Batting Cage questions

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Mar 8, 2016
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I have the opportunity to put an indoor batting cage in for my dd this winter. I am not sure if the dimensions I have to work with will be ok. What I have to work with is the following. 12 feet wide and a ceiling that is 9-10 feet tall. The ceiling is cinder block so there is no give. Will these dimensions work for a batting cage?
 

shaker1

Softball Junkie
Dec 4, 2014
894
18
On a bucket
12' wide is on the narrow side. With your dimensions, and keeping the net off the walls and ceiling, your gonna end up with something 10' wide x 9' tall. You may get closer by using metal cables to run along ceiling and walls to tighten the net up. I'd be careful getting to close because of the ball jumping off the hard walls, ceiling.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
I have a cage in a 10’ ceiling building.

I would order the heaviest netting you can afford. The heavier net will reduce how far ball will push net up on impact. I still get ceiling strikes on hard pop ups, the farther the ball gets “down range” from the hitter, the more angle it strikes the net, the less it pushes the net toward the ceiling.

Like shaker said, if you can go 14wide, do it. Either way, go at least 12’ sides and balls won’t get out the bottom and you can prop the side net out away from the hitter to make it wider at the bottom.
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
I'd think some kind of ceiling padding would be in order from the area above her head and maybe another 20 feet further out. You're going to have little room for the net to drop and be the buffer for hard hit balls.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
Out of experience, you can also virtually make the tunnel wider by moving the plate to the right or left of center depending on the hitter versus just plopping down the plate in the 'middle' of the available space. Hitters need adequate room 'behind them' to finish their swing properly....depending on where the feeder is set up, ie, 20 feet out soft-toss versus 40 feet out hitting machine, you might need to protect the feeder from head-shots off the top/ceiling....

Short answer is: should be more than adequate space if you are creative.
 
May 1, 2018
659
63
I have the opportunity to put an indoor batting cage in for my dd this winter. I am not sure if the dimensions I have to work with will be ok. What I have to work with is the following. 12 feet wide and a ceiling that is 9-10 feet tall. The ceiling is cinder block so there is no give. Will these dimensions work for a batting cage?

A couple things. 12' is narrow like Shaker said, but it can work just move the plate to one side. The height is and issue: usually you want a couple feet so that the net takes the impact. Plus running wires up there. You can do it but whoever the pitcher is will need to watch balls coming down.
What's the length? 55' is standard for softball 70 for baseball.
 
Mar 8, 2016
313
63
Thanks for all of the help. The sides are not solid. I am limited by some posts that block it from being any wider. There should not be any problem with ricochets from the sides. The ceiling is the solid part. DD is 5'11" so it takes a pretty wide area for her to swing. I will definitely have to work off center so she can have enough room to swing. I have the option of purchasing a barley used 36' cage or 55' cage from someone who is selling out. I normally pitch from 15-20'. Unfortunately that is as far away as I can get and place the ball where I want with any amount of speed to approximate normal reaction times.
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
Arrange it so the poles are not by home plate and pull out the net to make it wider at the batter's box. Should work great. Pad the poles for ricochets, pipe insulation works great and is cheap if you don't want to shell out for real pads.
 

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