moisture (16/21; 76 percent), and then surface hardness and turfgrass shear strength (13/ 23; 57 percent).
A trend of injuries occurring along edges of hot and cold spots was observed with respect to turfgrass quality (11/15 injuries), soil moisture (14/16 injuries), and surface hardness (9/13 injuries). Approximately half of the injuries occurring in turfgrass shear strength hot or cold spots were either along an edge (6/13 injuries) or fully within (7/13 injuries).
We hypothesized changes within a field may lead to increased injury occurrence due to uncertainty of the playing surface. Te majority of injuries that occurred in significantly high and low areas of soil moisture, turfgrass quality, and surface hardness were along the edges of hot and cold spots. Tis may imply an increased injury occurrence in transition zones when an athlete moves from an “average” area (i.e. non-significant area) to a hot or cold spot of these field properties, as opposed to an injury occurring fully within one of these areas. Additional research is needed with a larger injury sample size and more fields to further test the hypothesis.
A game of Ultimate Frisbee is in action on one of the two University of Georgia-Athens Club and Recreational fields used for this research.
moisture, and surface hardness occurred along edges of hot and cold spots.
Tese results demonstrate that future studies should consider within-field variations of natural turfgrass sports field properties when researching the etiology of ground-derived injuries, because there could be a potential relationship.
All field properties that were measured correlated with one another to some degree, so the increased injury occurrence in areas of high soil moisture and low turfgrass quality may be more related to their combined interactions with other field properties, rather than themselves individually. Tis stresses the importance of evaluating more than one field property, because the occurrence associated with different types of injuries may vary between field properties or combinations of field properties.
The underside of the Turf-Tec Shear Strength Tester.
Tis preliminary study investigated if there was an association between within-field variability and ground- derived injuries on recreational-level sports fields. We introduced a methodology to more accurately match injury locations with objective site-specific field data. Ground conditions in injury studies have typically been subjective and placed into broad categories (e.g. “good,” “muddy,” or “slippery”) with minimal details provided on where or how they were obtained. Future studies must use objective measurements, so methodologies are repeatable and results between studies can be compared.
Injury numbers were low, but a higher occurrence of ground-derived injury was evident in areas of significantly high soil moisture and low turfgrass quality within the study fields. Notably, most injuries that happened in significantly high or low areas of turfgrass quality, soil
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Management strategies should also focus on improving field uniformity, perhaps with Precision Turfgrass Management or by better monitoring and modifying field use (e.g. set time limits or rotate field use). As with any playing surface, natural or plastic (synthetic), management techniques to improve field uniformity and consistency are important in improving safety and playability.
Tis research was performed by the University of Georgia Turfgrass Research Program and was published in the European Journal of Sport Science, DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1457083
Chase M. Straw, PhD, is a post-doctoral research assistant in the Department of Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota. Christine O. Samson is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. Gerald M. Henry, PhD, is Associate Professor of Environmental Turfgrass Science in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia. Cathleen N. Brown Crowell, PhD, is an Associate Clinical Professor in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University. Casey Reynolds, PhD, is executive director of Turfgrass Producers International.
All photos courtesy of the researchers. TPI Turf News July/August 2018
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