Launch workshop: 17 November 2005
Sportsurf held its launch workshop on Thursday 17th November 2005. Below is a press release from the event, a list of presentations (click on the titles to view PDFs of the presentations) and some pictures taken at the launch.
- Launch press release
- Welcome Presentation – Dr Paul Fleming
- User Requirements – Dr Colin Young
- Surface Requirements – Dr Paul Fleming
- Player-surface interaction – Dr Sharon Dixon & Dr Ian James
- Surface Assessment – Dr Matt Carre
- Surface Characteristics – Dr Colin Walker
- Construction perspective – Mike Abbot
- Injuries and sports surfaces – Prof. Mark Batt
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Colin Walker Presenting | Paul Fleming Presenting | Iain James Presenting | Matt Carre Presenting |
2nd Workshop: 26 April 2006
Sportsurf held its 2nd workshop on Wednesday 26th April 2006 at Cranfield University. Below is a press release from the event, a list of presentations (click on the titles to view PDFs of the presentations) and some pictures taken at the launch.
Please note: these presentations are for information only and the data/information cannot be used without the consent of their authors.
- 2nd Workshop Press Release
- Welcome Presentation – Dr Paul Fleming
- The ITF’s Presentation – Dr Stuart Miller and Jamie Capel-Davis
- The LWD and Berlin – Dr Colin Young
- FIFA Quality Concept – Testing – Dr Eric Harrison
- FIFA Quality Concept – Medical – Dr Eric Harrison
- Benchmarking Natural Turf – Dr Iain James
- Modelling Interactions – Dr Matt Carre
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Dr Stuart Miller and Jamie Capel-Davis from the ITF | Dr Eric Harrison from FIFA & IRB | Dr Iain James | Dr Matt Carre |
3rd Workshop: 22 November 2006
Sportsurf held its 3rd workshop on Wednesday 22nd November 2006 at the University of Exeter. Below is a press release from the event, a list of presentations (click on the titles to view PDFs of the presentations) and some pictures taken during the day.
Please note: these presentations are for information only and the data/information cannot be used without the consent of their authors.
- 3rd Workshop Press Release
- Welcome Presentation – Dr Paul Fleming
- Player/Surface Interactions – Injury and Performance – Dr Darren Stefanyshyn
- Shoe-Surface Interaction in Tennis – Daniella Strauss
- Biomechanics of Running on Artificial Turf – Dr Kenneth Meijer
- Experimental Research on Ground Reaction Forces – Rudy Verhelst
- Biomechanical and Mechanical Testing of Playing Surfaces – Dr Sharon Dixon and Dr Victoria Stiles
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Pictures taken by Laurence Gale from Pitchcare.com
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4th Workshop: 3 April 2007
How to measure the appropriate characteristics of sport surfaces?
The 4th SportSURF workshop was held in Sheffield (UK) on the 3rd April 2007 at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United Football Club Stadium.
Click on each presentation below to download.
Please note: these presentations are for information only and the data/information cannot be used without the consent of their authors.
- Welcome Presentation – Dr Paul Fleming
- Adidas Football Research Innovations – H Korger (Adidas Innovation Team)
- Consultant’s Perspective of Test Methods | Commentary – Eric O’Donnell (Sports Labs)
- A new slide tester – Rudy Verhelst
- Perceptions and Test Methods – Dr Colin Young (Loughborough University)
- Gaining Understanding of Traction Data – Bob Kirk (The University of Sheffield)
- A new method to evaluate traction – Mercedes Sanchis Almenara (IBV)
- Sensitivity and Relevance – Dr Paul Fleming (Loughborough University)
- Current State of Testing Methods – Alastair Cox (Labosport)
- Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Roger Webb (The FIH)
5th Workshop: 24 April 2008
The 5th SportSURF workshop was held on Thursday 24th April 2008 at Loughborough University Sport Technology Institute, Loughborough, UK. The focus of the workshop was ‘Sport Surfaces and Interactions’.
This one day event comprised an industry focussed seminar describing technical aspects of sport surfaces, explaining behaviour and raising issues for discussion and debate. The workshop was supported by SAPCA.
