If you’re a baseball coach or a high level player, you may already know about the benefits of a portable pitching mound. It’s one of the best pieces of equipment you can buy to develop your game, and for high-end talents it’s indispensable.
But there’s a lot you need to know to get the best portable pitching mound for your needs. That information is about getting the right dimensions for a regulation pitching mound, plenty of durability, etc., so let’s dive right in and see what’s involved.
What is the Best Portable Pitching Mound for Baseball?
Here’s a list of the things you need to cover when you do your shopping:
- Evaluate the company
- Define your needs
- Find the right product
- Consider Your Budget
Find a Top Company and Evaluate Their Pitch
One of the first things you’ll learn when you start shopping for a portable pitcher’s mound is that a lot of companies are selling them. Some are great, some are solid, some verge on fly-by-night—so how do you tell the difference?
For starters, look for quality. One of the fastest ways to differentiate a real portable pitching mound from a pretender is to check out the materials. The best portable pitching mounds are made of durable fiberglass that’s cut to explicit dimensions, and that fiberglass is built to last.
Contrast that with what some of the lesser companies do. They’ll often use plywood or particle boards as part of the landing area, and while they may have a great price that looks too good to be true, it is.
Which means you’ll be buying a replacement before you know it, and you’ll also be risking injury by using it in the meantime.
Define Your Needs: Baseball Pitching Mound
When you go to find a baseball pitching mound, one of the first decisions you’ll have to make is about the type of mound you want.
There are two types of mounds—game mounds, and practice mounds. You can get both if you want to cover all the bases, but if your budget is tight you may want to choose one or the other.
Practice Pitching and a Portable Pitching Mound
Many coaches and players choose to go with a portable pitching mound to practice pitching and develop their skills.
The advantages of these mounds is that they’re great for repetition. Portable pitching mounds can be used indoors and outdoors, and if you get a quality product they’ll last for years.
What About Softball Pitching?
Many people aren’t aware that there are practice and game mounds for softball, but if you’re in a league and you take your softball seriously, these are great products.
They help make softball practices feel more authentic, and when you need to practice on a field that’s been compromised by weather or lack of proper care they can be invaluable.
League Pitching: Youth Leagues vs Upper Levels
Another important factor when it comes to pitching mounds is the skill level and size of the players. There are different size mounds available for all levels, from Little League to youth league to high school, college and beyond.
One of the biggest advantages to these products is that they provide a consistent development path. Young players can learn to use the mound properly in Little League, then graduate to a slightly large mound in youth league.
For those that are skilled enough to play at the higher levels, a portable pitching mound is especially essential. Having one represents a competitive advantage, not to mention the benefits to a player’s skill set.
Get the Right Dimensions for Your Portable Pitching Mound
Portable pitching mounds are built to explicit dimensions. The most familiar number is the 60 feet, 6 inches from the pitcher’s mound to the plate, but there’a lot more that manufacturers have to get right.
Consider the slope of a pitching mound. It has to be exactly one inch per foot over a distance of at least six feet.
If it’s not, a lot of your training won’t help. Everything will feel different when you get on a real mound, and you risk injury by working out and doing skills development on two different size mounds.
The mound slope also has to be appropriate for practicing pick off moves. The pitch is the same, and it’s also important for running off the mound to practice covering first during a bunt attempt or a ground ball where the first baseman has to abandon the bag.
Stick the Landing with a Top Portable Pitching Mound
There’s more that goes into the landing area, too. Even if the slope is right, it has to be protected, especially if you’re going to be using it frequently.
The best companies do this by adding a strip of artificial turf. That turf is designed to provide a small amount of cushion, and it’s also made to prevent slippage.
Once again, if you buy a mound that doesn’t have it, you’re risking injury, and you’ll be training on a surface that feels very different than the one you’ll actually be pitching on under game conditions.
Make Sure the Pitch Mound Rubber is Authentic
Using the pitching rubber is one of the most important aspects of skill development in baseball. Pitchers need to be able to experience and experiment with different release points to find out how their pitches move, and they need to know which release points are the most effective.
It’s hard to do that with a cheaper product. It’s easy enough to produce the rubber slab that’s regulation for pitching rubbers, but if it’s not anchored properly with the right dimensions, you’ll do a lot of work and get relatively poor results.
Get a Portable Pitching Mound to Meet Your Needs
Portability is another important feature of this kind of pitching mound. These mounds have to be light enough to be carried easily, but sturdy enough to take the pounding of daily, year-round practices.
The best portable pitching mounds from companies like Victory Mounds go beyond that basic requirement, however. Some of the best ones can be split in half so that they’re easy to carry, which makes it that much easier to quickly set them up.
Get Your Baseball Budget Needs Met with Victory Mounds
Regardless of whether you’re running a Little League team, a high school team or a college program, everybody has a baseball budget.
At Victory Mounds, we’re aware of the numbers that are involved. We’ve worked with programs at all levels, and we provide a variety of baseball equipment, which means we know how to set up some money numbers so you won’t blow your budgets.
A lot of companies can’t match this capability, so if you spend too much on a portable pitching mound, you may end up falling short when it comes to other basic needs. We’ve seen that happen, and one of our most basic goals is to prevent it.
When you contact us, we’ll answer your questions, ask a few of our own about your program and needs, then recommend the appropriate product.
The process starts when you go to VictoryMounds.com to learn more about our products, then call us at 800 835 9460. If you’d prefer to email, you can contact is at info@victorymounds.com.