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March 24, 2022 Post a Comment

Field Maintenance Tips: How to Elevate a Baseball game and Softball Infield

Go along the infield in peak condition all season with these leveling and grooming tips.

Baseball game and softball infield maintenance can literally exist a drag, but it's worth the effort. Commit to regular intendance, and you lot will be rewarded with a smooth, playable infield surface throughout the flavor.

What are the best methods for keeping the infield in peak condition? For expert insights on the proper techniques, Pro Tips spoke to Rebecca Auchter, grounds manager for Cranberry Township, Pa. Cranberry is habitation to the DICK'S Sporting Goods Sportsplex, a 115-acre youth sports complex with 5 pristine baseball and softball fields. Auchter, a twenty-year veteran of grounds management and a certified sports field managing director, oversees the care of these fields.

She shared the 2 key techniques for infield maintenance she uses: leveling and preparation.

Keep in mind that these tips apply to the "skinned" areas of the infield surface — the all-clay areas where no grass is nowadays.

LEVELING

It all starts with regular leveling. It may be tempting to only grab a drag mat, groom the field and call information technology a day, but this will only improve how the field looks — not how it performs.

"The most common error I see from inexperienced and/or volunteer field managers is to drag a steel mat around and around in circles without leveling uneven areas starting time," Auchter says. "The but way an infield skin will perform optimally is to level the high and depression areas and then water has an uninterrupted path out via a polish surface."

How often should the infield exist leveled? According to Auchter, leveling should exist done after every use. As soon as play is finished, scan the infield for uneven areas. For smaller areas, you lot tin can typically utilize a leveling rake. Level the surface area by raking the material from a loftier spot and depositing information technology into the low spot. If the infield mix is dry, moisture the newly leveled surface area and tamp it downwardly to help continue it in place.

Bigger jobs may require the employ of a leveling attachment for your tractor or riding mower. Before using a leveling attachment, use a nail drag or needle tines to loosen the infield cloth. When leveling, brand wide sweeping turns in several directions over your target expanse. Once again, if the infield is dry out, water the surface area and tamp it downwards to help keep the freshly leveled infield mix in place.

GROOMING

Training prepares the field surface for play, providing a smooth, finished wait. Think, grooming should only be done afterwards you take finished leveling.

Auchter suggests following these steps for the best training results:

Remove all bases and fill up each hole with a rubber plug or similar production.
Use a blast elevate to "scarify" the field, which helps break upwards difficult and compacted material on the infield.
Subsequently scarifying the field, finish grooming the field with a drag mat or broom.
When you are a few feet from the outfield grass, elevator the drag and shake off whatever excess field mix. Then, paw rake the edges to prevent lip build-upwardly.
Use a rake to smooth out the pile left by the drag.
Use a manus rake to groom the base paths, home plate area and the back radius of the infield.

Keep the following tips in mind when grooming:

You lot should start and finish grooming at different spots in the infield each fourth dimension. If y'all begin in the same spot every time, y'all could remove also much dirt from that expanse. As well, if yous end at the same spot every fourth dimension, you could leave a buildup of dirt in that area. Both can exit you with an uneven playing surface, and so brand sure yous change up your routine.
Change up the management in which you groom. This can help forbid uneven spots from forming.
Maintain a steady pace. Going too fast can crusade the elevate to bounce and go out uneven dirt deposits throughout the infield.

"Improper grooming techniques atomic number 82 to lips at the grass transition — high and low spots that trap water, and ultimately unpredictable ball whorl that can frustrate or [perchance] hurt players," Auchter says.

Finally, here are some things yous should absolutely avert when grooming the infield:

Practice non use a training tool on whatever grass surfaces.
Do non employ a drag mat within ii feet of the grass edge. Getting whatever closer can cause lips to form.
Practice not apply a elevate mat effectually home plate.
Exercise not effort to drag the base paths if there is grass on the infield. Instead, use a manus rake, raking parallel to the grass.

OFFSEASON UPKEEP

If you lot live in an area with cold winters, yous may wonder what y'all should do with the infield surface during the offseason.

"When fields are not in use, it is best to level, roll the surface and leave it alone," Auchter says. "Loosening the peak textile by preparation creates a situation where rain and wind tin can more than hands readapt the infield mix."

With these field maintenance tips, yous'll have your field performing and looking its best all flavour.