Benefits of Maximizing Your Turf Footprint

Sports facilities often accommodate large teams or multiple teams at the same time. This means facility owners and athletic directors need to find creative ways to expand their turf footprint so that everyone can get the training they need. Otherwise, athletes may be forced to cycle in and out of play, limiting the amount of practice they get.

This is why maximizing your turf footprint is so important. By using every inch of the field and investing in technology and techniques that expand it, you ensure that everyone who needs to use it is able to. In this article, we will show you exactly how to expand and maximize your field and examine the benefits of doing so.

What Is Turf Footprint?

Turf footprint refers to the total usable area of a field, including the primary field of play and any surrounding areas covered in the same turf material. On a baseball field, for instance, the turf footprint extends into the outfield and into foul territory. Players can use these spaces to stretch and warm up for their respective sports. The turf footprint of a football field also extends past the endzone and out of bounds, including the bench area and room to warm up. 

Indoor sports facilities tend to have massive turf footprints, as fields often extend past the traditional bounds of play and gradually transition into areas designed for other sports or specific types of training. Maximizing turf footprint is especially important and beneficial in these sorts of spaces. Multiple practices can be run simultaneously if the space is used correctly, and that flexibility can radically increase the facility's comfort, efficiency, and profitability.

However, many facilities have turf runoff areas that go completely unused. Explore the benefits of maximizing turf footprint and addressing the space that gets wasted in turf aprons. 

3 Key Benefits of Maximizing Turf Footprint

Using every inch of field space can transform sports facilities for the owners and the teams that use them. Check out three turf management benefits below. 

1. Expand Your Scheduling

A larger play area means more games and practices can be held each season. Rather than starting practice late in the afternoon or in the early evening, teams can use the expanded turf footprint while other teams use the primary fields. This flexibility can save teams time and increase the number of teams that are able to practice or play each day. It can even increase the number of sports and age groups the facility can accommodate at once.

2. Increase Your Revenue Opportunities

More practices and games mean an increased revenue stream for the sports facility. That money can then be funneled into improving the facility's quality and expanding its turf footprint even further. Many facility owners decide to invest in specialized practice areas and equipment, such as batting cages, pitching machines, punting screens, and more.

3. Enhance the User Experience

When your turf footprint expands, you decrease crowding and give teams more room to work with. That added space can make practices more comfortable and efficient by allowing every player to practice at once without encroaching on the space of other teams and activities. The addition of specialized practice areas and equipment can improve the experience further.

Strategies to Maximize Turf Area

There are several approaches to expanding your facility's turf footprint. Before choosing a strategy, consider your resources and which strategy is likely to add the most value to your facility. 

The most common strategies to maximize turf area include:

• Carefully design your facility's layout: If your facility is still being planned, carefully consider its layout and who will be using it. Investing in high-quality turf, even in lower-priority areas, can expand the usable area for players, coaches, and staff. You can also integrate specialized practice areas into the design so that players can focus on batting, pitching, and other skills without needing to use the full field.

• Use the same field for multiple sports: One of the best ways to increase your facility's versatility is to install multi-use field markings so that the same space can be used for multiple sports. A football field, for instance, can have markings for soccer and lacrosse, including endzones, 18-yard and 6-yard boxes, and the crease, all on one field.

• Optimize your scheduling processes: Your facility's schedule should incorporate each usable area of play and different sports it can accommodate. While your facility may primarily serve lacrosse or football players, it should also be accessible to soccer teams. Secondary areas, such as batting cages, should also be included on the schedule. Divider curtains can help to divide a larger turf area into multiple smaller areas, allowing for shared usage and increased options, which is great for schools, municipalities, and private facility owners. 

• Keep your turf maintained: To get the most use out of every inch of space in your sports facility, every part of it needs to be healthy and functional. As such, regularly evaluate and maintain your turf to prevent long-term damage and make sure the field is always available for use.

• Eliminate space-wasting turf aprons: Turf aprons extend beyond the usable area and are installed for player safety. Replacing them with a space-saving fencing system can help you make better use of your field. 

Eliminate Turf Runoff With the SPECTO® System

Many facilities design at least a 15-foot turf apron outside of the usable area for player safety. Large turf facilities may end up with thousands of square feet of this turf runoff, which limits the facility's usable space. You can eliminate the need for this turf runoff and reduce your lost playing space to only 32 inches with sports netting from Grand Slam Safety. On a full-size field, this can equate to more than 10,000 square feet of extra usable turf. 

SPECTO® Sports Fencing Systems uses patented tension-rigged technology that allows it to absorb athlete impact, which means you can reduce injuries and protect players without sacrificing space. Plus, the see-through vinyl-coated woven polyester mesh allows for excellent visibility for spectators. 

Partner With Grand Slam Safety for All Your Sports Facility Needs

If you're looking to plan or upgrade a sports facility, Grand Slam Safety is the perfect partner. We offer facility planning services, and our SPECTO® fencing system can help you maximize your turf footprint. It was created by carefully observing player needs and can be adapted for indoor and outdoor use. In addition to maximizing your available space, SPECTO® improves safety, is extremely weather-resistant, and provides exceptional visibility for viewers. 

 Our equipment is designed to keep players and spectators safe while looking great and being easy to set up and take down. To maximize your turf area when designing and building your multisport complex, fill out our contact form or give us a call at 315-301-4039.