| Sports
Field Care - The Most Important Skill You'll Ever Learn
|
| August
10, 2007 -- Issue 19 |
|
|
| Better
Fields for Better Play |
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|
Sports Field Care.
It can be simple...
Just put out the bases and play.
Or it can be more
complex... Lots of activity using all sorts of equipment, tools,
materials, and checklists.
So, what's it
all about?
What
really is the most important skill I've learned while taking care
of a sports field?
It's this. Stay
focused.
Stay focused on
the one and only reason for sports field care. And on a baseball
field, this is what it's all about==>:
A
true bounce and firm footing.
Think about it.
We want the turf and dirt areas to give the players a true
and consistence bounce. We don't want surprises on
hard hit grounders.
It's bad enough
when a poor bounce results in an error or a cheap hit.
But, I've
seen many a player miss half a season due to a bad hop off the end
of a finger - breaking it. I've seen an infielder take one in
the throat because a ball popped up off the grass edge.
And we
want players to have firm footing. No slipping while
running, pitching, or stealing. Poor footing can lead to player
injuries.
I've seen a pitcher
stretch a leg muscle because he slipped on landing. And I've
seen base runners and fielders slip.
They can't make
the play when they can't get good footing.
So, the most important
skill to learn as we care for our sports field is to focus.
Focus our time and energy first on true and consistent bounces
and firm footing.
The rest of sports
field care - baseball field maintenance is just to make it look
pretty.
My goal in providing
you information is that you increase the safety and playability of
your sports field
Yours for better
play more often,
J.
Refiner
Jim Reiner
Publisher, Editor, & Groundskeeper
The Ultimate
Baseball Field Renovation Guide
