Removable Pitching Rubber

[Coach Steve Maine]

I have a field where I need 35' 40' and 43' rubbers. I don't like pounding in a rubber every time we change levels, and I need very secure setups. We had college girls last summer. I'm afraid if I use a removable type the girls will dig (drag) up the underground setups in front of them, at 40 and 35'. Thoughts?

 

[Gags]

I’d use three of these, with removable plugs that just leave the “whiskers” poking out above ground.

Pitcher's Plate Ground Anchor Only

Shop our complete line of sporting goods and get the Pitcher's Plate Ground Anchor Only today!

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[quincy]

One of DD's MS fields had a permanent plate at 40'. IMO it was dangerous. I politely asked for it to be taken out, coach made 3 phone calls and it was gone.

I have not ever had and Issue with the temporary plate moving.

Wrong distance, sure that has happened a couple times.

(Acutally I know the rule now)

 

[Orange Socks]

Put a permanent plate at 43' and use the removable one for the 40' and 35'.

 

[quincy]

No.

One of the few things I have a strong opinion on, no perminate plates.

Has anyone had an Issue with temp plate shifting?

 

[HunterMO]

No.

One of the few things I have a strong opinion on, no perminate plates.

Has anyone had an Issue with temp plate shifting?

We played a tournament last year which was an absolute mess. Another story for another time.

But....we had an issue where we played on a field after a 10u team. The pitching rubber was at 35’ when we stepped on the field. Short story.....turns out it was a temp plate (two stakes) and it was moved back for us.

The girls didn’t complain about it shifting and I didn’t notice anything as I watched them pitch. My DD would have said something if she noticed it shifting.


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[Coach Steve Maine]

Thank you for the replies.

Last year we had 105 games at the field. We used the rubbers that had the three spikes from the bottom of the rubber. They were very secure but a pain to move so often, and sometimes the spikes would rip out from the rubber and ruin it. We tried the type with two spikes per end threw the metal. They did not work well. As a coach I like just the one rubber and no underground mounts at 40 and 35. As the field set up guy, I want to try something different.

Thanks again

 

[marriard]

Last year we had 105 games at the field. We used the rubbers that had the three spikes from the bottom of the rubber. They were very secure but a pain to move so often, and sometimes the spikes would rip out from the rubber and ruin it.

As the field set up guy, I want to try something different.

We had 200+ games plus nightly practices on each of our fields (so heavy use).

We have the permanent at 43' and use temps at 40' and 35' - the same ones you use - 3 spikes.

We made it easier with:

• Better game scheduling (keeping the same age group on a field all day as much as possible). This generally works by not caring about time requests for teams (and calling the bluff of coaches/parents who claim they won't turn up if it is not at x time).
• Better field maintenance. Especially in the pitchers circle. It made a huge difference when ground crews started watering, packing and maintaining the circle every day - and we also scheduled in a 30 min break on game days around lunch to do game day maintenance as well (which meant it wasn't as bad at the end of a tourney weekend).
• Experimenting with various clay mixtures - this took a bunch of time but over a year the ground crew found a mix that worked well for our area.
• Better drainage - and getting standing water off the field ASAP - we have even had the crews dig temp draining ditches on the worse days. The occasional laser leveling helps as well.
• Extra maintenance after rain days

So basically preventative maintenance and a little more thought did go a long way.

 

[quincy]

You lost me on laser leveling.

 

[ROC 33]

Clearly you need another field.