Top: Final mowing after painting, prior to game day, at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA.Bottom: Using number and arrow templates. All photos courtesy Steve Wightman.

14 sports TURF

T ry to name afield sport playedwithout bound-

aries, and youil comeup blank. For thatmatter, try to nameany competitive sportwithout boundaries.Even skydiving com-petitions have certainlines that competitorsare not allowed tocross or they'll be outof the game, perhapspermanently.

Boundaries in field sports are vital.They often make the difference betweena double or a foul ball, between first-and-10 or fourth and long. But field markingand painting have applications beyonddefining the field of play, as SteveWightman, STMA board member and sta-dium turf manager for Jack MurphyStadium, in San Diego, points out.

"Of course, field painting and mark-ing provide boundaries in which to playthe game, but it can also be used tohelp promote the team or institution," hesays. "Teams use markings to help runplays. And they help announcers callgames."

Field parameters, marking, and paint-ing vary with the level of play, fromLittle League to Major League Baseball,from Pop Warner to the National FootballLeague. The good news is that regard-less of the playing level at the field youtend, you can create crisp lines, marks,and eye-catching logos without breakingyour budget.

Selecting Your ToolsThere is a variety of paint machines,

chalkers, paints, stencils, and even paintbrushes to fit most budgets. Paintingmachines come in a wide price range, with

various features, from less than $1,500to more than $8,000. David Frey, direc-tor of field maintenance for ClevelandStadium, says quality and durabilityare top priorities to consider when choos-ing a paint machine.

"A good machine will last almostindefinitely," he notes.

Pre- and custom-manufactured sten-cils are available, and fit most budgets.However, carefully "homemade" stencilscan fill the job when funds are lacking.

Says Frey, "Stencils for logos andhash marks can be made in-house—it'sno big deal. You can make them out ofhalf-inch plywood. The only problemwith super-lightweight stencils is thatthey make it hard to get a good crisp edgewith your painting."

As for the paint itself, both Frey andWightman see water-based latex asvital. Water-base is the key word. Whileall paints will retard grass growth to somedegree, Wightman asserts, oil-basedpaints are likely to kill the turf theycover, and are extremely difficult toremove. In addition, he suggests usingonly water-based paints that are specif-ically formulated for natural turf paint-ing.

continued on page 16

ATHLETIC Flf ft*ARKI||C PAIN'

SPORTS TURF COATINGSYou have seen Mautz 8-30 for manyyears on Super Bowls, Pro Bowls,numerous NFL stadiums and univer-sities. Now available world-widefrom MISSOURI PAINT SUPPLY.

8-30 WILL NOT HARM GRASS!BRIGHTEST WHITES ANDSHARPEST MATCHES TOTEAM COLORS.

* National, International Sales.* Complete Line of Natural and Artificial Turf Paints.* Custom Stencils.* Spray Equipment & Accessories.* Warren's Bench Tarps and Field Covers.* Member of STMA.

Contact Larry Davis

MISSOURI PAINT SUPPLYHelping You Make Your Mark in the '90s!

5818 Troost, Kansas City, Missouri 64110(816) 333-1272 * Call Us Toll Free (800) 426-0774

Circle 115 on Postage Free Card

Marking Machine

The Jaydee Model 5000 is a fully featured, self-pro-pelled, professional line marking machine. The enginepowers a piston pump, providing mechanical agitation,and powers both rear wheels - it tracks a straight lineunder its own power. The constant 2-mph speedresults in uniform line width & brightness as well aspredictable marking material consumption.

Jaydee Equipment Company202 East Joliet Highway, Box 278, New

Lenox, II 60451-0278. (815)485-6146

Circle 105 on Postage Free Card July, 1992 15

Field Markingcontinued from page 15

"Most field paints started out as inex-pensive latex," says Frey. "Over theyears, companies have worked to enhancetheir brightness. If you have multipleevents on the same surface, there are nowpaints that wash out really well."

Choosing chalk is equally important.Long-used hydrated lime has beenbanned for field marking in many states,says Frey. Ground marble is one alter-native.

String is also vital for field marking.If you want straight lines, you needstraight string, or so the axiom goes.Wightman suggests selecting something"very strong, that can be stretched verytight," such as liB-inch nylon. Andbecause this string may be used inlengths as long as 400 feet, some type ofreel is a good idea.

