Can I use bladed sports turf for my batting cage or indoor facility?

Published, September 26, 2022

Backyard batting cages or often “temporary” batting cages, if your athlete will be moving on to college, or decides to play another sport.  Indoor facilities are often temporary due to short leases or shared spaces.  Perhaps the booster club needs another year to raise funds for another space and you need a short term surface solution.   Discounted bladed turf, or grass-like turf, is often all you need for these interim cages, but can also last years.

So, Yes.  Turf with blades, or “grassy” turf is often used in batting cages and indoor sports facilities.  “Indoor” turf is often thought of as “flat” turf, or what is traditionally thought of as “AstroTurf.”   Typically made of nylon, flat, carpet-style turf is common in sports facilities and outdoor field hockey fields, but also tends to be more expensive, especially if manufactured with a pad on the back.  Grass-style turf, with blades typically 1.5 to 2.5 inches tall, is generally less expensive and a more economical solution to batting cages and indoor facilities.  

On an athletic field, grass-style turf with blades, is filled with crumb rubber pellets to provide the cushion needed for contact sports, impact attenuation required for athletic fields or fall-zone rules for playgrounds as mandated by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.  

For batting cages, however, where there is no contact or “falling,” the primary function of the turf is simply to have a green surface, slow ball movement and prevent scuffing of the balls on concrete surfaces.  In many of these cases, a grass-style, bladed turf, can be used as a less expensive alternative, even without filling the turf with crumb rubber infill or sand. 

A bladed turf, without infill, will weigh about .5 lb per square foot which means it’s easier to unload from a freight truck, get into your space and install.  The standard batting cage size of 15 x 70 will weigh about 500 lbs which is manageable with a couple strong backs, without needing a forklift.

Visit the Batting Cage Turf Sale section of our website to order, or call 866-428-2809 to speak to a rep.