Whether you're maintaining a little league,
high school, college or professional baseball field, the pitcher's mound is one of the most
critical areas of play. A mound must meet requirements for height,
distance, and slope established by the rules. In this video, we'll look at how to maintain
the proper slope using a mound slope gauge like this one. The gauge allows you to accurately measure
the proper length and incremental drop of the slope without the need to run a string
line from home plate. The kit comes with an eight-foot slope gauge
with measurement marks at one-foot intervals and a bubble level, two mounting rods, one
long and one short, an adjustment collar that you will attach to the longer rod, and a metal
ruler. To get started measure to locate the center
of the pitching rubber and mark the front edge. Then prepare the gauge for use. Lay the gauge on its side so that the measurement
indicators are visible with the lower value numbers oriented towards the pitching rubber. Next, attach the adjustment collar a few inches
down from the top end of the longer mounting rod then insert the top of the rod through
the hole nearest the six-foot measurement mark. Now drive the shorter rod into the mound just
in front of the center of the pitching rubber where you made your mark leaving four to five
inches of rod exposed, and then slide the gauge onto the rod. Notice there are two holes for you to choose
from. The height of the mound will determine which
hole you use. Six is for little league fields, eight and
ten is for all others. Position the opposite end of the gauge so
that it's pointing toward home plate and drive in the longer rod until the gauge is relatively
level. You'll only need to drive it in far enough
to provide a stable platform. Finally using the bubble level on the gauge
adjust the collar up or down until the gauge is level then tighten the collar into place. With the gauge in place, we can now measure
the slope of the mound. For the first six inches away from the pitching
rubber, the area should be completely level. From there, we have a one-inch drop for every
twelve inches away from the pitching rubber. Use the included ruler or a measuring tape
to take your measurements at all six intervals to see if material needs to be added or removed,
and make a note of each measurement. Repeat the process until each measurement
is within one-eighth of an inch of spec. Once you've made your measurements, now it's
time to remove the gauge leaving the rods in place and make any necessary adjustments
to your slope. Now remove the gauge and the longer rod and
repeat this process for both the right and left sides of the landing area. As you can see using a mound slope gauge can
help you maintain the proper slope to your pitcher's mound. Don't forget you can also use this on your
bullpen mounds. For more information, please stop into a local
Ewing branch or visit us online at ewingirrigation.com.