Novel Methodology for Football Rebound Test Method.

Enrique Colino,Antonio González-Rodríguez,Fernando Jose Castillo-García,Sergio Juárez-Pérez,Jose Luis Felipe,Leonor Gallardo,Javier Sánchez-Sánchez,Jorge García-Unanue,Lis Corral-Gómez,David Rodríguez-Rosa

doi:10.3390/s20061688

Enrique Colino, Antonio González-Rodríguez + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/s20061688

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Abstract

Assessing and keeping control of the mechanical properties of sport surfaces is a relevant task in sports since it enables athletes to train and compete safely and under equal conditions. Currently, different tests are used for assessing athlete- and ball-surface interactions in artificial turf pitches. In order to make these evaluations more agile and accessible for every facility, it is important to develop new apparatus that enable to perform the tests in an easier and quicker way. The existing equipment for determining the vertical ball behavior requires a complex and non-easily transportable device in which the ball must be fixed to the upper part of the frame in a very precise position by means of a magnet. The rebound height is determined by capturing the acoustic signal produced when the ball bounces on the turf. When extended tests are conducted, the time required to evaluate a single field is too high due to the non-valid trials. This work proposes a novel methodology which allows to notoriously decrease the time of testing fields maintaining the repeatability and accuracy of the test method together with a compact device for improving its mobility and transport. Simulations and experiments demonstrates the repeatability and accuracy of the results obtained by the proposed device, which decreases the non-valid trials and notoriously reduces the time for field evaluation.

Highlights

Artificial turf football pitches are one of the most commonly used sports facilities worldwide.These facilities contribute significantly to the development of football at all levels and all ages, representing a very important resource for sports practice in most societies and contexts [1]
The collision between turf and ball (Adidas conext 19, Adidas, Herzogenaurach, Germany) has been modeled using a illustrative coefficient of restitution of 0.825 has been set and compared to the coefficient of restitution of artificial turf, 0.65 [20], but the analysis presented here is valid for any other values
The chosen value of coefficient of restitution (COR) is 0.825 which provides a value of rebound height 1.3493 m. (≈1.35 m)

Summary

Introduction

Artificial turf football pitches are one of the most commonly used sports facilities worldwide.These facilities contribute significantly to the development of football at all levels and all ages, representing a very important resource for sports practice in most societies and contexts [1]. First-and-second generation artificial turf had some disadvantages such as distorted behavior of the ball and increased risk of injury [4] with the connected social costs for orthopedic [5] or dental rehabilitations [6], the quality of modern artificial turf systems is such that the governing bodies of football currently accept the use of third-generation artificial turf systems in official competitions These systems are characterized by long fibers in the carpet (40–65 mm), a relatively low tuft density, and, most of all, the presence of large quantities of infill in comparison to first or second generation products, with usually a sand layer at Sensors 2020, 20, 1688; doi:10.3390/s20061688 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors. A shockpad layer is often placed underneath the grass carpet [8]

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