Last, but certainly not least, is the sim-ple paint brush. An ample supply offour-inch paint brushes will alwayscome in handy, particularly in touch-upand fine detail work.

Establishing Routines Pays TimeDividends

Because Jack Murphy Stadium ishome to the Padres, Chargers, and var-ious other teams, the field is painted everyweek of the year. In the case of lateseason professional baseball and earlyseason professional football, sports thatrequire completely different field mark-ings overlap. The painting task is alwaysa challenge, but to help things runsmoothly Wightman has streamlinedthe process as much as possible. Heemphasizes simplicity and routine.

Timing, says Wightman, is integral tothe final "game day" look, as well asactually getting the job done in timefor the game. They try to schedule paint-ing so that the field markings and logoswill be "bright" on Sunday. This oftentranslates to "touch-up" on Saturday.

"But you don't want to wait too longin the week to paint, particularly innorthern climates," advises Wightman,who before coming to Jack Murphyheaded the field crew at Mile HighStadium in Denver. "In colder climates,you have to schedule your painting ear-lier. If you waited too long, then had asnowstorm during the time you sched-uled to paint, you might run out of time.You have to be very aware of prevailingweather conditions.

"Because we're in a warm, stable eli-

16 sports TURF

mate, we try to delay painting as long aswe can so we don't have to come back anddo too much touch-up," he continues."Another thing to keep in mind is thatif you paint too early in the week, thenmow as scheduled at your normal height,you can mow off all the paint. One wayto avoid that, especially early in theseason, is to raise the mower height forthe cutting following painting. Thatway, you get the aesthetic value of a goodmowing without cutting off all the paint."

At the beginning of each Chargerseason, Wightman and his crew measurethe field for football, starting with the fourcomers inside the end zones of the fieldin relation to the goal posts. This is theonly time in the season they will use atape measure on the field. They make surethese corners are exactly 90 degrees,since almost all there other measurementswill be based on these. Using strings, theyset the sidelines from these corners.

"You don't want any trapezoids,"Wightman laughs. "Before the firstgame of the season, we go out along thesidelines with tape measure, and every15 feet we drive a penny nails with a flagon it, outside of the field of play. That givesus our five yard marks."

From there they determine hashmark and number stencil locations,using penny nails and different coloredflags to create season-long setting points.

''Using a stencil or a template is a mustbecause they enable you to get the jobdone in a reasonable amount of time,"Wightman asserts. ''Without them, you'dhave to go out and remeasure everytime you painted the field. We have a 15-foot aluminum hash mark template we

use that fits between each five-yardline.

"The reason for setting marks foreverything at the beginning of the sea-son is saving time," he continues. "Youdon't have to constantly remeasure. Youalready know where your marks arelocated, outside the perimeter of thefield, and if you lose them you can findthem with a metal detector, becausethey're metal nails. We use differentcolored flags for each type of mark. Theidea is to make things as simple as pos-sible."

Painting Process TipsThe actual painting process for pro-

fessional football at Jack Murphy Stadiumtakes two days. Before they begin, theymow the field so they have an even sur-face on which to paint.

On the first day, they paint theperimeter, hash marks, and numbers. Ingeneral, they dilute the field paint in aone part paint, one part water ratio.The dilution rate can be even greater,Wightman explains, depending on the spe-cific paint, manufacturer's recommen-dations, and weather. The more youdilute a paint, he says, the quicker it dries.However, dilution dulls brightness.

"Once again, you have to take thetime ofyear into account," he advises. ''Youmight get by with two parts water, andone part paint in the summer, becausethe days are warmer and the paint willdry more quickly. If you have a lot of sur-face area to cover, one-to-one seems tobe the ratio that has worked best for us.For touch-up, you can sometimes go ashigh as five-to-one with certain paints."

They paint the six-foot border aroundthe field, required by the NFL, and theend-zone logos on the second day. Ninetypercent of their painting is done with anairless wand-type sprayer. However,when time gets tight, Wightman's crewoften resorts to four-inch brushes. Usingbrushes can be faster than mixing thepaint, getting the paint machine ready,and cleaning it. And they always usebrushes for touch-up work.

Although the Chargers' managementwould like them to paint logos at midfield,says Wightman, they do not because ofthe high-traffic that area receives.

