THE RESEARCH PLAYBOOK
Ava Veith is a graduate research associate at Virginia Tech , and a former Division I soccer player at Virginia Tech ; David McCall , Ph . D ., is associate professor , Turfgrass Pathology and Precision Management , Virginia Tech ; Daniel Sandor , Ph . D ., is collegiate assistant professor , Turfgrass Science , Virginia Tech ; Kyley Dickson , Ph . D ., is associate director Center for Athletic Field Safety and researcher , University of Tennessee ; Travis Roberson is graduate research associate , Virginia Tech ; Aaron Tucker is graduate research associate , Virginia Tech ; and Conlan Burbrink is graduate research associate , University of Tennessee .
University of Tennessee ’ s FLEX device that simulates the foot strike of an athlete when stopping or accelerating . Credit : Dr . John Sorochan and Dr . Kyley Dickson .
dead spot patches decreased energy recoil and displacement by 7 % ( from 4.8 pounds of force before irrigation to 4.5 pounds of force after irrigation ) and 3 % ( from 2.9 inches before irrigation to 3.0 inches after irrigation ), respectively . Additionally , ball bounce also decreased by 10 % inside of spring dead spot patches following irrigation ( 39.5 inches before irrigation to 35.9 inches after irrigation ). These data suggest that soil moisture does impact the surface conditions inside of spring dead spot patches .
CONCLUSIONS Overall , the data suggests the presence of spring dead spot and winterkill on athletic fields affect surface properties that have been shown to , in turn , affect athlete safety and field playability . Winterkill creates a harder surface , increasing the risk of athlete concussions and other impact injuries ( Dickson et al ., 2018 , Twomey et al ., 2012 , Dixon et al ., 1999 ). Both spring dead spot and winterkill reduce rotational resistance relative to asymptomatic turfgrass , increasing the risk of athlete slippage . Ball bounce was higher on symptomatic turfgrass than asymptomatic turfgrass , affecting the field ’ s playability as athlete anticipation of ball trajectory is altered . Spring dead spot patches return more energy to the athlete upon contact and have less structural stability than asymptomatic turfgrass due to reduced rooting ( Tredway et al ., 2009 ), which increases the likelihood of impact injuries and slipping .
These findings reveal that spring dead spot and winterkill are more than simply a cosmetic or aesthetic issue , and can influence the safety of athletes and ball-surface interaction during competition . SFM
References
Dickson , K ., Strunk , W ., and Sorochan , J . ( 2018 , February ). The effect of soil type and moisture content on head impacts on natural grass athletic fields . In Proceedings ( Vol . 2 , No . 6 , p . 270 ). MDPI .
Dixon , S . J .; Batt , M . E .; and Collop , A . C . ( 1999 ). Artificial playing surfaces research : a review of medical , engineering and biomechanical aspects . International Journal of Sports Medicine , 20 ( 04 ), 209-218 .
Tredway , L . P .; Tomaso- Peterson , M .; Perry , H .; and Walker , N . R . ( 2009 ). Spring dead spot of bermudagrass : A challenge for researchers and turfgrass managers . Plant Health Progress , 10 ( 1 ), 32 .
Twomey , D . M .; Finch , C . F .; Lloyd , D . G .; Elliott , B . C .; and Doyle , T . L . ( 2012 ). Ground hardness and injury in community level Australian football . Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport , 15 ( 4 ), 305-310 . sportsfieldmanagementonline . com August 2024 | SportsField Management
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