you know a fellow told me that the abbreviation is ROT. So, not all rules of thumb need to followed to a T.
Rolling compacts the soil as it flattens. Core aerating afterwards helps the turf get some air and moisture pathways. Sanding before rolling can be like using sandpaper on the turf. It might hurt. Something to consider adding to the plan is after you fertilize and topdress, drag the metal mesh drag along to push it into the core holes as well as level out the sand and any cores still on the ground.
More info on using sand here: http://tinyurl.com/y93baoc
If your lips are not bad, then make a simple 2-3 inch deep trench next to your grass edge before you roll the turf. The roller will flatten by pushing the high spot to the side.
On using a steam roller check here: http://tinyurl.com/ydkegas
The sod cutter really is a great device when first fixing major lips or cutting back grass that is far past its place. But once you've done that, you may not need to use the sod cutter again. It can actually cause more problems. So, once a field is flat and the edge just needs a trim, I use a three wheel gas powered lawn edger. Works like a champ. That's what many pro teams use.
Here's a fun photo story about edging a field:
So, have a great spring season!
You're doing an awesome job!
Mar 20, 2010, Upgrading Your Baseball Experience - part 4
The story of a baseball player on his way to his MLB tryout. In part 4 he upgrades his baseball experience and his field.
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Mar 16, 2010, Taking Your Baseball Field to the Next Level - part 3 in a series
Follow the story as a baseball player takes his play and his baseball field to the next level
Mar 11, 2010, College Coach Laments Poor Visitor Bullpen Mounds
Coach Horn, North Arkansas College writes: Thanks for the material on bullpen mounds. I hope some folks get theirs fixed up. We've played 16 games so far and the only place we've been that has had a useable visitor's bullpen mound has been the Kansas City T-Bones Independent Leauge stadium where Kansas City Kansas Community College plays. None of the other colleges we've been to have had a decent place for our guys to warm up. It's a huge part of the game. I know we spent a whole day of practice this spring before season started making sure our visitor's side was up and ready to go, and I make the guys rake it after every home game. It's one of the things that doesn't take much time to fix and cover. - - - - - - - - - - - - Hi Michael, My oldest son was a closer his last year in college in 2008. As you can imagine when he warmed up in the 8th inning the pen mounds were horrible. When he took the field in the 9th the field mound was pretty much a mess. Especially after a double header. He said the mental part of having to deal with poor mounds as a closer was something else. And when I was cutting my teeth as an assistant groundskeeper for the AAA Rangers I was assigned the visitor bullpens. At first I thought this was a bum assignment. But I gave it my best and had those pen mounds as good as the field mound. Soon, I had visiting pitchers telling me how much they appreciated it. They said these bullpen mounds I maintained were some of the best in the Pacific Coast League. These guys were professionals competing for the majors and a quality field was important to them. Quality still is important. I congratulate you and our team for putting in effort for your visitor bullpens. I don't know if visitors tell you, but I would imagine that it makes an impression on them. Yours is a college that takes pride in the entire game and it shows. Reminds me of a high school coach I talked to a few years ago. He had a great field expect for the horrible visitor bullpen down the 3B line. He said he did this because the visitors used it in the games and it gives him an edge. I told him maybe he should reconsider this since he has his own pitchers use it in practice! Yikes! |
Mar 8, 2010, The player with a winning baseball field - part 1
The story of a young man from T-Ball to MLB. See how baseball field quality affects a player's potential.
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