For many sports lovers, the field, the pitch, or the court is the place where sportsmanship and love of the game come together, and where fans and athletes interact. But how would non-sportsmen know when a playing field is the best? Here are some of the qualities that athletes and sports fans consider when it comes to playing fields.
Game fields
This should be a no-brainer. It’s essential for a sandlot complex to have a playing field or a sandlot. Look for an area with league regulation measurements and specifications of the crucial lines and sections of the field. Look for the infield and outfield, the bases, the pitcher’s mound, the foul line, the boxes for the batter, catcher, and coaches, as well as on-deck circles.
Pitching booths
On top of a fully-functional playing field, pitching booths are also incredibly popular in sandlot complexes geared towards training. Pitching booths allow players to work on their pitching without disrupting anyone else in the field. You can also rest assured that the training complex can handle the traffic if there are enough pitching booths.
Some sandlots take it to the next level to make it even better by having specialized booths for different kinds of pitches. A common example of this is a speed pitch booth equipped with the technology to check the speed of your pitch.
Rentable gear
Although most athletes prefer to use their own gear there are some sports where you can rent equipment. Many sandlots have standard, league-approved equipment. A supply of rentable regulation baseball balls should be non-negotiable, and if you’re in the youth league, you should look for the Reduced Injury Factor (RIF) baseball on-site. The rest of the supplies could be unavailable depending on the kind of people training in the complex, especially if they’re professionals that almost always carry their own gear.
However, it would still be nice to have a few still that people can borrow. This includes bats of different sizes, gloves, hats and helmets, cleats, and catcher’s gear. Note that the specifications change for the youth leagues, so if you’re playing in that league, it might be good to ask for particular sizes.
Specialized accessories
Specific sports come with specific accessories, and the same goes for baseball. Common and useful baseball-specific accessories are baseball radar guns that can tell the speed of the ball at any given time, so you’ll have the numbers to prove your progress and automatic pitching machines that allow you to train your batting without needing a pitcher.
Although there is a myriad of new technology and gear coming out for baseball, these two are what we believe to be non-negotiable and most beneficial to your training. However, if you are looking to work on more specific goals, it’s good to ask the sandlot staff ahead of time if there’s anything within the training complex that can help you towards that goal.
Generic accessories
If your sandlot has free weights or a cardio section, this will save you the trip to the gym for your strength and conditioning workout after your baseball training, which is not only convenient but also cost-efficient when you’re paying for both the sandlot membership and the gym membership.
