Baseball Turf Protector Tarp for Batting Practice - Radius Style - Fits 30' Home Plate

Baseball Batting Practice Turf Protectors

Baseball turf protectors are used to protect the grass area directly in front of home plate from ball strike divots during batting practice. We offer three shapes of baseball turf protectors called Trapezoid Style, Radius Style, or Halo Style to fit either a 26’ or 30’ size home plate in 8oz standard or 10oz premium fabrics. Turf tarps are built to order in about a week.

What size do I need?

Our standard sizes are 25’, 30’, or 35’. This measurement is not the tarp size but the distance from the back tip of home plate straight towards the mound. Over 80 percent of ball divots will happen inside of 25 feet, so this is our most common size. The 30’ size is often selected by high school and college teams that practice on the same field where games are played. Teams with a stadium designed to accommodate more than 5,000 fans often select 35’ of coverage. Balls that travel beyond 35’ have a flat enough trajectory that they should not create a divot, so we rarely receive requests for coverage beyond 35’.

What shape do I need?

The vast majority of turf protectors in use today are trapezoid shaped. We always encourage selecting the Radius Style which features a more natural baseball shape for reduced batter distraction. Radius style turf protectors provide coverage in all the right places for less money due to square footage savings. The Halo Style fits the field like a glove for an extremely natural look that costs even less due to its smaller footprint. We should point out that not all fields can benefit from the Halo Style because many teams have elected to square off the radius typically found in front of the batter. It should also be noted that stretching wrinkles out of the Halo Style is slightly more time consuming for your groundskeeper.

Why do you need to know Home Plate Diameter?

26 foot is baseball’s standard size for home plate. This is true for high school, college, Triple-A, Double-A, MiLB, as well as MLB but many teams have expanded this out to 30 feet. This extra two foot of radius completely changes infield geometry. Six inches is the ideal overlap into the baseline which on a 26’ home plate requires 14’ of coverage across the front. This same size can be used on a 30’ home plate but will cover 2’ of dirt which is why pricing for a 30’ plate is less.

8oz Standard vs 10oz Premium

8 ounce is the industry standard fabric for baseball turf protectors. It is a vinyl coated polyester mesh fabric with a 20 percent open weave that allows water and air to pass through allowing them to be deployed for hours without damaging the turf underneath. This fabric has proven its durability in ballparks all around America for multiple decades. The 10oz premium fabric is also vinyl coated mesh but with a unique weave that promotes both traction and drainage. It features a heavier vinyl coating with an improved abrasion rating plus the heat sealed seams lay much flatter for a clean wrinkle free look. Improved traction and drainage may not be a factor while shopping for turf protectors but if you plan to purchase a matching cage collar these are valuable characteristics, and the colors are not a match from 8oz to 10oz.

What if my team needs a custom size?

The baseball turf protectors listed on this page are specifically designed to fit a 30’ home plate with a six foot wide clay dirt base line. Baseball fields with a grass base line or alternate home plate radius will benefit from a custom size turf protector. Custom size turf tarps have the same cost per square foot and one week fulfilment but our standard sizes are specifically engineered to maximize the coverage received from the square footage used. Small changes could result in excess waste which might make pricing seem higher. To order a custom size, we need to know 1) the diameter of home plate, 2) the desired coverage from home plate straight towards the mound, 3) your desired style/shape, 4) if your field has dirt or grass base lines, and 5) if you plan to add a matching cage collar.

What color should we purchase?

The mesh fabric used to produce baseball turf protection is available in several colors like black, blue, green, red, yellow, and white. We ALWAYS recommend purchasing the Spruce color which is the closest to grass creating the most realistic in game batting experience. If your team has blue grass, it might make sense to purchase a blue tarp but for everyone else get the Spruce color.

Can we get a logo printed on it?

Adding graphics to a turf protector creates an unnatural batter distraction. You will also learn ink from the graphics clogs the mesh weave which can result in a logo shaped grass burn. Plus, those graphics fade 80% faster than the fabric drastically reducing life expectancy. These facts combined with the 5X price tag makes adding logos to your new turf protector seem like a silly decision.