When a pitching mat is attached to an outdoor dirt field.

[tomorrow]

I have 2 questions in regards to pitching mats being attached to outdoor dirt fields.

1. Is anything written down in any set of rules that allows for this? Who determines the length? Should they be attached on all 4 corners? Is it ok to pull up the matt and smooth the dirt surface?

2. Have you noticed taller pitchers or pitchers that are pushing farther off the rubber having planting issues with pitching mats?

 

[El Oso]

I have 2 questions in regards to pitching mats being attached to outdoor dirt fields.

1. Is anything written down in any set of rules that allows for this? Who determines the length? Should they be attached on all 4 corners? Is it ok to pull up the matt and smooth the dirt surface?

2. Have you noticed taller pitchers or pitchers that are pushing farther off the rubber having planting issues with pitching mats?

2. Yes. Plano Tx --my daughter is 6'0" and was facing a pitcher who is 5'10" with a huge push off. Both were going off the end of the mat. Right there where the mat met the dirt. My daughter left the game after the 3rd inning because of a twisted ankle. The other pitcher went to the emergency room with a really bad twisted ankle after the 1st inning. The park did nothing. The issue was, the mats were too short. They only extended to the edge of the circle. Little did the Park people know, some pitchers land beyond the circle.. Most pitchers were landing about 12" short of the end, causing a crater to be formed. My DD and the other pitcher were landing on the far side of the typical landing spot, where a hill had been formed, causing an very uneven surface and subsequently, twisted ankles.

 

[CoachCeetar]

interested in this because our home fields are crap and I'm tired of trying to "fix" the rubber and was thinking we should push for a mat. This is mostly for younger kids so I don't think any of 'em well be reaching the end, but if it's still making holes underneath (by the rubber, not the hard 'dirt' infield) it might not even be worth it?

I would think you have to make sure it's not gonna slide when someone lands on it with forward force like that for sure.

 

[tomorrow]

My DD and the other pitcher were landing on the far side of the typical landing spot, where a hill had been formed, causing an very uneven surface and subsequently, twisted ankles.

This is exactly the issue I was seeing. It is hard for everyone to see the uneven surface due to the pitching mat disguising the true landing area.

 

[Gambler Bob]

For fields that are only used for softball, it seams it would be easiest to just pour concrete where the pitching mat would go. Put a horse mat on top of the concrete, then put down a pitching mat. All of this would need to be anchored to the concrete. No more maintenance to the pitching area. Of course the pitching mat needs to be plenty long.

 

[abbygale]

I've seen in New Zealand mens/womens video's, where the mats are placed in reverse with the short side to the catcher. Pitchers are landing in the dirt.

 

[Hillhouse]

I've seen in New Zealand mens/womens video's, where the mats are placed in reverse with the short side to the catcher. Pitchers are landing in the dirt.

Mats are used in NZ and Australia both. In NZ, during my days of playing there, I can only recall 1 field that did NOT use a pitching mat. While I disliked it at first, eventually I became luke warm to them. Right or wrong, the rational behind using them was this: due to NZ being so small, parks are used for multiple sports: softball, soccer, rugby, cricket, etc. And at the time I was there, despite being the women's world champs in 1986, and the men's world champs '84, 96, 2000, 2004, 2013, 2017, there was only 5 or 6 "skinned diamonds" (dirt infields) in the entire country. All other games are played on all grass fields, the same fields used for the above mentioned other sports. So, the mats served multiple purposes. 1. easier maintenance. 2. it created the same pitching conditions regardless of playing on dirt or grass so the home team would have less of an advantage if their team played on dirt while the other's home was all grass. 3. there was never a need for pitching ground maintenance due to not having holes everywhere. 4. it made it easier to change the pitching distances from mens/womens games. Anyone who's ever pitched in the USA where the women's rubber wasn't removed first could find themselves tripping on it badly, sometimes causing injuries. 5. using the mats saved the grass (on the multi-purpose fields) from having large holes and divots from the push off point and the landing leg. While the grass would get worn out in the batters boxes on the grass fields, that was nothing compared to the holes created by pitchers. NZ did not legislate the length or width of the mats. They were made of hard hard rubber so metal cleats wouldn't slip and would be durable. Also, again back then when I was in NZ/Australia, pitchers had to have 2 feet in contact with the rubber for both males and females. That is easier to do and easier for umpires to see with a mat.

Again, going back to my playing days in NZ and Aussie, they didn't have many umpires. And the ones they did have, lets just say they lacked training. If they were lucky, they'd get $10-20 per game (which back then was .50 cents on our dollar. So $10 NZD was $5 USD, give or take.) Anyway, now days they seem to have a lot more umpires and I think they actually get paid somewhat decently, although nowhere near what umpires earn here. So, considering they didn't really have much for umpires relying on volunteers, they didn't have groundskeepers much either. There was no relining the fields between games, so filling in pitching circle holes and craters wouldn't happen either.

In my experience, the only time mats were turned around the way abbygale described is if was raining or had rained earlier in the day. Then those rubber mats would be slippery like ice. But aside from rain during or before the games, the mats would always be long side towards the catcher.

As I said, I became luke warm to them. There was pros and cons. I liked landing in the same spot pitch after pitch, I didn't have to worry about the other pitcher digging out big holes. But, that would also mean there was no hole in front of the rubber to push from like a starter block. I also think that a good portion of the issues I have with my back and disc problems is from landing on those hard mats. At least when you land on the dirt, there's more give there and more natural. I believe this is why more pitchers in cold weather places experience more back pain than in warm weather places, pitching indoors on hard gym floors takes it's toll. Several other male pitchers in particular from NZ have had knee issues, left knee for a RHP. Again this from the pounding it takes landing on the hard surface constantly.

I know none of that answers the OP's questions about mat sizes. Sorry about that. I don't know the answer to those questions but, I wanted to give you a bit of a background on it since abbygale brought up NZ using them.

 

[dogpatch]

There is nothing stated about use of pitching mats during competition in either NFHS or NCAA rule books.

The use of pitching mats at public parks is predictable... They are used either to save maintenance costs when dealing with inadequate budgets or they are used because of no desire to put forth the effort to correctly maintain the high wear areas of skinned infields. It is up to the people who are forced to use such substandard facilities to take steps to correct the issue. It starts through dialogue with the powers that be! If a hazard is found on a field, be proactive and DO NOT start or continue a game on that field until it is fixed!