Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 4

Injuries. Injuries are apart of football and indeed any sport. However, in recent years artificial grass surfaces have come under intense scrutiny for potentially causing more injuries than natural grass surfaces. This may be down to equipment as well as the surface but ill expand on this a little later. Natural grass has a natural give in it when you push your studs into the ground or when you fall. This means that there may be a very slight reduction in grip but at the same time this is not a bad thing. As an example, if a players foot is in the ground and they get tackled, you wont the boot to be able to dislodge from the ground or at the very least give way a little to be able to absorb the impact. Otherwise what can end up happening is the boot and ankle stay in one position whilst your body goes in another. Not ideal.

Firm ground boots tend to have either medium length conical studs or blades. The theory is that both provide to much grip on artificial pitches and therefore lead to more injuries. Whether they be non-contact or contact related. In response to this, boot makers have now started producing boots specifically for artificial grass fields. These often include shorter, rounded and softer studs so that they do not offer as much traction and are therefore safer. That’s not to say that you will not get injured but the chance of it and perhaps the severity of it may be reduced.

In terms of minor cuts and bruises, they tend to happen on both surfaces. The natural grass surfaces are relatively forgiving at the start of the season when they have grass on them. However, once the grass and top layer of soil are gone then its almost like sliding on concrete. Artificial Grass is harsh and usually after sliding on it once or twice you are likely to be grazed up.