Artificial grass vs natural grass – Part 10

Artificial fields are here to stay, it’s the way it is now. But as with everything there are ways to potentially improve what is being done. One such improvement targets the heat that comes off fields. Now I am no scientist, but I think that the black rubber pellets are the main reason for this. It’s a well known fact that black attracts heat, if you have ever stepped into a black car on a hot sunny day you will know what I am talking about.

The same principle applies to the artificial grass fields. The black rubber pellets elevate the heat at ground level significantly. But what if the pellets were white? Well I think the temperature would be significantly reduced. Meaning that playing on the fields would be a lot more comfortable.

This could be possible if after the rubber went through the mincer it was then painted white. This would mean an additional cost of both the machine and the paint. As well as an extra amount of time spent waiting for the pieces to dry. But if it means more comfortable playing conditions then I think it would vastly improve the experience.

This would mean that the line markings would have to change and potentially even the ball. The lines are currently white plastic grass with the black rubber pellets and would need to be changed black plastic grass and white rubber pellets. The field would remain the same green plastic grass colour. This would look weird at first and may look as if there was snow on the field, but I think it would add to the experience from a visual point of view.

The ball may also have to change to a bright yellow winter ball. White balls may clash with the new white pellets and be hard to pick up. So, changing the balls to something brighter like they do in countries with a lot of snow would be an easy fix for this.