Coach › Chalking the field
Chalking the field
With a helper, a string, and a chalk liner, lining a field takes about 30 minutes. Prep the dirt first, then work from home plate out.
Use field marking chalk, never lime
Never use hydrated lime or quicklime. Old-fashioned lime is caustic and can burn skin and eyes when players slide through it. Use field marking chalk made for ball fields, which is usually crushed marble or limestone (calcium carbonate). Use turf paint for lines on grass.
What you need
- A chalk liner and a bag of field marking chalk
- A long tape measure (100 feet or more)
- A string line with two stakes
- A batter's box template, if your league has one
- A rake, and a hose or watering can if the dirt is dry
The order to do it in
- Drag and rake the infield first. Raking after chalking erases the lines.
- Lightly water dry dirt where the lines will go, so the chalk sticks.
- Mark the batter's boxes.
- Run the foul lines.
- Add the catcher's box, coach's boxes, running lane, and on-deck circles, if your league uses them.
- Chalk the pitcher's circle, if it isn't permanent.
- Put the bases back.
Many rec leagues for young players only line the foul lines and batter's boxes. Ask what your league expects.
Foul lines
- Push a stake in at the back point of home plate and tie the string to it.
- Run the string along the outside edge of where first base sits, out past the edge of the infield or to the foul pole. Pull it tight.
- Lift the string a few inches in the middle and let it snap down, so it lies straight.
- Set the liner's guide along the string, with the chalk landing just inside the string. The line is fair territory, so it goes inside the foul line, not outside.
- Start where the string leaves the batter's box. Walk at a steady pace and look a few feet ahead, not down at the liner.
- Repeat on the third base side.
Double first base: the foul line runs between the white half and the colored half.
Don't chalk lines between the bases. Only the foul lines get chalked.
Batter's boxes and catcher's box
| Line | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Batter's boxes | 3 ft wide by 7 ft long, one on each side of home plate |
| Gap from plate | 6 in between the plate and the inside line of each box |
| Front of the boxes | 4 ft in front of a line across the middle of home plate |
| Catcher's box | Extend the outside lines of the batter's boxes 10 ft toward the backstop, then connect them. It's 8 ft 5 in wide. |
These are the standard measurements in most rulebooks. Some leagues for young players use smaller boxes or skip the catcher's box.
A batter's box template makes this fast: line it up with the edge of the plate, press it into the dirt, then chalk along the marks.
Coach's boxes, running lane, and circles
- Coach's boxes: a 15 ft line, 8 ft outside the foul line, starting even with the back of first or third base and running toward home. Add a 3 ft line at the end nearest home plate.
- Running lane: on the first base side only. Starting halfway to first base, chalk a 30 ft line in foul territory, 3 ft outside the foul line, ending even with first base.
- On-deck circles: 5 ft across (a 2 ft 6 in string from a center stake), in foul territory near each dugout and away from the batter.
- Pitcher's circle: hold the end of a tape at the center of the front edge of the pitching plate.
- Walk around at 8 ft, marking the dirt as you go, then chalk the mark.
- The circle is 16 ft across.
Tips for clean lines
- Fill the liner at the field. Chalk packs down when you carry a full liner, and then it clogs. If it clogs, stir it with a stick.
- Don't stop in the middle of a line. Stopping leaves a heavy spot.
- Two to four inches is a good line width.
- One person measures and one runs the liner.
- Walk the field when you're done, and fix wobbly or missing spots.