Batting cages are a great way for little leaguers and professionals alike to work on their hitting. In cities and towns throughout the United States, kids can make their way to batting cage practice areas where they will pay a fee (usually a dollar for a token) to have a pitching machine throw 10-15 pitches to them. This is a great way to work on becoming a better hitter. Most batting cages have a pitching machine set 45 to 60 feet (14 to 18 meters) from home plate. These machines can be set to throw pitches at various speeds to accommodate all player levels. As the machine delivers the pitch, the batter swings and tries to connect with the baseball. Netting that covers the sides, front, back, and ceiling area are provided to contain the balls.
Aside from paying a fee for 10-15 pitches, many batting cage facilities allow players to rent the cage for periods of time. Many facilities also have instructors who are available to give hitting lessons to youngsters who want to improve their hitting skills. These lessons will be held in the batting cage. High schoolers, college players, and professionals have batting cages on their respective facilities to allow the players to get additional batting repititions, and thus make themselves into better hitters.
The average person can easily install a batting cage on his own property if he has some land available. Batting cages come in a variety of sizes and manufacturers will supply the poles, wires, netting, and connection pieces required to install such a cage. Cage sizes are typically 10 feet tall (3 meters), 12 to 14 feet (3.6 to 4.2 meters) wide, and anywhere from 30 to 75 feet (9 to 23 meters) in length. The poles are normally installed at the ends of the cage and heavy gauge wiring are pulled tightly from pole to pole. The netting is attached to the wiring, frequently using tie-wraps or other similar clasps. Once installed, the cage will offer an excellent containment system as the front, back, sides and ceiling will prevent baseballs from flying out of the area.
With a cage installed, a player can hit from the tee or have a parent, friend or sibling throw pitches. Home cages like these can lead to many hours of baseball fun. If you order netting for home installation of a batting cage, make sure that it is UV treated as such netting is much more durable than netting that has not been UV treated. If you live in a colder climate, you should take down your netting over the winter to ensure many years of usage.