Whether you’re a coach or a player, you know that high school baseball is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to skill development.
That’s especially important when comes to pitching, which means it’s critical to use a high school pitching mound that conforms to the necessary measurements.
But there’s a lot more to it than that. If you’re going to be practicing both indoors and outdoors, you need a high school pitching mound that will stand up to practice repetitions and duplicate game conditions exactly. At Victory Mounds, making a pitching mound or a baseball mound is a big part of what we do for a living, so we happen to be experts on the subject.
Pitching Mounds in High School Baseball
Let’s start by talking about pitchers and pitching in high school baseball. At the lower levels, skill development is mostly about throwing strikes, hitting the catcher’s target and building enough arm strength to develop velocity.
In high school, though, everything changes. Not that it’s not important to throw strikes, throw hard and hit the target—those requirements don’t change at any level, especially as you climb the skills ladder to high school and beyond.
But high school hurlers have to be able to do a lot more than that. They need to be able to locate, throw strikes at different speeds, and occasionally they need to throw inside.
Hitters get stronger and become more sophisticated, too, so it’s important to change their eye level with different pitches and keep them off balance, too.
That means curve balls, change ups and breaking balls. The development process is faster for some high school pitchers than others, but that’s part of separating the wheat from the chaff.
The rewards are significant. College scholarships are worth tens of thousands of dollars, and for those who make it to the big leagues, millions may be involved. So while a high school pitching mound might seem trivial to casual fans, rest assured that coaches and would be prospects take it very serious.
Dimensions of High School Pitching Mounds
So let’s start with the basics. Specifically, what are the proper dimensions of a high school pitching mound?
The mound circle is the most basic dimension. It has to be 18 feet in diameter, and the height has to be exactly 10 inches higher than home plate.
But there’s more. The distance to home plate has to be 60 feet, 6 inches, and that measurement is taken from the back of home plate to the front of the rubber.
The rubber, which is a slab in the middle of the mound that pitchers use for balance, stability and continuity, comes with its own set of dimensions. It has to be 24 inches long and 6 inches wide, and it has to be correctly centered to home plate. The material for the white rubber slab is important, too, as it can’t be too spongy or slippery.
Mound Materials and a Turface Professional Mound
While some high school pitching mounds are built using ordinary dirt, the better ones are built using a specialized, high-density virgin clay.
This clay is made by a variety of companies that go by different names like Diamond Pro, Turface Professional Mound, and so on.
This clay is specifically made to be stable and durable in the landing area so that pitchers can take a full stride into the landing area without having to worry about their spikes catching.
The mounds are constructed out of clay bricks, with a set number being used for each area of the mound. Exactly 63 bricks are used for the top platform of the mound, while 36 are used for the stride area and another 81 for the landing area.
Using Portable Pitching Mounds on a High School Baseball Field
Not all high school pitching mounds are that precise, however. Some are built out of ordinary dirt, and while this can be dangerous, it does get the job done in most circumstances.
But what about practice mounds? At the high school level, game fields often aren’t available until actual scheduled games begin, and some practice fields are on the shoddy side.
There is a remedy to this, however. Companies like Victory Mounds make portable pitching mounds that replicate the exact dimensions of high school pitching mounds, which means that pitchers can develop skills consistency and effectively.
These portable practice mounds may not be made of specialty clays like Turface, but they do offer other advantages. Specially, they’re tough and durable, which means pitchers can experiment with pitching from different spots on the rubber.
Both the landing area and the entire mound area is made of reinforced Astroturf, so pitchers can experiment with pickoff moves as well.
The durability of these mounds means they’ll stand up to the pound of hundreds of practices, and they can eliminate the need for dozens of hours of manual labor that’s necessary to build a practice or game mound from scratch.
High School Baseball Pitching Mounds and Practice Habits
Another advantage of using practice mounds for high school baseball is they help develop solid practice habits.
Knowing that the dimensions are precise gives coaches the peace of mind that comes with knowing skills development is being done properly, to the point where pitchers can work on their skills during both batting practice and fielding drills.
The improvements that come with a synchronized, effective practice are obvious. Players improve at a faster rate, and their focus tends to be better because they’re more involved.
Rather than standing around waiting for something to happen, players can shift seamlessly from one drill to another, sharpening their skills and enjoying a practice process that’s a lot more fun and productive.
Get the Best High School Pitching Mound for Your Needs
The good news is that there are even more benefits to these mounds that pertain to skill training, so the next step is to call us to find out about them.
We’ve been making quality baseball equipment for years, and we have a lot of expertise. We’ll answer your questions, as a few of our own about your program and needs, then recommend a product.
You’ll be happy with what you get, so 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