Columns in Indoor Sports Facilities:   How to Deal with Them

“…when you say you have support columns in your space, this can mean many different things, and can affect how we design or install batting cages around them.”

Published Nov 5, 2026

Support Columns.  Beams. Posts. Poles.   

Whatever you call them in your neck of the woods, it’s one of the more common recurring topics when designing indoor sports facilities.  

For the sake of clarity, we’ll refer to them as “columns” in this article. 

This article tackles the issue with 6 parts:

1. Types of Columns
2. Designing around Columns
3. Installing Turf Around Columns
4. Installing Netting Around Columns
5. What to do to the Columns
6. Conclusion

1. Types of Columns

Columns come in all shapes and sizes. The ATXTurf team gathered some pictures from previous jobs to show how columns come in many various shapes, sizes and colors.

Some are very simple.   6” x 6” wooden posts.

Many are simply steel I Beams.

Some have wide concrete bases 2’ in diameter.

In older buildings, you can see pipes, plumbing, sprinkler systems or any number of other oddities attached to the columns.

So understand, when you say you have support columns in your space, this can mean many different things, and can affect how we design or install around them.

2. Designing Around Columns  

In larger spaces, these columns are often 20’ to 25’ apart.   As you may know, batting cages are typically 12’ to 14’ wide.   So if columns are 25’ apart, you can easily run 2, 12’ wide cages in between the columns and remove the column from the active area entirely as shown in this picture here.  We simply run divider nets on either side of the column and wrap it in column padding.

In other spaces, where columns are much further apart,  We may use the columns as the natural dividers for different areas and use cases in a facility.  As shown here, the columns separate the soccer field and other training areas.

In other cases, it makes sense to design the entire areas around the columns and simply have them exist in the walkways or common areas.  This is often the case when columns are larger than usual.

3. Installing Turf Around Columns

As turf is made in 15’ wide rolls, it’s rare that the seams of the turf will line up perfectly with the row of columns.    Inevitably, turf will have to be cut in around the columns.

There is no other way around this, than to cut a slit in the turf, and slide the roll of turf over, cut around the column, and then re-seam the cut with seam fabric and glue.  See example below…   

4. Installing Netting Around Columns

Most of ATXTurf’s larger facilities have a 5 sided shell net that runs just below the ceiling and around the perimeter of the building, 2 feet off the walls.    A common question is, how do you install a shell net in a facility with columns throughout?   

The short answer is that the shell net will need to be assembled on the job site.   

Here is a common scenario.   Let’s say your building is 100′ x 100′ and there are 2 rows of columns 30′ feet in from each side wall, leaving 50′ in the middle between the columns.  Shipping a 5-sided net with the ceiling and sides attached, simply won’t work from an installation standpoint, simply because the columns are in the way.   In this case, the best thing to do is have the shell net arrive in 4 pieces, and then connect 3 ceiling panels on site, around the columns.     

See illustration below. Click To Play the Animation.

ATXTurf will ship a net with the 4 sides sewn together.  Then the ceiling net would come in 3 sections.   1, 96′ x 50 for the center, and 2, 23′ x 96′ panels for the side areas from the columns to the edge.   Hang the 4 sided net from the cables.  Then hang the individual ceiling panels and attach them to the side panels around the edge by securing the side ropes to each other.   This creates a seam along the row of columns, but once attached to each other, prevents balls from getting through to the lights and ceiling.

5. What To Do To the Columns in a Sports Facility

If the columns are inside the batting cages or active playing area, you will want to wrap them in something to prevent balls from ricocheting off the sides, but most importantly, to protect athletes from running into naked metal or concrete polls.

The best thing it do is wrap them in column padding, which is available in custom sizes and colors.   Column Padding typically comes with velcro on the edge so you can wrap them around a pole and attach them.   Column padding typically comes in 6′ tall sections, but folks sometimes double them up if you want to column covered all the way to the ceiling.

6. Conclusion

If you have, or are considering, a space or building with columns in it, know that it is not necessarily a show stopper for an indoor batting cage facility.  There are ways around it and things that can be done to mitigate their obstruction.    Whether its designing around them, or transforming them, the ATXTurf team of Design and Installation Experts can help you figure it out.   Give us a call today if you have further questions or would like to discuss.