"We limit decorations to the endzones, which don't get a lot of traffic," heexplains. ''We don't put a logo on the 50-yard line because if we painted thisfield every week, by the end of the sea-son there wouldn't be any grass there.

Our goal is try to keep the turfgrass ashealthy as we can, and in this case wedo that by not painting. Paint and traf-fic do not go hand-in-hand. If you'repainting every week there will be a cer-tain amount of grass growth retardation,especially, it seems with colored paint.That's acceptable in the end zone, but notin the area of the field that receives themost play."

When it comes to baseball, they paintevery line on grass, after first "stringingout" the lines to ensure straightness.Baselines are done in chalk—they don'tpaint dirt, says Wightman, becausepaint is more difficult to remove thanchalk.

To overcome the football/baseballoverlap at Jack Murphy Stadium, thecrew uses chalk rather than paint for thelines on grass during the first three orfour Charger games. Two weeks prior tothe first Charger practice game, they chalkthe left foul line and coaches box, whichthey would normally paint for the Padres.

"If we painted, those lines would bevisible during the football games,"explains Wightman.

One tip both Wightman and Freysuggest is "shadowing" the numbers on

the field with team colors. Four-inchbrushes are the right tool for this job, theysay.

Marking and painting are the icing onthe field cake. However, Wightman andFrey emphasize that regardless of how

proficient you become in these tech-niques, turf quality must come first.

"Aesthetics can be enhanced by paint-ing," concludes Wightman, "but the realbeauty of any field comes from the aes-thetic value of the turf." •

PAINTING AND MARKING PRODUCT SOURCES

Autrey's Goal LineGreenville, AL(800) 848-8462

BannermanOntario, Canada(416) 247-7875

Binks Manufacturing CompanyFranklin Park, IL(708) 671-3000

Jaydee Equipment CompanyNew Lennox, IL(815) 485-6146

J.C. Whitlam Manufacturing Co.Wadsworth, OH(In U.S.) (800) 321-8358(Outside U.S.) (216) 334-2524

JS SportsturfLiberty, MO(800) 344-TURF

Kelly-CreswellXenia, OH(513) 372-9221 Fax (513) 372-8109

Kromer Company2365 Commerce Blvd.Mound, MN 55364(800) 373-0337

Mautz PaintMadison, WI(608) 255-1661

Missouri PaintKansas City, MO(800) 426-0774

WHEN THE GAMEIS ON THE LINE...

TRUST A KELLY-CRESWELL STRIPER.The compact Heavy Duty C with Traction is the idealfield marking and general purpose striper. Superiorbalance and maneuverability and positive forwardtraction make athletic fields, running tracks and parkinglots a snap! Add the optional detachable handgun andstenciling is easy. Call Kelly-Creswell or yourauthorized distributor for more information on ourcomplete line of striping and marking equipment.

KELLY-CRESWELL Company, Inc.Box 309 • Xenia, Ohio 45385Phone: (513) 372-9221Fax:(513) 372-8109

Circle 106 on Postage Free Card

We'd rather lug hose a mile than tear upa single foot of your fairway.

You've sunk a lot of money and work into shaping your course.So the last thing you need is a hydroseeding rig sunk up to theaxles in your fairway. That's why we only spray from theground. And tread lightly in the process.

As we spray, we cover every square foot from several anglesto give you complete coverage and eliminate "shadowing."

We mix seed, sprig or mulch slurries to your exact specifica-tions. If we err, it's on the side of generosity. We never skimp.

Whatever we do on your course-hydroseeding, hydromulch-ing, stolonizing, erosion control, dust abatement, revegetation,fertilizing or straw mulching and punching-we do it with careand precision.

We do our best. And there's no one better.

(714) 97J-TURFFAX (7li) 97.1-91201306 E. Pomona St.,Santa Ana, CA 92705C-27 License No. 600J75Bonded & Insured

MALAYSIANO. SO-A Jalan Datnk SulainTaman Tun Dr. Ismail,6IKXX) Kuala Lumpur, MalayaTel 0.I-2.S.1.U11FAX 0.1-717.r>.i97

GUAM:970 S. Marine Dr., Ste. 10-45.1Humming, Guam 96B11-.U0.I671 649-98X0FAX (>71 649-9896Lie. No. 5575

SANDERSHYDROSEEDING COMPANIES

Circle 107 on Postage Free Card July, 1992 17