INFIELDS the proper ratio of silt to clay . It ’ ll make all the difference in the world as to how easy it will be getting the infield back into playing condition .
4 . USE AN INFIELD TOPDRESSING Use topdressing on your infield skin surface . An infield topdressing is a ¼ ” to ½ ” layer at the infield skin surface of a granular material that will not stick to a player ’ s cleat , even when wet . These materials , usually made of calcined clay , vitrified clay , expanded shale , crushed aggregate or crushed brick , tend to dry more quickly on the surface than if you just had the bare soil exposed . The topdressing will dry on the surface while your infield soil underneath is still moist , but the topdressing allows you still to reenter the field . It acts much like a mulch in a landscape bed , and provides many benefits in the performance of the infield .
5 . DRAG THE FIELD BEFORE RAINSTORMS When you know a rain event is coming , keep the field dragged smooth if possible . The water will flow more easily and rapidly off the infield if it is smooth and not pockmarked with cleat marks and divots . Additionally , keep the field tight . A tight field absorbs less water than one that has been deeply nail dragged , which will create pores for water to fill and slow the drying process down considerably after the rain event .
How it rains can also have an impact in how fast your field will recuperate and come back online for play . A long , slow , light to moderate rain of a couple hours or more is very penetrating and will be deeply absorbed by your infield soil . This type of rain usually requires longer for the field to dry . Compare that to heavy rain lasting 15 to 30 minutes , or even an hour . This kind of rainfall , while possibly dumping many times the amount of water than a slow rainfall did , is a violent rainfall to the soil . That violent pounding of the soil compacts it and doesn ’ t easily allow water to be absorbed into the infield soil . With the right weather conditions , you may
be amazed sometimes how fast you can get back onto a field after one of these gully washers , provided you did everything else mentioned above .
ONE MORE THING … Let me leave you with one other piece of advice . The weather after a rain event matters just as much as how the rain fell . If your humidity is very high and has not lowered much below 75 % after the rain , it will take much longer for the field to dry out . Sun and wind help , but there has to be room in the air parcel floating over your infield skin to take in more moisture . If the air parcel is 75 % full , it won ’ t take much more in , but if it is only 50 % full ( 50 % relative humidity ) then there is a lot of room to evaporate water from your field and be absorbed into the air parcels . The faster the humidity lowers after the event , the faster the drying process .
Make the right moves ahead of your rain events on your fields and you may come to not fear the rain as much or need to work as hard afterward either . SFM
Paul Zwaska has spent 40 years in the sports turf industry , including more than 20 years with Beacon Athletics . He has experience maintaining , building and renovating ballfields , including more than 15 years with Major League Baseball as the Baltimore Orioles head groundskeeper . Zwaska holds a Bachelor of Science in Soil Science with a specialty in Turf and Grounds Management from the University of Wisconsin . For more than 18 years , Zwaska has volunteered with the Little League crew at West Madison Little League overseeing maintenance , renovations and crew mentoring at their facility . In addition , he initiated Beacon ’ s Groundskeeper University online training program in 2012 .
Article and photos provided by Beacon Athletics . sportsfieldmanagementonline . com August 2023 | SportsField Management
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