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What are Batting Cages?

D Frank
D Frank

Batting cages are a great way for little leaguers and professionals alike to work on their hitting. In cities and towns throughout the United States, kids can make their way to batting cage practice areas where they will pay a fee (usually a dollar for a token) to have a pitching machine throw 10-15 pitches to them. This is a great way to work on becoming a better hitter. Most batting cages have a pitching machine set 45 to 60 feet (14 to 18 meters) from home plate. These machines can be set to throw pitches at various speeds to accommodate all player levels. As the machine delivers the pitch, the batter swings and tries to connect with the baseball. Netting that covers the sides, front, back, and ceiling area are provided to contain the balls.

Aside from paying a fee for 10-15 pitches, many batting cage facilities allow players to rent the cage for periods of time. Many facilities also have instructors who are available to give hitting lessons to youngsters who want to improve their hitting skills. These lessons will be held in the batting cage. High schoolers, college players, and professionals have batting cages on their respective facilities to allow the players to get additional batting repititions, and thus make themselves into better hitters.

Batting cages help baseball players work on their hitting skills.
Batting cages help baseball players work on their hitting skills.

The average person can easily install a batting cage on his own property if he has some land available. Batting cages come in a variety of sizes and manufacturers will supply the poles, wires, netting, and connection pieces required to install such a cage. Cage sizes are typically 10 feet tall (3 meters), 12 to 14 feet (3.6 to 4.2 meters) wide, and anywhere from 30 to 75 feet (9 to 23 meters) in length. The poles are normally installed at the ends of the cage and heavy gauge wiring are pulled tightly from pole to pole. The netting is attached to the wiring, frequently using tie-wraps or other similar clasps. Once installed, the cage will offer an excellent containment system as the front, back, sides and ceiling will prevent baseballs from flying out of the area.

Batting cages allow a baseball player to take batting practice without being on the field or having other players around him.
Batting cages allow a baseball player to take batting practice without being on the field or having other players around him.

With a cage installed, a player can hit from the tee or have a parent, friend or sibling throw pitches. Home cages like these can lead to many hours of baseball fun. If you order netting for home installation of a batting cage, make sure that it is UV treated as such netting is much more durable than netting that has not been UV treated. If you live in a colder climate, you should take down your netting over the winter to ensure many years of usage.

Discussion Comments

nextcorrea
There is a sports complex close to my house that has indoor batting cages. Whenever I am feeling stressed I will go down there and hit balls for a while. It is cheap entertainment and when you really get a piece of a ball your stress has a way of flying away. I would recommend it to anyone, young and old, man or woman.
tigers88

Once I went to a birthday party that had a portable batting cage. It was basically a frame with a thick net stretched over it and a pitching machine at one end. It was a lot of fun and all the other kids at the party loved it. I have only ever seen something like this once and that surprises me.

truman12
I played competitive baseball all through middle school, high school and college. I have probably spent whole months worth of time hitting endless balls in the batting cages.

For a long time I thought it was fun but after a while it became a chore. Once you get to the college level the stakes become pretty high. It becomes really frustrating to take endless rips in the batting cages and not really fell like you were getting any better.

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    • Batting cages help baseball players work on their hitting skills.
      By: Richard Kane
      Batting cages help baseball players work on their hitting skills.
    • Batting cages allow a baseball player to take batting practice without being on the field or having other players around him.
      By: sixdays
      Batting cages allow a baseball player to take batting practice without being on the field or having other players around him.
    • A batting cage that relies on a pitcher as opposed to a machine requires additional protective shields.
      By: CPonder
      A batting cage that relies on a pitcher as opposed to a machine requires additional protective shields.