Synthetic Playing Fields: the debate continues
Originally installed for indoor facilities where growing grass wasn’t feasible, artificial turf quickly became a cost effective alternative compared to natural turf fields. The fact that synthetic grass removed virtually all of the maintenance cost of a playing field made it highly attractive to professional organizations and school administrators alike, and provided a vivid display of school and team colors. However cost effective it might have been, early versions of artificial turf looked like, well— really short fake grass. First generation turf became a work in progress as engineers slowly fixed several issues.
Athletes that played on these new synthetic fields reported puddles from water not draining quickly enough when it rained. Also, the short, woven, synthetic grass tended to have a “grain” or direction to it that affected how athletes or balls played off of its surface. For example, baseballs would bounce strangely off of zippers between the mats, and football players could run faster with the grain than against it, giving a home field advantage to the team that knew the field better. Teams began to plan game strategies differently, and used different equipment and shoes for turf than for grass. Successive generations of artificial turf have taken synthetic playing surfaces far beyond these early problems.
Early forms of fake grass were abrasive and the mats were poorly cushioned underneath. This led to several different minor injuries occurring frequently with athletes of many sports, the most famous being “turf toe”. The synthetic fibers just didn’t behave like natural grass, and over time it aggravated injuries to play on such a hard, unforgiving surface. Many athletes began to prefer natural playing fields to help prevent these nagging injuries. Additionally, the first generation fibers were quite rough and would leave athletes with skin abrasions called “turf burns”. Although new field construction methods combined with vastly improved artificial fibers have greatly improved and negated these issues, misperceptions still linger.
The appearance of artificial turf was short, and obviously fake. It was limited in its usefulness in other applications. By utilizing additional types of materials, modern forms of artificial turf can actually look and feel like real grass. These real grass look synthetic lawns have a much broader appeal than sports, and can be used more readily in residential applications and smaller schools and playgrounds.
The question of whether natural or artificial turf is better has ceased to become a debate about injuries, appearance, and adjustments. It is now a question of did you have to look twice to know if it was real or fake grass?
Outdoor Synthetic Surfaces provides synthetic sports surfaces in Houston, from putting greens to football fields. They also service other needs, such as recycled rubber mulch and other materials, many of which they carry exclusively. Services are available both locally and worldwide. For more information, visit www.outdoorsyntheticsurfaces.com.
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