Surface properties of turfgrass athletic fields exhibit within-field variability. Wearable global positioning system athlete performance tracking units allow for the investigation of field impact on athlete performance. The purpose of this technical note is to present a case study introducing a methodology to model the effect of within-field variability on athlete performance using global positioning system and geographic information system technologies. Fifteen male collegiate club rugby athletes wore a global positioning system unit (10 Hz frequency sampling locational data) during two home games. Only athlete speed (m/s) was considered because measurements were georeferenced. Soil moisture, soil compaction, turfgrass quality, and surface hardness measurements were taken and georeferenced from the field prior to the games. The field’s boundary was digitized in a geographic information system and divided into 3 m2 grid cells. Georeferenced data were imported to the geographic information system and underwent processes to calculate the team’s weighted mean speed and surface property variability scores in each grid cell for both games. Linear regressions were conducted with the data sets to determine the effect of within-field variability on team mean speed. Depending on the game, within-field variability of each measured surface property, as well as a few interactions, did significantly influence team speed. Future larger-scale studies can build upon the reported methodology to further investigate and validate these types of relationships. Coaches, trainers, athletes, and field managers could use this information to prepare for, or manage, turfgrass athletic fields in a way that better meets expectations and maximizes performance.

中文翻译：

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草坪表面特性和运动员表现的场内变异性：使用 GPS 和 GIS 技术模拟它们之间的关系

草坪运动场的表面特性表现出场地内的可变性。可穿戴全球定位系统运动员表现跟踪装置允许调查现场对运动员表现的影响。本技术说明的目的是介绍一个案例研究，介绍使用全球定位系统和地理信息系统技术模拟场内变化对运动员表现的影响的方法。15 名男性大学俱乐部橄榄球运动员在两场主场比赛中佩戴了全球定位系统单元（10 Hz 频率采样位置数据）。仅考虑运动员速度 (m/s)，因为测量是地理参考的。在比赛开始前，从现场进行了土壤湿度、土壤压实度、草坪质量和表面硬度测量，并进行了地理参考。该领域的边界在地理信息系统中被数字化，并划分为 3 平方米的网格单元。地理参考数据被导入地理信息系统，并经过处理来计算团队在两个游戏的每个网格单元中的加权平均速度和表面特性可变性分数。对数据集进行线性回归以确定场内变化对团队平均速度的影响。根据比赛的不同，每个测量表面属性的场内可变性以及一些相互作用确实显着影响了团队速度。未来更大规模的研究可以建立在报告的方法论的基础上，以进一步调查和验证这些类型的关系。教练员、训练员、运动员和现场管理人员可以使用这些信息来准备或管理，