Friday, August 28, 2009

The Bare Facts About Batting Cages

By Scott Stevens

It is not everyday we hear people talking about batting cages. Yet when you look at all the professional athletes, it is not hard to see that the ones of professional calibre are the ones who have put the hours and hours into practicing. Unfortunately when it comes to batting cages they are not as readily accessible as other sports facilities.

The easiest, most effective way to help improve your batting, or that of your child, is to make it a game. People, especially children learn better when learning is fun. Keep score of your practice sessions. Use a three point scoring system, give line drives three points, grounders and low balls get two points, and fly balls get one point. Keeping track makes it easy to make it a game, and when you're trying to beat your own score, you're improving your own skill, and it can be a lot more fun.

If you don't have access to a batting cage, you can always build your own, right in your own backyard. You'll have access to it whenever you want. A good size batting cage is seventy feet in length, fourteen feet in width, and twelve feet in height. The height shouldn't be a problem for anyone, but if you don't have a big enough yard for the length or width, just modify them to suit your area.

The list of materials needed to build a batting cage are pretty simple, and easily located. The netting is most often composed of polyethylene or nylon. Nylon is most suited for indoors as it absorbs moisture and stretches. For the support poles you can use wood or aluminum. For poles on the top you can use PVC pipe. You may also need some cement.

Once you have laid out your batting cage, dig holes for the support poles. The holes should have a depth of between three and four feet, as these poles will support the weight of the nets. You may wish to pour cement around the poles for increased stability. Attach the net to the poles and drape it down.

Now all that is left in building your batting cage is to make sure your net comes all the way to the ground. You don't want to have to be chasing balls that are escaping under the bottom of the net. Also you will want to make sure you have left yourself a way to get in and out of the batting cage.

Now at this point all you have left to do is to put your pitching machine in the batting cage and start hitting those balls. Remember to make your practice fun and challenging. You'll be surprised at how fast you'll see improvements in your batting average.

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