Introduction
The groundsperson must consider many factors when deciding on the most appropriate way of maintaining a pitch. These range from the local site conditions, such as soil type and drainage characteristics as well the weather conditions, to the frequency of play, resources (finances, equipment and people) available to them.
Deciding what maintenance is required will require a high degree of knowledge and continual monitoring of the natural turf playing surfaces throughout the year. Considered judgements will be required about the extent and timing of a range of maintenance activities such as mowing, aeration, and the use of fertilisers etc.
See the A-Z of grounds maintenance for a glossary of the key terms and links that discuss common maintenance techniques in more detail.
For information on who can help you and where you can access training go to the ‘Further help and guidance’.
A key component of a groundsperson's armoury is observation. It is an essential skill for the volunteer as well as the professional groundsperson. Looking at the grass playing surface and assessing what it tells you about the potential playing characteristics and the health of the grass plant will enable decisions to be made about the management and maintenance of a pitch.
As well as looking for making an assessment at a point in time the groundsperson is also looking for trends over time. For example is the amount of grass cover increasing or decreasing due to excessive play or following overseeing. The groundsperson can share these observations with more experienced groundspeople to get their view and support as to what they mean and what needs to be done.
There are some very scientific ways of assessing pitches for performance and quality however, some of the simplest are still some of the best. For example, the length of the grass can be gauged against the soles of a boot or shoes and the effectiveness of drainage can be seen by the degree of ‘squelch’ underfoot or the length of time that water remains on the surface after heavy rain.
Excessive ball bounce off the surface can also indicate if the pitch is too hard. All of these basic techniques, as well as some of the more scientific ones, are covered in these modules.
Depending on the age group and level of competition each sport has its own set of requirements for pitch dimensions and pitch quality and it is the groundsperson’s responsibility to ensure that these are achieved throughout the season.
Information on the critical dimensions for each sport can be found in the sports specific sections.
Each sport has their own standards of quality and these are referred to as the Performance Quality Standards (PQSs). These provide clear objective measurements to be taken on the pitch and will demonstrate whether the pitch is to the standard required for the level of competition and will give an indication of what areas require improvement.
To carry out a formal PQS a range of equipment and training is needed and most clubs will need to obtain the services of an experienced groundsperson, pitch advisor or sports turf agronomist.
For many clubs the pitch quality can be assessed using more traditional techniques and equipment and further guidance can be found in the core module ‘Assessing your Pitch’.
Further information on the formal pitch quality assessments (PQS) can be found in the sport specific sections.
There is a very wide range of equipment available for maintaining grass pitches ranging from small hand tools to large pieces of powered equipment. What equipment is needed by a club is dependent on many factors such as local ground conditions, the number of pitches, the financial resources and most importantly the skills and training of the grounds staff and volunteers who will use and operate the equipment. All clubs will require a basic level of maintenance equipment and further information on this can be found in the module ‘What basic equipment is required'.
Many clubs will need to use a specialist contractor and you can find further information in the module ‘Employing a Specialist contractor'.
Many maintenance operations will require additional materials such as grass seed, sand, top soil, fertilisers etc. The core module ‘Buying Materials’ will provide you with further guidance on how to go about obtaining the right materials for the job, at a good price and without unnecessary effort.
Natural grass has to be managed as well as maintained if it is provide the quality and reliability expected and needed. The groundsperson in partnership with the club officials, the coaches and the players, will need to ensure that the pitch achieves and maintains its optimum performance throughout the playing season. They will need to work together to ensure that the pitch use is effectively managed by:
- Providing sufficient time for end of season/pre-season maintenance work, which may mean the pitch is out of action for galas or non-sporting use
- Limiting the amount of use for matches and training to suit the pitch capacity (see core module ‘How much use can a pitch take’)
- Avoiding, where possible the use of high wear areas for specific training activities eg use mobile goals for goalie or penalty training rather than the real goal mouth
- Taking account of the seasonal and prevailing weather conditions. Training on a wet and heavy pitch, in winter when the pitch has no time to recover, can damage the pitch beyond just the next match.
For typical seasonal management guidance refer to the sports specific seasonal management sections.
By effectively maintaining the grass pitch the club is doing all that can be done to protect the player from injury however, the club have wider responsibilities to ensure that they are looking after their members, visitors and in particular the grounds maintenance team. Protecting the grounds staff and volunteers means ensuring that they have the correct well maintained equipment and are properly and qualified to use it.
Further information and guidance can be found in the core module ‘Health and Safety Considerations’.
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