The Truth About Turf

by: Steve Silverman
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Your quarterback is on the run. Coming from his left is a 275-pound defensive end charging with a full head of speed. Coming straight at him is a blitzing middle linebacker. You watch from the sidelines and know the inevitable is about to happen. It's just a matter of who is going to get to your quarterback - the end or the linebacker.

The linebacker wins the race. He explodes past a would-be blocker and wraps up the quarterback with a nasty hit punctuated by his head bouncing off the artificial turf surface. You hold your breath and pray. But then you have to act.

What do you do next?
A. Send out the trainer.
B. Send out the ambulance
C. Send out the backup quarterback
D. Send in the next play.

Five years ago, the answer might have been A, B and C. But that no longer has to be the case. Artificial turf is no longer the villain it was once perceived as. The product is new and improved. And it's safer to play on than natural grass in many circumstances. Choose answer D.

Here's why:

The improvement in artificial turf has made for a softer, safer surface for athletes to perform on - especially football players. In shock absorption tests - commonly known as the GMAX test within the industry - the newest generation of artificial turf often performs better than grass, especially in extreme weather situations. Artificial turf - such as the NeXturf surface recently installed at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia - measures a less concussive blow than many natural grass fields. Current testing procedures call for a missile weighing 20 pounds (similar to the weight of the head and neck) and 20 square inches (about the same area as the human face) to impact the turf. The force of that impact is measured in GMAX units.

With muddy grass fields representing the softest fall at 65-70 G's (GMAX units) and 200 G's representing the danger level (according to most sports medicine experts), the current generation of artificial turf can reach levels as low as 75 G's.

This means that given the right footwear, players can have every expectation that they will be as safe or safer than if they were playing on a field of natural grass.

Dr. John Powell completed a safety study on artificial turf for the NFL. Powell is affiliated with the National Athletic Trainers Association and is the director of graduate studies in Michigan State's athletic training department.

Powell concluded that artificial turf is not a major factor when it comes to athletic injuries His published research reports no evidence to support the perception that playing on artificial turf causes more injuries than playing on a natural surface.

"It boils down to a whole variety of things that collide in a fraction of a second," Powell said about what does cause injuries. "But after they put the surface in - it could be grass, AstroTurf or a field full of rubber balls - the first torn ACL that happens, everybody who wanted the other thing will say, 'See, we told you so.' "

Iona College replaced its 10-year old AstroTurf surface at Mazzella Field with AstroPlay in 1999. Iona athletic trainer Sam DeRosa also said it's too soon to make any long-term determinations about the surface, everything is working out the way he hoped at this point.

DeRosa said the under-padding on the old surface had been worn out and he was treating three to four concussions caused by helmets smacking the ground each football season. But DeRosa said there have been none of those concussions the past two seasons and that longer fibers in the turf itself give players more cushioning when they plant their feet.

In fact, DeRosa said a worn-out grass field is harder than a new artificial-turf field. This is often typical at many levels of high-school football where ideal maintenance schedules simply cannot be followed.

"After a while, the high school field is going to be worn out at some point, and then you're playing on dirt," said DeRosa. "And there's nothing soft about that. The turf field we have at this point is safer than a worn-out grass field."

In college football, the NCAA maintains injury statistics on an annual basis, providing a breakout of injuries that occur on grass surfaces and those that happen on synthetic fields. Once again, the statistics reflect that artificial turf is not the more dangerous surface. In fact, in three of the past five years, the injury rate on synthetic turf was actually lower than on the grass.

The study reflected the number of injuries sustained vs. the number of grass and synthetic surfaces actually in use. As a result, there was no bias toward either surface in determining the injury rate simply because there might be more grass fields studied than artificial surfaces.

Artificial turf has been a frequent target of athletes and the press when examining injuries. During the first two weeks of the 1999 season, Jet QB Vinny Testaverde and Falcon RB Jamal Anderson were both lost to season-ending injuries that were both punctuated by a lack of contact. While both players were in the midst of quick moves - Testaverde to recover a fumble while Anderson tried to avoid a tackle - artificial turf at Giants Stadium and Texas Stadium, respectively, was seen as the key culprit in both injuries.

Shortly after these two infamous injuries, the mainstream press came out with a series of articles blaming artificial turf for the injuries and calling for a ban of the surface. No studies were referred to in many of these columns and editorials - just knee-jerk reactions to what the writers perceived to be "artificial turf" injuries. From the august New York Times to the homespun Des Moines Register, the message was clear: Artificial turf serves no purpose in competitive sports. It can only cause problems for those playing on it. Real grass is the only way to go.

