Reliability of equipment for measuring the ground hardness and traction

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to report the inter-rater reliabilities and intra-rater reliabilities of the Clegg hammer, penetrometer, and studded-boot apparatus used for measuring the mechanical properties of natural turf, and to determine whether the level of experience influences the reliability. Three experienced and three novice testers measured the surface hardness and rotational traction at nine locations on a community-level Australian football oval. A repeated-measures analysis of variance tested for significant differences between the six testers for all equipment, and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated to determine the inter-rater reliabilities and intra-rater ..