How to Build a Pitching Mound
How to a Pitching Mound
A lot of criteria needs to be considered when building a pitching mound, if you need to play a proper game. Good field equipment, maintenance program and good water drainage is just a few criterias that needs to be considered. Basic tools such as a sledge hammer, shovels, rakes and a few other powerful tools are required. If a group of people work on this, you can complete it faster.
Step 1: The area has to be flat. The inside area is the place where there has to be elevation. The turf should be removed after the outline of the field has been drawn.
Step 2: Next you will have to decide the placement of the home plate. Stray pitches must be prevented, and for that a backstop like shrubs can be used to prevent balls from moving too far away.
Step 3: The turf must be cut out with a radius of 13 feet, and the apex of the home plate can be used.
Step 4: Now the second base has to be located. Using a wooden stake a mark can be made, and when the base pads are installed, it has to be the second base’s center.
Step 5: The location of the pitching rubber has to be marked at this time. The measurement will be from the second base to the home plate’s back tip. This length should be at least 60 feet by 6 inches.
Step 6: Two tape measures need to be used to find the first and the third base. The back corner of the bases will be the point where the two tapes cross at a mark that is about 90 feet. This can be repeated to find the third base. In total the area should be a 90 foot square.
Step 7: The second base must not be misplaced, and it should be measured at the center of the bag. The other bases will fit within the square.
Step 8: A 13 foot radius can be measured within the square, and the turf can be cut out. The base paths can be left as they are, and the area that is cut out will be the slide area.
Step 9: There are specifications for the pitcher’s mound. It should be 18 feet, and about 10 feet from the rubber front. This should be toward home plate, and it should be about 8 feet from the rubber’s back.
Step 10: The width of the plateau that is on top of the mound will be about 5 feet.
Step 11: The height should be about 10 and a half inches, and this calculation should be accurate. The rubber of the pitcher should be 24 by 6 inches.
Step 12: The mound has to be built from the ground up, and it has to be done one inch at a time. The soil has to be tamped down as and when the layers are being added.
Step 13: The slope should fall one inch starting from about 12 inches from the pitcher’s rubber and towards the home plate.