Many coaches in all levels of American football, including high school, collegiate, and even the NFL, are choosing to play on the newer generation of artificial playing surfaces rather than grass. Coaches believe that their players are faster and have less potential of getting an injury while playing on turf rather than natural grass. For the most part, players think they tend to be faster on turf than grass, but is that an advantage if everyone is playing on the same turf?
A study was performed on NCAA division II college athletes comparing their 40-yard dashes and agility by performing both tests on natural grass and then switching over to turf. The results that were found showed that there was not significant difference between the two surfaces when it came to attaining straight ahead speed. Most players ran close to the same exact time in their 40-yard dashes when being tested on both surfaces. However, the player’s change of direction speed (agility) was found to be significantly faster on artificial turf than on natural grass. The reason that they concluded was that on artificial turf players shoes seemed to have less slippage on the surface rather than on natural grass. There is much more give on natural grass than on artificial turf. The one negative thing about less slippage on artificial turf is that there seems to be more force applied on the lower limbs, which could cause a greater risk in injury to the college athlete 1.
Works Cited
1. GAINS, G. L., SWEDENHJIELM,
A. N., MAYHEW, J. L., BIRD, H., & HOUSER, J. J. (2010). COMPARISON OF SPEED
AND AGILITY PERFORMANCE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS ON FIELD TURF AND NATURAL
GRASS. Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research (Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins), 24(10), 2613-2617.
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ReplyDeleteTurf Grass
The people who are playing an outdoor sport in their life and make it their profession then they better have a clear idea about the turf or grass courts. The blog posted here will provide you the basic information related to the speed of turf or grass courts. Both of them have its own set of pros and cons, in the summer the turf field is too hurt, at the same time grass field is very comfortable to play. In the winter the grass field becomes muddy and icy, but at the mean time the turf field is very clean and very comfortable to play. As per the seasons and the demand of the sports the types of fields are chosen.
ReplyDeleteCourt Surfacing