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Post by aussie on Feb 15, 2010 16:57:49 GMT
Went over to the Junior Gulls kick around with the players at Paignton CC and had a look at this 3G pitch business to see exactly what all the fuss was about, well my first impression was "oh my god this stuff is just aweful, it felt horrible under foot, all lumpy and uneven, it felt all right to kick a stationary ball on! I asked some of the players what they thought of it and I got mixed reactions really, most said it`s o.k when you get used to it and it`s best when you are running on it, some said that it is rather heavy on the legs and has considerable drag to it. I can see what the makers of it have tried to do and it`s way way better than normal astro turf, but too me it seems like the nylon fibres are too long and the distribution of the black rubber mini pellets that sit in amounst the fibres is too uneven. The ball travels really well and true when at speed but if you roll a ball slowly across it it bobbles about, maybe this is due to the fact that it is very new and maybe needs to bed in, so in principle it is very good but in practice I think it could be refined to a higher standard than what I saw it, one good point about it is it is less damaging to your joints and turning on it feels much better than on good quality turf. If the surface could be flatter to walk on and less bobbly at low speed it would certianly get both thumbs up from me! The nature of it`s composition suggests that you can`t have both smoothness and cornering at speed due to the way it`s made, so for me it`s not perfect but it`s a good effort!
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 15, 2010 18:17:12 GMT
...........................it felt horrible under foot, all lumpy and uneven, it felt all right to kick a stationary ball on! I asked some of the players what they thought of it and I got mixed reactions really, most said it`s o.k when you get used to it and it`s best when you are running on it, some said that it is rather heavy on the legs and has considerable drag to it. I can see what the makers of it have tried to do and it`s way way better than normal astro turf, but too me it seems like the nylon fibres are too long and the distribution of the black rubber mini pellets that sit in amounst the fibres is too uneven.  If this is the case then quite frankly it is not being maintained propery. The ones my son plays on Friday nights are well bedded in and somewhat compacted so that the ball runs a bit faster than the ones he trains on twice a week at one venue and a lot faster than the absolutely perfect one he also trains on at another venue and so the ball delivery has less room for error. Those Friday nights at Market Road are indicative of the constant use those pitches come under and consequently are less kind on the joints. I think at the end of the day it comes down to the quality of care they recieve and whether or not those charged with the responsibility try to cut corners or not. |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 16, 2010 0:17:42 GMT
It needs to be regularly regraded to ensure even distribution. Merse is right. It doesn't sound well maintained.
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Post by aussie on Feb 16, 2010 9:37:59 GMT
It is brand new so it might need too bed in, I will give it a while and go back for another look. One thing I found out was that after you`ve been on it for a little while your shoes fill up with lots of little bits of black rubber, I emptied my shoes about four times yesterday!
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 16, 2010 21:50:06 GMT
One thing I found out was that after you`ve been on it for a little while your shoes fill up with lots of little bits of black rubber, I emptied my shoes about four times yesterday! You sound like my son...................we have a permanent little pile of them inside the front door! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Feb 16, 2010 22:21:09 GMT
The pitch I believe cost one and a half million pound and does look wonderful and I'm sure Ant posted it was the same high quality that the England team played a game on in Russia?
I would expect you have to have special training in maintaining such a pitch and do wonder just what experience the men have who maintain it, when I watched then at work a few weeks a go they did not look that competent.
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Post by aussie on Feb 17, 2010 10:37:23 GMT
The pitch I believe cost one and a half million pound and does look wonderful and I'm sure Ant posted it was the same high quality that the England team played a game on in Russia? I would expect you have to have special training in maintaining such a pitch and do wonder just what experience the men have who maintain it, when I watched then at work a few weeks a go they did not look that competent. It is indeed the same surface type that England played on but I don`t think it was installed perfectly or had time too bed in, it`s pretty good though but I`d say there was room for a little improvement! |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 17, 2010 12:46:12 GMT
No expense is spared at the one my daughter attends at Cobham, though clearly they have shed loads of money. When it's just had a "raking" the thing looks amazing. It'll cost a fair few quid to keep it to a good standard.
It's a great facility to have. Who funded it, Dave/aussie?
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Post by aussie on Feb 17, 2010 13:14:18 GMT
No expense is spared at the one my daughter attends at Cobham, though clearly they have shed loads of money. When it's just had a "raking" the thing looks amazing. It'll cost a fair few quid to keep it to a good standard. It's a great facility to have. Who funded it, Dave/aussie? I`m quite sure it was the National Lottery mate but there might have been other parties involved. Edit>> I was wrong, must have been thinking about some else, all the info you need is here. www.devonfa.com/Development/Facility+Based+Football+Development+Officers/ |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Feb 17, 2010 14:47:09 GMT
Cheers Aussie. Football Foundation and Devon FA by the looks, then. Its a real step up for grass roots in the area and i guess, is something TUFC's course members will benefit greatly from. All good news.
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 22, 2010 20:52:25 GMT
Looking at that heap that Rotherham are playing on during ther Sky game tonight, has left me pondering whether or not anyone thinks it would be a good idea for the Football League to have a pitch inspector who could be called in and recommend the club responsible be docked points for having a substandard surface as in cricket. It really is disgraceful that shit heap, I don't car whether it was due to U2, Yoohoo or UBoats; it's obvious that little or no remedial work has been attempted on it and Rotherham are gaining an advantage from playing on it week in week out.
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merse
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Post by merse on Feb 22, 2010 21:50:10 GMT
....................and now that pitch has claimed a serious injury by the looks of it and to add insult to injury it's a visiting player who (with no contact from an opponent)got his studs caught so badly in the "turf" he appears to have broken his lower leg or severely torn ankle ligaments requiring oxygene to be administered during the six minute delay before he could be put onto the stretcher. Absolute bloody disgrace! 
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Post by aussie on Feb 23, 2010 11:38:56 GMT
....................and now that pitch has claimed a serious injury by the looks of it and to add insult to injury it's a visiting player who (with no contact from an opponent)got his studs caught so badly in the "turf" he appears to have broken his lower leg or severely torn ankle ligaments requiring oxygene to be administered during the six minute delay before he could be put onto the stretcher. Absolute bloody disgrace! I couldn`t agree more, I watched that farce in absolute horror waiting for someone to get injured and then the ref to call it off but he didn`t call it off when you could clearly see it was too dangerous to play on! They should be penalized in some way as the home club and the injured player should have some sort of recourse with the F.A. and the ref for almost inviting this nasty injury to take place! Although Im not in favour of 3G surfaces over turf there are obvious reasons why some pitches should be 3G and not turf, if rugby and pop concerts are going to render a pitch unfit for health and safety reasons then the turf should be ripped up and 3G put down and the bill sent to who ever is raking in all the cash from said events! |
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