testing Archives - Center for Turf Innovation (CTI)

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Impact testing for sports surfaces: what they tell us (and what they don’t)

When we talk about “how a surface feels” or “how safe it is,” we are really talking about impact mechanics. How energy is absorbed, transmitted, and returned when the body meets the surface. In practice, the sports surface industry relies on three main tiers of tests. Each provides useful information, but each answers a different question. Direct impact and compaction tools such as the Clegg hammer These are simple portable devices…

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Rethinking Ball Roll Testing in Soccer

Ball roll is one of the oldest tests we still use to evaluate playing surfaces. But do we ever stop to ask if it really reflects the game of soccer? The method dates back to the 1930s when it was developed for golf greens. Over the decades it has been adapted, and in many ways bastardised, into soccer testing. While the test has some merits, it should never be mistaken as…