Best Surface For An Indoor Site?

[AUPaintSoc]

Okay folks, bit of an odd query here..

Heres the question, what makes the best surface for an indoor site?

Now preferably I'd like two points of view here, one from the players perspective (probably Astroturf), and one from the site-owners (i.e. cost effectiveness, ease of maintenance etc)...

Woodchip? Sand? Astroturf?

Cheers!

 

[spreadz07]

astroturf most definately.
woodchip and sand can kill your markers and once mixed with paint will just turn to goo!
astroturf is going to be expensive but it will be better in the long run. if its a site for tournaments or punters how many customers wont bother coming back if the surface is crap.
thats my opinion anyway
nigel
2hott4u vice president

 

[Todorov]

Astro turf

 

[EyeFellOva]

XL Turf they used at Millennium last year!

 

[Tricky]

XL turf for sure, bloody amazing surface, astro turf would be good as long as you had plenty of cushioning underneath.

 

[AUPaintSoc]

I guess every players dream surface will always be astro-turf huh? From a site-operators point of view which is easier maintained, setup, replaced etc? And cheaper?!

How do sites which use woodchip (i.e Quadball, Brum) maintain the ground to stop it becoming gungy from the paint? I assume with astroturf its just a case of pressure-washing the paint away?

 

[Ion]

The XL turf is the absolute nuts and if money was no object i would say that every time, however not many companies can justifiy the cost. I can't remember the cost per square foot but it was very steep. The rolled mat stuff would be quite good as said above if you could find a suitable way to cushion it.

 

[AUPaintSoc]

Yeah agreed. Astoturf ranges from about a tenner per square meter up to above £30 per square meter... Not cheap! Which I guess is why a lot of places use woodchip etc.

 

[Mikey D]

From a site owners view, one major aspect is insurance.
Wood chippings + fire =

I have played on both sand indoors and wood chippings and personally I would choose sand any day.
Why?
Wood chippings slip away underfoot much too easily so its very easy to fall and get lit up while still trying to move, and also when sliding in, which means you cushion yourself with hard concrete flooring instead. As for the paint issue, it makes no difference really, maybe even makes it worse as the flooring becomes greasier and slippery!
Sand actually seems to react well to having the paint added to it, the slight increase in moisture means that it compacts better and actually gives a great playing surface. The only downside to sand is the combination with your playing kit, gun and clothing included, as it takes several washes to completely rid clothing of sand, and guns can be affected if you stack it!

Oh and also, one thing which neither surface helps with is keeping bunkers in place. Its a case of either using sandbags, or piling sand/wood up against the bunker and hoping it stays still.

 

[Ion]

Oh and also, one thing which neither surface helps with is keeping bunkers in place. Its a case of either using sandbags, or piling sand/wood up against the bunker and hoping it stays still.

The new bunkers from sup-air have pouches in the side that are used to weight the bunker down without obstructing play or doing yourself an injury with a massive tent peg.