If you’re thinking of buying a portable pitching mound for your young hurler or outdoor pitching mounds for your team, you probably have a lot of questions about what you need.
Maybe you’re new to the products and you don’t know a lot about how they’re built, what the features are, or how to find the right mound for your budget and situation.
So let’s give you the information you need. What follows is a basic buyer’s guide for portable pitching mounds that will hopefully answer all your questions.
Define Your Pitching Mound Equipment Needs
Buying a portable mound starts with evaluating your needs. At what level are you coaching? Do you practice indoors at during inclement weather or during the offseason? Are you looking for portable pitching mounds mostly for practice, or do you need a game mound?
The answers to these questions will help guide your choice, but let’s use the example of a search for a portable pitching mound that’s strictly for outdoor use.
We’ll also assume you haven’t decided if you want a game mound or a practice mound, but you’re open to the possibility of getting a mound that can do both.
Match the Portable Pitching Mound to Your Performance Level: Do You Need a Pro Mound?
It’s important to remember that pitching mounds is that they come in different sizes for the leagues at the lower levels. The first thing you need to differentiate is whether you need a pro mound or a Little League or youth league mound.
Little League Pitching Mounds
If you’re getting one for a Little League team, for instance, you’ll be buying a 6-inch mound. That mound is constructed to have an appropriate landing area for young players so they can build good practice habits.
Youth League and High School Pitching Mounds
At the next level up, which is youth league, pitching mounds have a height of 8 inches, and for high school and up you’ll be looking at mounds with a height of 10 inches.
At the higher levels—i.e., high school and above— you should consider getting a pro mound. If you’re serious about skill development or you’re coaching or running a team, you need to get a quality mound that will assist you in this process.
Outdoor or Indoor: What Kind of Mound Do You Need?
There are three basic types of pitching mounds:
- game mounds
- practice mounds
- pitching platforms
We’ve already established that you’re looking for a portable outdoor mound as opposed to a pitching platform, so let’s move on to the features with that in mind.
The Equipment Feature Set: What Constitutes a Good Portable Mound?
When you start evaluating individual companies and the pitching mounds they offer, it’s important to realize that not all mounds are created equal. You will see both cheaper options and more expensive alternatives, and it’s important to know what the differences are.
Start with the materials. Many of the cheaper mounds are made overseas, but of course you can’t tell that from the fancy photos on their websites.
To get that information, you need to delve into the specifications and see exactly what materials are used to make these cheaper mounds.
If you struggle to find that information, it’s a good sign that you may need to move on and find a better company that’s more forthcoming about the makeup of their mounds.
More About the Mound Materials
Some cheaper mounds are made from flimsier wood, and many actually use Styrofoam as part of their materials. And those same fancy photos may hide the fact that some of the dimensions are off, which is bad news when it comes to developing good practice habits and accurate skills.
These mounds may look like a bargain, but they won’t be after a few months of consistent use when they start falling apart. And even if they do hold up, they can develop dead spots or become soft or spongy over time, which can increase the chance of injury and hinder skill development.
What are the Materials in is a Good Portable Mound?
Now let’s talk about the better pitching mounds and the materials used to make them:
- High quality fiberglass: The companies that make them typically use fiberglass compounds that are built to last, and they’re also built to the exact specifications for each level.
- Portability: Good pitching mounds are easy to carry, which makes them even more portable, and some of the best ones can even be broken down into two parts.
- Durable artificial turf: The best portable pitching mounds are typically coated with some kind of Astroturf in the landing area, which is an important feature. It prevents slips and injuries, especially for younger pitchers who are still working on the form, and this turf is also important when it comes to durability.
- Wear and tear issues: This turf is also built to handle the wear and tear from both metal and rubber cleats, and to resist marking as well. Many of the better ones also come with a UV-resistant layer, so they’re built to handle extensive sun exposure as well as occasional bad-weather use.
Warranty for Portable Pitching Mounds
Now let’s talk about warranties. The best companies that make outdoor pitching mounds have warranties that extend for at least five years, which covers the basic materials as well as normal wear and tear.
Repair Kits for Pitching Mounds
They also offer repair kits. The reason for this is that the field turf strip in the landing area will become worn and even marked over time, but these repair kits are an easy way to fix the problem. They help increase the lifespan of the problem, and they’re usually fairly inexpensive.
Pitching Mound Benefits
- Convenience: One of the most important benefits of portable pitching mounds is the convenience they offer. The best outdoor practice mounds are easy to carry, and some models also come with wheels, which makes them especially great for fields that aren’t right at the edge of the parking area.
- Building practice habits: When it comes to building great practice habits, you’ll quickly learn that the sky’s the limit. Portable pitching mounds make it easier to cover more ground in practice and do more skill development, and the improvements you’ll see on the field can easily lead to winning.
Victory Mounds Pitching Mounds and Your Equipment Budget
One of the biggest benefits of buying from victory mounds is that we’ve been making quality baseball equipment for both teams and facilities for years, and we have a lot of expertise.
We’ll answer your questions, ask 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, or you can contact us via email at info@victorymounds.com.