How to Build a Batting Cage at Home

A backyard batting cage provides players of all ages with adequate practice time.

As the popularity of baseball and softball increases, many players and parents find it helpful to have their own batting cages at their home. Having a batting cage at home ensures that players can get as many repetitions as they need or want, without having wait through long lines. Building a batting cage can be accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.

Things You'll Need

• 6 wooden posts, 4 inches by 4 inches and 12 feet long
• Netting to cover an area 40 feet long by 20 feet wide, by 8 or 9 feet tall
• 24 eyelets for wood posts
• Cable wire
• Drill
• Hammer
• Ladder
• Concrete
• Shovel, post hole diggers or auger
• Tape measure
• Friends to help move the posts
• Level
• 12 bags of quick drying concrete, 10 pounds each
• Water
• Wheel barrow or mixing trough

Instructions

1. Measure the area in which you will build the batting cage. Mark the end post positions, 40 feet long, by 10 feet wide. Measure and mark the middle post positions halfway between the lengthwise posts, 20 feet from each end. (You should have have six post positions marked, in a rectangular position.)

2. Dig a hole at each of the six positions you marked, three to four feet deep. (Make sure you dig all of the holes the same depth.) Mix the 12 bags of concrete with water in a mixing trough or a large wheel barrow. Place a post in a hole. Pour two bags worth of concrete into each hole around the posts with a shovel. Pack dirt on top of the concrete and tamp it down with the back of the shovel. Check each post with a level to make sure they are square. (You don't want any of the posts to be crooked.) Allow the concrete to dry overnight.

3. Drill a pilot hole for each of the eyelets, several inches from the top of each post. Position the holes on the inside edges of the posts. Repeat the process for the bottom of the posts, so that the holes are about six inches from the ground. (There should be 24 holes total.) Install an eyelet in each post hole. Hammer the eyelets into the wood if they get stuck in the pilot hole.

4. Install the netting material. Loop the netting through each eyelet so that it is held in place. Repeat this for every eyelet so that the netting is supported. Thread the cable wire through the entire top of the netting so that it forms a support ring. (The wire should form a rectangle at the top of the posts.) Weave the wire through the netting and through each eyelet. Cut the wire and tie it to the last eyelet.

References

• Youth Baseball Basics: How to Make a Baseball Batting Cage From Scratch
• Baseball Equipment Review: How to Build a Batting Cage
• Practice Batting Cages: How to Build a Batting Cage