FIELD SCIENCE
12 SportsTurf | July 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com
A
s the dawn of another football
season is upon us, it is once
again a good time to put field
safety at the forefront of our
minds. While player-to-player
collisions and injuries receive the most
attention, the playing surface's role in
injury risk should not be overlooked. An
understanding of potential field risks
along with regularly inspecting your
playing field is an important step in pro-
tecting the athletes using your field.
As you are likely aware, the NFL
requires all fields to be tested and
inspected before every game. Field hard-
ness (Gmax) along with a number of
other surface characteristics must be
measured and reported to the league
office each week. Although it may be
impractical to test your field before
every game, a routine field testing and
inspection program is the first step in a
proactive approach to field safety.
INSPECTING & TESTING
SYNTHETIC FIELDS
Gmax testing is one of the most impor-
tant components of a field testing
program. The easiest and most econom-
ical method to measure Gmax is with
the Clegg Impact Tester. This is the same
device used in the NFL. Other devices
such as the F355 can also be used.
In the NFL, all fields, both natu-
ral and synthetic, must be below 100
Gmax in all locations when tested with
the Clegg. If hardness levels begin to
approach 100, steps are taken to lower
these values. For synthetic turf fields, this
is often accomplished by installing addi-
tional crumb rubber infill.
Routine infill depth measurements,
especially in high-use areas, can alert
you to developing issues before they
become significant. You can obtain your
target infill depth range from your turf
manufacturer. If you see infill levels drop
below the lower limit, infill should be
added. In addition to improving safety,
this proactive approach can help prevent
or limit large scale field remediation
projects required once significant prob-
lems have fully developed. Infill depth
■ BY TOM SERENSITS AND DR. ANDY MCNITT
PROACTIVE APPROACH
KEY TO FIELD SAFETY
