Comparition of Play Ability of Soccer Fields ~

Comparition of Play Ability of Soccer Fields Established with Natural Turfgrass, Artificial Grass and Bare Ground

Jae-Pil Lee¹ㆍHyun-Chul Park²ㆍDoo-Hwan Kim^3*

  ¹Department of Golf Course and Turfgrass, Graduate School of Agriculture and Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea

²Department of Horticultural Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea

³Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 143-701, Korea

ABSTRACT

 This study was carried out to figure out the difference of playing ability among soccer fields established with natural turfgrass, artificial grass and bare ground. The soccer fields with natural turfgrasses were established with cool-season grass(Kentucky bluegrass 80%+ Perennial ryegrass 20%) and Zoysiagrass. Artificial turf field was constructed with Konigreen DV5000^TM of Kolon Company. Bare ground was sandy soil. Data such as ball rolling distance and vertical ball rebound were collected at the Sports science town of Konkuk university from 2005 to 2006. Ball used for investigation was Hummel air vision #1 certified by KFA(Korea Football Association) on 2005 and ball pressure is 1.0 lbs. The results are summarized as follows:

1. Ball rolling distance of soccer ball was the longest on bare ground (13.6m), followed by artificial grass (11.4m), cool-season grass (7.8m) and Zoysiagrass (4.7m). Ball rolling distance was shorter under low use frequency, strong rigidity and high density of turfgrass.

 2. Vertical ball rebound of soccer ball was the highest on bare ground (1.0m), followed by artificial grass (0.9m), cool-season grass (0.6m) and Zoysiagrass (0.4m). Vertical ball rebound was lower under low use frequency, strong rigidity and high density of turfgrass.

  3. Ball rolling distance and vertical ball rebound on cool-season grass were not affected by construction year, but ball rolling distance and vertical ball rebound were longer and higher on Zoysiagrass field constructed in 1999 than in 2005.

  To adapt various turf field conditions in national and international soccer games, soccer players have to exercise on natural turfgrass fields instead of bare ground and artificial field. And turfgrass expert should check the ground condition of soccer games. 

Key words : artificial field, ball rolling distance, bare ground, natural turf field, vertical ball rebound