A digital system that keeps track of the condition of playing turf is being rolled out across a number of professional sports to help groundstaff and players optimize their game.
TurfSync from sports surface research and development experts, STRI, works with sensors to display information on a dedicated app, such as pitch hardness, grass coverage, and moisture content of the turf in a graphical user interface. It is able to highlight any inconsistencies in these areas and show groundstaff to areas of the pitch that need attention.
Not only does this aid stadium operators to provide optimum playing surfaces but it also enables players to choose the right footwear and cleat length or style based on the conditions, as well as provide coaches the information on matchday surface performance.
TurfSync also highlights sports surface trends, identifies risks and allows venue operators to solve problems before they occur. Helping them achieve or maintain a world class standard playing surface and to make key decisions around usage schedules.
TurfSync is already being used by a number of professional soccer clubs including Hearts FC and Burnley FC and is being rolled out across a wide variety of sports including golf, horse racing, rugby union and Aussie Rules football.
STRI’s head of group development, Andrew Brooker, said: “TurfSync is an important system ensuring that sportsmen and women can perform at their very best on the highest quality surfaces across the world. Venue operators can access key data when organizing multiple events across their facilities.”
