The Presence, Implications, and Mitigation of Within-Field Variability on Sports Fields

Abstract

Within-field variability has been a recent topic of interest in sports field management and may influence field safety and playability. However, little is known about the presence, impact, or mitigation of within-field variability; therefore, this thesis aims to add to the growing knowledge. Three independent studies were conducted. The first explored short-term variability of surface hardness, soil moisture, turfgrass cover, and normalized difference vegetation index of a soccer pitch during a nine-day professional soccer tournament in a stadium environment. Surface hardness and soil moisture changed the least, while turfgrass cover changed the most over the course of the tournament. The second study investigated the impact of force reduction within-field variability on collegiate rugby athletes’ peak tibial accelerations using ankle-worn inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors on natural turfgrass and synthetic turf fields during three athletic maneuvers (drop landing, drop jump, and acceleration-deceleration ability). Peak tibial accelerations were significantly higher in the low force reduction areas compared to high force reduction areas during the drop landing activity on both field types. The peak tibial accelerations were also higher on the low force reduction area for the first landing of the drop jump on the natural turfgrass field. The second landing of the drop jump on natural turfgrass and both landings on the synthetic turf field were not different. No statistical difference was detected for peak tibial accelerations for the acceleration-deceleration ability trial on either field type. The final study investigated the efficacy of precision aerification at mitigating surface hardness consistency during a growing season on fields with a loamy sand or sand-capped rootzone. The triannual blanket and annual precision aerifications resulted in more consistent surface hardness compared to the untreated control on the loamy sand field. The annual and triannual precision aerifications, as well as the triannual blanket aerification, each performed better than the untreated control on the sand-capped rootzone. Results have important implications on field management strategies and athlete biomechanics moving forward.