Category: Uncategorized

Media Release:

Forest Hill, MD – The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders, designers and suppliers of materials for sports fields, running tracks, tennis courts and indoor and outdoor courts and recreational facilities, has announced the publication of the 2020 edition of Sports Fields: A Construction and Maintenance Manual.
The book is designed for anyone involved in building, maintaining, repairing or renovating all types of fields. It includes user-friendly technical information on all aspects of fields for various sports, including design, budgeting and planning, site requirements, surface selection, construction, maintenance, repair, amenities and accessories and more. In addition, it includes diagrams, photos, governing bodies and sources for further information.
“In the new edition, we’ve made the book much more user-friendly,” says John Nelson, CFB, ASBA’s Fields Book Committee chairman, who worked to update and rewrite the manual. “We’ve created a more user-friendly publication that follows the process from conception to construction to completion – and also includes illustrations as well as extensive information on testing applicable to field surfaces.”
Additionally, the new publication includes enhancements with real-life information users need, including an examination of the perception of synthetic fields and a review of alternative infills on the market. It is also the textbook for those taking the ASBA’s Certified Field Builder exam. Copies of the new edition of the book are now available at a cost of $44.95 each and are available in hard copy as well as in digital form. Books can be ordered in either hard copy or digital format by going to the web site, www.sportsbuilders.org and selecting the tab at the top, reading “Publications.”
The ASBA is a non-profit association helping designers, builders, owners, operators and users understand quality athletic facility construction. The Association sponsors informative meetings, publishes newsletters, books and technical construction guidelines and keeps its members updated on developments in the industry.

Press release:

In cooperation with Finland’s national swimming team and archery association, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed wearable technology for improving sports performance. Wearable sensors can be attached to, say, a swimmer’s hand paddles or an archers’ equipment. From there, data is wirelessly transferred to the coach’s smartphone or tablet.

The sensors embedded in the paddles provide surprisingly precise and varied data on the wearer’s swimming technique. This covers stroke length and changes in it during swimming, the relationship between the outward stroke and recovery, the structure of the stroke and the average pull, the hand position and the pressure exerted by the stroke in different directions.

“Swimming is an unusual sport because it is not easy for the athlete to check his or her own performance in the water. In addition, very few means are available of measuring development in the swimmer’s technique, in terms such as the efficiency of hand strokes. VTT’s technology provides a means of directly observing the power of each hand stroke and its trajectory through the water, without disrupting performance,” says Simo Karvinen, the Finnish Junior Olympic Team Coach.

The measurable quantities in archery include the amount and directions of movement when aiming, the timing of the different phases of the performance, and the movement made when releasing the arrow. Wearable sensors and the related applications can be used during practice, when testing equipment and to some extent in competition, in order to analyse the quality of and changes in performance.

“Archery involves a dynamic technique, but the movements involved are extremely small and sensitive to changes. The movement analysis solution developed by VTT adds data of a new kind to the observation of such movements. Further development of the solution will be hugely beneficial to coaching in the sport,” comments Juhana Rüster, Head of Coaching at the Finnish Archery Association. It can be used for archery shoes.

“VTT’s wireless sensor technology can be embedded in a range of sports equipment, such as ski poles, skis, racquets and bicycles, and can even be used in horse training,” says Raimo Korhonen, Head of Research Area at VTT.

The technology is ready for use in training. VTT is now seeking partners to commercialise its sensor technology and expand the related areas of application.