Did the ball hit the mat or not?

[Rick Vietti]

We have leagues that use mats and others that we call a regular strike zone. My personal preference is the use of mats for less arguments. In our area these are used for the lower leagues to help them.

My only gripe about using a mat is that you cannot help the pitcher out when they are struggling. It either hits it or it doesn't. With a strike zone you can usually ring up a strike to get them swinging even if the pitch is an inch out of the zone. With the mat no such luck!