Approximately 70 delegates attended the workshop from a wide variety of backgrounds. Below are copies of the presentations given at the workshop: click on the titles to download.
Please note: these presentations are for information only and the data/information cannot be used without the consent of their authors.
- Surface Design and Construction – Mike Abbott (SAPCA)
- Surface Design and Construction – Eric O’Donnell (Sports Labs)
- Yarns and Carpets – Marcel Nieuwenhuizen (Bonar Yarns)
- An Overview of the Multiturf Project – Gert-Jan Kieft (ISA Sport)
- Development of a New Ball Interaction Test – James Spurr (International Tennis Federation)
- Player Movement and Safety (presentation not available) – Sharon Dixon (The University of Exeter)
- Measurement Techniques and Surface Materials Behaviour – Colin Young (Loughborough University)
- The Influence of the LISport Machine on Long-Term Surface Properties – Alastair Cox (Labosport)
If you would like any other information from the workshop please contact the network coordinator on sportsurf@lboro.ac.uk.
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6th Workshop: 16-17 April 2008
The SportSURF workshop calendar was given a boost by collaborating with the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) for their Spring 2008 meeting, and incorporated talks and debate on sport surface interactions that were very interesting. However, please note it is the policy of BASEM that presentations are not published so there are none to view on the SportSURF website.
For more details of the programme that occurred please view the flyer here.
The event was hosted at Loughborough University on the 16th and 17th April 2008.
The BASEM website is at: http://www.basem.co.uk/
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7th Workshop: 4 March 2009
The 7th SportSURF workshop was held on Wednesday 4th March 2009 at Loughborough University Sport Technology Institute, Loughborough, UK. The focus of the seminar was ‘Maintaining Performance of Synthetic Surfaces’.
This one day event comprised an industry focussed seminar describing best practice and technical aspects of the maintenance of synthetic sport surfaces, explaining case studies and raising issues for discussion and debate. The workshop was supported by SAPCA.
Approximately 45 delegates attended the workshop from a wide variety of backgrounds, and several attendees from Europe. Below are copies of the presentations given at the workshop: click on the titles to download.
Please note: these presentations are for information only and the data/information cannot be used without the consent of their authors.
- Surface Maintenance – Processes and Importance – Nick Harris (Technical Surfaces)
- Best Practice, Observation and Evolution – Paul Fleming/Mark Freeman (Loughborough University)
- Science of Synthetic Turf Surfaces – Kathryn Severn (Loughborough University)
- Maintenance of Performance in Surfaces – Iain James (Cranfield University)
- Quality Monitoring of 50 Artificial Turf Football Fields – Gert jan Kieft (ISA Sport)
- Maintenance: Cost benefits – Colin Young (SAPCA)
- (Presentation not available) – Eric O Donnell – (Sportslabs)
- Summary overview of some of the key points from the presentations
If you would like any other information from the workshop please contact the network coordinator on sportsurf@lboro.ac.uk
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8th Workshop: 15 June 2011
The 8th SportSURF workshop was held on Wednesday 15th June 2011 at Halifax Conference Venue, University of Sheffield, UK. The focus of the workshop was to ‘Bridging the gap between human loading and mechanical test methods’.
This one day event comprised a focused seminar aiming to bridge the gap between our current knowledge of human loading on sport surfaces and the mechanical test methods for sport surfaces. Current practice and recent research findings were presented, as indicated in the programme, regarding primarily tennis and soccer, and including natural and artificial turf. The panel discussion at the end raised many interesting questions and both the challenges of human testing and the need for careful consideration of the aims of mechanical testing (e.g. for compliance, safety, performance…). There was a positive discussion on the progress made in more recent collaborations between biomechanical researchers and sport surface engineers/scientists. Key outcomes of this discussion included:
- Biomechanical testing can be used effectively to provide boundary conditions for mechanical testing
- The practical feasibility of any mechanical tests needs to be considered (repeatability, cost, equipment size, testing time)
- Detailed mechanical characterisation of surfaces will allow the influence of systematic changes in properties to be studied in human testing, increasing knowledge of human adaptation to different surface conditions
- The different requirements of elite and lower level performers should be considered (performance, health, etc)
- Communication of research to industry in an appropriate manner is critical
- There is a need to consider the role of sports governing bodies in the development of test methods and the enforcement of these.
