Why is softball infield dirt

Clay is just plain cheaper than grass. Some feilds have more clay in infeild than others. Beam Clay,Diamond Pro,Profile Real Grass. Tall fescue, Bermuda grass and buffalo grass all does well in clay soils.

Bermuda grass is the kind of grass you seem on golf courses and public parks. Clay And grass. Grass and Clay. The "dirt" we see isn't really what I would call dirt. A baseball infield is made up of a special mixture of sand, silt, and clay. Silt is a natural material halfway between sand and clay as far as particle size is concerned.

There doesn't seem to be any one central source and depends more of the likings of the local groundskeepers. At Fenway Park, they mix in some ground up kitty-litter type stuff to give the infield "dirt" a redder color.

Our local AA minor league park has artificial "dirt" made up of ground up automobile tires. Low maintenance and good drainage were what they were looking for around here! Bill Clay - baseball - was born on Bill Clay - baseball - died on Historically, Grass is the fastest of all surfaces and Clay is the slowest. Though, in the last decade Wimbledon has experimented with their surface to slow it down.

Big serves were dictating play too much. I also believe that the clay at Roland Garos French Open played faster than in years past in ' With that being said, Grass, even though slower than 10 years ago, and Clay, arguably faster, Grass is still considerably faster than clay. Let's start by defining dirt. Clay is dirt, particularly if you live in a state like Ohio where most of the soil contains a lot of clay.

If I take a sample in my back yard it's mostly clay. I suspect you live in a state like Florida where most of the soil is very sandy, so dirt to you is more sandy. As your baselines actually create a square as well as a diamond , the same distance should be found from first to third, too. After the bases are in place, the next step is to measure the mound. The rubber is 24 inches by six inches.

And it should be placed 43 feet away from home plate and it should be perfectly level with the ground. Then, a perfect circle with an 8-foot radius and foot diameter should be drawn around the rubber. Many teams also draw a pitching lane the width of the mound to the edge of the circle where it faces home plate. Catchers have one of most complicated positions in the game of softball. They are the only position that can see the entire field and they are tasked with calling and catching some incredibly fast balls.

They also have to deal with varying backstop distances. Catchers need enough room to make plays on popups, but they also need the backstop to be close enough that they can make plays on wild pitches and passed balls. At minimum, the distance should be 25 feet, but some fields have backstops that are 30 feet or more. This might come as a surprise to people who are unfamiliar with the game, but it the foot fences are perfect distances for athletic women who can swing a bat with power.

Unfortunately, women are forced to play on fields with fences that are simply too far away. Fortunately, there are temporary fences that can be erected quickly to keep the game true.

Auchter, a year veteran of grounds management and a certified sports field manager, oversees the care of these fields. It all starts with regular leveling. It may be tempting to simply grab a drag mat, groom the field and call it a day, but this will only improve how the field looks — not how it performs. How often should the infield be leveled? According to Auchter, leveling should be done after every use. As soon as play is finished, scan the infield for uneven areas.

For smaller areas, you can typically use a leveling rake. Level the area by raking the material from a high spot and depositing it into the low spot. If the infield mix is dry, wet the newly leveled area and tamp it down to help keep it in place.

Bigger jobs may require the use of a leveling attachment for your tractor or riding mower. You have 20 guys over there, counting coaches, who can help do their part, and it saves a lot. You can accomplish a lot. Just try to utilize as many resources as you have available to you.

This article originally appeared in the April issue of Athletic Business with the title "The Dirt: Basics for keeping your baseball infield playable and safe. Click here to subscribe.

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