For people working toward increasing proficiency in their hobbies, it can be hard to carve out time for practice. This is particularly true with activities that require a substantial amount of dedicated space to get in the kind of work that will lead to an increase in ability. For sports like baseball, golf, and hockey, the driveway isn’t going to be a place where you can safely or smartly practice.
In all three sports, a projectile getting thrown or hit is the major roadblock to getting in realistic practice. You can either spend all day chasing after balls or pucks, practice at a fraction of full speed, or go all out, breaking windows or denting garage doors. With memory foam backstop padding, you can cushion a dedicated area for practice that will allow you to work as hard as you would like.
3LB memory foam in a 4-inch thickness is adequate padding for absorbing the impact of line drives and pitching machine tosses when installed in a secure batting cage area. Mounted against a wall and covered in protective fabric, the memory foam absorbs impact instantly, without the “bounce back” of non-visco-elastic materials, so energy is safely deadened. At the front and back of a cage or netted hitting area, this foam can slow hard hits and handle strikes from a pitch you swung at and missed. This concept is great for hockey pucks as well, as you can trace a goal outline on a large section of covered foam padding, with overflow padding outside the “pipes” to protect against any misses.
For golf, driving ranges are great for simulating shots, but require travel, and in many cases, course membership. To work on your drives in your own home or yard, a 1-1/2-inch thick neoprene sheet hung loosely can absorb the force of a drive, with enough fabric-like flexibility to allow it to billow and flap when not mounted against a surface. The density of the material gives it enough weight to keep a shot from flying through like it would actual fabric, while also making it durable.
Practice still makes perfect, and with foam, you can aim for perfection a little closer to home!