Softball batting cages can be shorter & more narrow than baseball batting cages. The reason is the distance between pitcher’s plate & batter’s plate is shorter, and the players typically have shorter wing-spans (not always) – meaning there is less of a chance of back-swing obstruction. See below for break-down of various distance between pitcher & batter.

A typical softball cage measures 55 ft Long x 12 or 14 ft Wide x 12 ft High.

Typical Softball Batting Cage Size

Length

The standard length for softball batting cages is 55 feet. This allows room on the pitcher’s end for storage of equipment, such as machines, pitcher’s mat, ball carts, etc. while allowing plenty of room for regulation distance between pitcher to batter. See the official distances below.

Width

The standard & optimal width is 14 feet. If your players are younger or shorter than about 6 ft tall, 12 ft wide tunnels can be adequate, but 14 feet cages are much more comfortable for players of all sizes, and allows players to follow the ball flight much better.

Height

The standard height is 12 feet. You will need to allow approximately 8-12 inches of netting to sag on the ground to properly contain balls, so the result is 11 ft playable cage height.

Shorter cages can also be productive. The minimum height depends on the players using the tunnel (wing-span), but batting cages as short as 8 feet can work in most situations. Just be advised shorter cages will greatly reduce ball flight tracking, and will also reduce the life-span of the netting due to the proximity between bat & netting.

Advantages of Bigger Tunnels

Regardless of pitcher to batter distance & height of players, there are still some definite pros to using a larger sized tunnel.

1) Your players can grow into it.

2) You can use the extra length for equipment storage behind the pitcher, such as a machine & ball cart.

3) The wider & taller the softball batting cage, the better. Why? Because this allows you to track the ball flight. This gives you instant feedback on where your players are hitting the ball. When confined to a small space, the ball will immediately be knocked down by the netting, giving your players no clue on whether they need to work on hitting inside-out pitches, or pushing the ball to the opposite field.

Distances from home plate to the pitcher’s plate

• Women’s Fastpitch (High School and College): 43 feet
• Women’s Fastpitch (18 and under): 40 feet
• Women’s Fastpitch (10 and under): 35 feet
• Men’s Fastpitch (18 and under): 46 feet
• Men’s Fastpitch (12 and under): 40 feet
• Men’s Fastpitch (10 and under): 35 feet
• Men’s, Women’s, and co-ed Slowpitch: 50 feet

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