I will be building a new garage next to my house and am interested in incorporating a nice batting cage for my DD.
Any thoughts on dimensions, equipment, or vendors out there?
Although not direct answers for your situation, maybe you can take something useful from this...
I built a 10' x 10' x 30' outdoor cage. The frame uses standard 1-3/8" fence toprail tubing (easily found at most large home improvement stores), and corner fittings I found on eBay. The netting was the most expensive part of the project, and was found from a vendor on Amazon. Overall, the project cost about $1000 for the materials. The assembly was pretty easy - 2 people required for a couple of things.
A few things I learned:
- Longer is better. In a 30' cage, the pitching screen I stand behind is approx 20' from where my DD stands. Being that close to a hitter with even moderate power - even behind a screen - can be a bit unsettling. For doing front toss, I wouldn't want to go any shorter.
- Get a sturdy screen (see above)
- If you can go wider than 10', do it. If you can't, you will probably have to offest the batter's position a bit to allow room to swing. A lower roof (8-9') is okay, but width matters.
Sorry I cannot be of help but just wanted to let you know I am jealous In the winter we have to resort to hitting off a tee into a net and wiffle front toss in our 3 car garage.
I don't feel sorry for you. We do it in a 1 car garage! It's wasn't so bad when she was 10U, but she's given me a few welts now that she's playing showcase. Wiffle balls still hurt.
I use a Bownet as protection