When artificial turf was first introduced to athletes, they dreaded playing football on it. This is because the turf was simply a plastic carpet that was made to look like grass. Due to its poor design players received serious turf burns on any area of their body that was exposed to the turf. Since players were also wearing the wrong shoes they often suffered from serious knee and ankle injuries too. Fortunately, things have greatly improved since then and now many players think that this playing on turf is better than playing on grass.
The Turf’s Longevity
Today’s artificial turf no longer need to be replaced every 5 years. This is different from grass fields that must be replaced every other year unless it’s meticulously maintained. Taking things like the wear and tear of practice and games, as well as inclement weather and you’ll find yourself spending much more money to maintain a grass football field than you will to install and maintain a turf one.
Turf Withstands Climate Changes
Although grass is supposed to be both softer and smoother for players to land on when they’re blocking or being tackled, this isn’t always true. Any player who’s been hit hard while playing in cold weather will tell you this. Since grass doesn’t grow in cold weather, any grass that’s on the field will be hard and brittle. This is why so many NFL teams have been known to paint their grass green so it looks good on TV. Players are literally playing on painted dirt – something that can cause them to receive serious injuries. On the other hand, artificial turf has rubber pellets in it to offer cushioning, which is much pleasanter for a player’s body.
Saving Money and the Environment
Throughout the year you must water and fertilize grass so that it’ll continue growing. It requires thousands of gallons of water each day to do this – something that takes a toll on not only your budget but also on the environment itself. Obviously, this water bill can get really expensive and fertilizer isn’t cheap either. This large amount of water usage and the use of fertilizer will both have environmental consequences too.
Fewer Injuries to Players
The new artificial turf has resulted in many fewer injuries than what the turf of the past produced. This is a fact that’s been proven by a 5-year research study that compared turfs. It concluded that 13.i injuries per 10 games occurred on turf while 15.2 injuries per 10 games occurred on grass. The number has notably improved since the first generation of turf as introduced too. Additionally, researchers found that the injuries that did occur weren’t as serious as they were in the past.
Conclusion
All things considered, artificial turf really is the way to go when you’re designing or upgrading a football field today. If you’re doing this in Florida, you should turn to Turf Pro Synthetics Tampa. This is a company that many football fields have utilized quite happily and you should call them today so you can do the same.
Picture Credit: Keith Johnston