Winter has finally come so we've had to move practice into the garage. What is the best way to set up a rubber? Just putting one on the floor seems like it would slide around and be unstable. Any recommendations?
i bought a 4'x10' artificial turf from home depot (not sure of the name) and glued a 8"x24" wood as the pitching 'rubber'.
i straighten it after several pitches. it's not perfect but better than not pitching
I had piece of old carpet that i cut into 9' x 3' pitching mat and spray painted a power line on the mat. I glued a pitching rubber to the carpet with construction adhesive. Then the pitching rubber is secured to the concrete with Tapcons. The Tapcons are counter sunk into the pitching rubber so they do not stick up through the pitching rubber. The workouts mats are underneath the pitching mat to reduce the stress of pitching on a concrete surface with just a piece of carpet for padding.
We also do some of our workouts on the mats, jumping excercises, situps, squats, core work etc. Works pretty good for it intended purpose.
Like shaker1, I went to a farm supply store and bought some 3/8" x 3x9' stall/shop mat as well as several more feet of 4 foot wide mat of the same thickness. I cut the second mat into several 6x24 inch rubbers and use 3M no-residue tape to attach these to the mat, carpet, gym floor and give these to the kids I work with. I don't use a power line, but have strips of no-residue tape ready on the mats that can be moved and reused several times. I recommend this tape to my kids because it can be used in the house without messing up carpet/floor. I keep a few extra rubbers in the car with tape folded over under the mat that can be reused several times for indoor/covered practices.
For a portable rubber for smooth surfaces, I just use three short pieces of no-reside tape and just fold the pieces under for storage. I usually have a short piece of tape or two ready to use as needed.
I think one long mat, extra rubbers and tape was about $60. I've thought about gluing astro turf to a mat, but I'd guess that the cost would almost justify a ready-made mat on Amazon which I think would be more portable. The mats are nice because you can take them anywhere and as long as you clean them them first, they work great on gym floors.
While you're at the farm store, you can also pick up some 3/4" mat to cut up and use outside as portable or permanent rubbers. Drill at least 2 holes and spike these into the dirt/grass. I prefer these to be recessed if permanent.