Message Board - Football: Centre circle marking-First time
30 Aug 2009 by Gateshead Cleveland Hall
Can anyone give me some advice as to how best to mark the centre circle and other arcs on football pitches WITHOUT having to get on my knees.
At the moment I use a paint spray can attatched to a line positioned on the centre spot but find to be accurate and avoid a wobbly line I have to get on my knees and follow the line around. After that its easy to follow the line with the line marker.
Any ideas from the pros would be welcome.
30 Aug 2009 by sipho
get somebody to help you - using a tape measure and a screwdriver.
Put the screwdriver through the end of the tape measure and place in the center spot / penalty spot.
Wrap your index finger round the 30ft mark on tha tape and point your finger down.
The other person who pushes the marker will then be able to follow the finger as he guides the marker round the circle. Take at bit of practice but once you get the hang of it its easy.
hope that helps
sip
Gogga International Affairs Officer
31 Aug 2009 by Rob Bradshaw
The method of using the spray can is a good way and is very accurate like you said. you could always get a iron bar and score the surface but some people might find this hard due to the ground conditions.
The other way is to get the handle of a yard brush and attach a paint brush to the end of it..
31 Aug 2009 by Grassman2011
As above but, as you walk around the arc, with your spray can put a dot every couple of yards at the 30ft distance. Then join up the dots with your line marker.
31 Aug 2009 by The Moose
We use the same method as sipho only using a cane instead of my finer to save on being bent double, this works for marking hockey D's as well
Perfect Preperation Prevents P*** Poor Pitches
31 Aug 2009 by Leeboy
We use the same method as Sipho, but with a sweeping brush handle wrapped round the tape at 30 feet, with the person with the marker following the guiding line of the brush handle, takes us about 30 seconds to do without the backache of other methods.
31 Aug 2009 by Grassman2011
So how does one do it if they are on there own as Gateshead indicates ?
Is the measurement from centre to inside of white line or does it include the white line ?
I always measure to inside of white line.
31 Aug 2009 by Leeboy
Scrape the grass lightly, I have done that before when marking on my own. Measure to the outside of the line, if you measure to the inside then in theory if you did this on your 18 yeard box for example and were using a 4 inch line, you would be making the box 8 inches bigger by only marking to the inside of the line.
31 Aug 2009 by Grassman2011
Lee, so all measurements are inclusive of white lines. You never stop learning. I was of the opinion they were exclusive. Thanks very much.
31 Aug 2009 by Dave Last edited 31 Aug 2009
Bath, as Lee says the white lines are included in the measurements. So if a football pitch is 115 yards long, the measurement is from the outside edge of the goal line to the outside edge of the opposite goal line. Again the 18 yard box is measured from the outside edge of the goal line to the outside edge of the box.
That's why the ball is still in play until all of the ball has crossed the line. This is the same for other sports.
While we're on this subject, one other thing that I regularly come across is the marking of the centre line. To be accurate, we measure half way on both sides of the pitch to find the actual centre. Based on using a 4" marking machine we measure back 2" on both sides and then string our line across the pitch ready to mark. The middle of the line painted is then the actual centre.
If you use a 3" line then it would be 1.5" offset from the actual centre.
Many people I meet, just find the middle of the pitch and string a line, then they mark on one side or the other. The line therefore isn't dead centre.
31 Aug 2009 by sipho
Dave
Re: Centre Line
I take it that you mean people are Marking to the side of the string line when they mark the line?
You would not have work out an off set if you were marking over the string Line or using a Beamrider etc.
sip
Gogga International Affairs Officer
31 Aug 2009 by Dave Last edited 31 Aug 2009
Yes I do, if you mark over the top of a string line, you'll never get is perfectly straight. If you're using the beamrider, then you'll have set the prism lines right in the first place presumably.
31 Aug 2009 by Gateshead Cleveland Hall
Gentlemen.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
I completed the task early this morning (on my knees) before the replies came flooding in. I like the idea of the broom handle and we experiment in the future with that.
Great stuff.
31 Aug 2009 by Mike Last edited 31 Aug 2009
We use the broom handle method and find it works very well. One thing to keep an eye on when you are using this method is that the person holding the handle must keep it dead vertical. If the handle isn't kept vertical, even the slightest variation can make quite a big difference at ground level, and this leaves you with an uneven arc length.
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