25 delegates attended the workshop from both industry and academic backgrounds. The presentations given at the workshop are accessed from the link below.
Please note: these presentations are for viewing only, the data/figures/information remain the copyright of the authors. In some cases the content has been modified, and no presentations are available from Professor Len Nokes for confidentiality reasons.
- Introduction and Welcome – Dr Matt Carre and Dr Sharon Dixon (Hosts and Network Core Members)
- Player surface interaction in tennis – Daniella Strauss (Leeds University)
- Understanding football boot traction requirements through high-speed video analysis – Heather Driscoll (Sheffield Hallam)
- Traction and lower limb motion during rapid turning on different football turf surfaces (not available) – Mark Lake
- Player surface interaction on natural turf and football turf – FIFA research to date – Professor Len Nokes (Cardiff University and FIFA consultant for Player-Surface Interaction)
- Understanding variation in the dynamic response of sports fields – Iain James (Cranfield University)
- The effect of controlled surface properties on player loading, for soccer – Rene El-Kati (Loughborough University)
- A combined approach to understanding player-surface interaction in tennis – James Clarke (University of Sheffield) and Loic Damm (University of Exeter)
If you would like any other information from the workshop please contact the network manager on sportsurf@lboro.ac.uk.
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9th Workshop: 12 October 2016
The 9th SportSURF workshop was held in October 2016 at the Sports Technology Institute at Loughborough University, UK. The focus of the day was to have a mix of research and industry presentations on the theme of ‘Current Research and Challenges for Sport Surfaces’.
This one-day event attracted 25 delegates, from both industry and academic backgrounds. The presentations given at the workshop can be accessed from the links below: click on the titles to download.
Please note: these presentations are for viewing only, the data/figures/information remain the copyright of the authors. In some cases, the content has been modified.
- Introduction to the day – Paul Fleming
- Task representative studded footwear assessment – Jim Emery/D James (Sheffield Hallam University). The design, validation and testing of a field-based protocol based on match play measurements.
- ‘The influence of alterations in Surface type and Rugby boot stud length on player lower limb biomechanics and plantar pressure during Rugby Union specific movements’ – Patrick Carden / Sharon Dixon (Exeter University). Findings from a recent study on player movement and pressure data collected on 3 pitches: natural turf, 3G artificial and Desso reinforced natural turf (presentation not available).
- Player surface traction behaviour – Recent Findings – Steph Forrester (Loughborough University). An overview of recent PhD programmes on the surface response to player testing and mechanical testing.
- Development of a test device to measure the tribological behaviour of shoe-surface interactions in tennis – Daniel Ura/Matt Carre (Sheffield University). Research project aimed to provide a system to quickly assess and rate courts according to expected performance during player interaction.
- ‘Football players’ perceptions of injury risk on a variety of surfaces’ – Jon Roberts (Loughborough University) (presentation not available)
- How new Test Standards are developed and implemented – Colin Young (Labosport UK). Guidance on how to engage with test house and governing bodies to implement research findings.
- Overview of relevant challenges in the world of Hockey – Alastair Cox (Facilities and Equipment Manager, FIH)
- World Rugby’s views on surfaces and future challenges – Marc Douglas (Research Coordinator, World Rugby)
- Functional properties of all-weather racetracks at different temperatures – Alison Northrop (Anglia Ruskin University/UCLAN). Research programme design and preliminary findings.
- Measurement of Skin-Surface Friction and Abrasion – A review of recent research and future needs – Paul Fleming (Loughborough University). Presentation on recent evaluation of the industry standard ‘Securisport’ device and related literature.
- Selection and use of skin simulants for player safety assessment – Bodil Oudshorn (Sheffield Hallam University). Presentation on recent PhD work evaluating properties of simulated skins.