Ballfield Maintenance is only as simple or as complex as you want to make. You don't have to have a bunch of fancy equipment to make a field look great and that is great to play on. It doesn't take much work to make a field look great, it just takes a little time and some effort, but don't worry not that much effort. This page will describe what needs to be done to maintain a baseball/softball field. Please keep in mind that this information is for basic maintenance, I will add some more in depth maintenance practices later on. The first thing to consider in ballfield maintenance is safety. You need to make safety your first concern. If you don't, players on the field will more then likely get hurt. A safety check should be conducted before any maintenance is done or any practice or game is played. This should include, but not limited to checking that all bases and pitching plates are secure and that there are no holes in the playing field. Pretty much the basic maintenance includes dragging the dirt or skinned part of the field, packing in the pitching mound and batter box holes, and possibly mowing the infield grass. Dragging the skinned area of the ballfield is the single most important thing you can do to your field. If you look at where the players are positioned on the field, there could be as many as seven (7) players on the skinned area at one time, four (4) fielding players and three (3) base runners, and only three (3) fielding players on the grass. As a result there is more attention given to the skinned surface then there is on the grass. The ideal conditions for the skinned surface is level, firm with the top quarter to half-inch being made up of loose soil and soil conditioner (ex. Turface MVP). But in reality that is not the case for most little leugue and babe ruth infields. With some work you can acheive a skinned surface that is close to that. The most important part is to keep the top part of the skinned surface loose and broken up. This can be done with a nail drag (see the photo page on how to construct one) or if you play on a smaller field, use a landscape rake to keep the dirt loose. By keeping the dirt loose the ball takes truer hops and the players will be able to dig there cleats in better. One very important thing to keep in mind is when dragging or raking out the skinned surface, to make sure not to get any dirt onto the grass. Build up of dirt on the grass forms a uneven surface transition know a lip, which can be very dangerous to a player trying to field a grounder. |