Taking the other side of the coin was unheard of by print or broadcast journalists. A columnist or editorial writer might have a better chance arguing against motherhood or apple pie than he would have of winning the public over if he chose to write about the merits of artificial turf.

A majority opinion is not always a correct opinion.

Fast forward to the Jacksonville Jaguars' 1999 season finale at Alltell Stadium in Jacksonville. In that game, Jaguar All-Pro OLT Tony Boselli tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on a play in which no contact with an opponent was involved. Alltell Stadium is a grass field.

It was also a grass field in miserable shape. The day before the Jaguars hosted the Cincinnati Bengals, Alltell Stadium hosted the Gator Bowl. As a result, the field was not in good shape and it was torn up from the previous day's action. There was no hue and cry about the grass field causing the injury, but Jacksonville head coach Tom Coughlin acknowledged the field was not in the kind of shape that he would have liked.

"The field was not good." Coughlin said to the Orlando Sentinel after he was questioned by one of its reporters. "Do I think that particular incident was caused by it (the grass field)? No. But I do not think it was as good as it should have been for what was at stake."

Some of the other more notable NFL grass-field knee injuries include the Broncos' Terrell Davis, who tore two knee ligaments and medial cartilage on Denver's grass field; Jets linebacker Chad Cascadden, who suffered a knee injury in Denver; the Saints' Joe Johnson, who blew out a knee in a drill on a grass practice field; Kansas City's Kimble Anders, who tore his Achilles tendon while playing on the Chiefs' grass field; and the Broncos' John Mobley, who was lost in the same game as Anders with a knee injury.

Knee injuries are going to happen - on grass and artificial turf fields.

So, what's the real story? The answer is fairly simple. Football is a violent game. The heavy and often ferocious contact that is inherent in the sport is going to cause injuries. Many injuries that occur on artificial surfaces could be just as severe, or worse on grass fields. On the other side of the coin, grass field injuries are often just as severe or worse on artificial turf. The point is, the playing surface is rarely, if ever, the proper place to lay the blame for injuries.

Like grass, when artificial turf gets worn down and out, there is little doubt that its not the healthiest surface to play on. However, when the new generation of rubber-filled artificial turf is properly maintained it can be a very solid, comfortable and safe surface to play on. It also looks much more like grass than previous generations. That's because the nylon fibers are longer, thicker and softer - much like grass. Additionally, the padding underneath the turf is also thicker and more cushioned than previous editions of the surface.

Another advance in artificial turf safety is the knowledge that comes after more than 35 years of experience of playing on it. In its infancy, unknowing coaches would send their teams out on a carpet-based artificial turf surface wearing cleats or spikes. Cleats are best on grass and grass-like artificial turf since the footing isn't always sure, especially in bad weather. Additionally, the length of the cleats can be adjusted to accommodate wetter conditions, and that makes them the ideal shoes for grass surfaces.

Those standard athletic shoes simply do not take hold on artificial turf. The combination of cleats on artificial turf made any movement besides straight-ahead running almost impossible. Wearing cleats on artificial turf surfaces was also associated with pulled muscles, torn cartilage and other non-contact injuries. Over the years, training staffs started to realize that rubber-soled athletic shoes were the way to go. Rubber-soled shoes allowed athletes to change directions quickly and gave them the opportunity to raise their level of performance.

Two years ago, the University of Nebraska installed a new artificial turf field. That decision was an eye-opener to much of the sporting world, because if a college football powerhouse like Nebraska was opting for the new generation of artificial turf rather than a grass field, there must be significant improvement in the product.

Nebraska first chose to go with artificial turf in the late 1960s because it wanted a uniform surface - one that would hold up when conditions became wintry in November. "Prior to putting in artificial turf, we would put a tarp on the field before games and scoop the snow off of it," said Nebraska's facilities director John Ingram. "We were left with a frozen brown field underneath."

Prior to the new artificial turf installation in 1999, players complained about abrasions and rug burns suffered on the surface.

Advances in equipment worn by the players, experience playing on the fields and improvements in the surface have gone a long way to reducing those injuries. Ingram says complaints about rug burns are way down. "We feel that the new turf systems are a bit safer," Ingram said. "It's a new technology. Like any product, it's gotten better."

Those improvements should continue and make artificial turf surfaces a safe haven for football players and all athletes.

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