Ian Darler answers your questions Part 4 - HOW LONG DO YOU LEAVE THE GRASS

The cutting height of the grass can vary from manager to manager although most will allow me to operate between 25-30mm

Cutting heights

Typical heights of cut;
The pitch: playing season ideally 25 – 30mm
Training ground ideally 25mm to 30mm to ensure protection of the surface and allow the players to adapt to the playing height.

The above heights are recognised across the football world as a guide. Pitches cut higher than this will result in dramatically slowing down the roll of the ball and make its movement erratic across the surface so reducing the quality of the game. It will also make running more difficult and be tiring for the players as well as increasing the risk of injury.
 
Quality of cut is one of the most important areas of management of a football pitch

Quality of cut is affected by the setting of the mower blades. Implications of incorrect mower adjustments are:
a. ribbing
b. tram lining
c. tearing.

All of the above will detract from the look of the pitch and are easily avoided by attention to detail when setting the mower up and ensuring that the mower cylinder has a re-grind and set which involves a new bottom blade and the cylinder being sharpened.