Sport Science -- Turf vs. Grass
Published June 25, 2023, 4:20 a.m. by Naomi Charles
The 2015 Women's World Cup will be played on artificial turf in Canada, so how will the surface affect players and the game itself?
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every game in World Cup history has been
played on natural grass that is until
next year when the Women's World Cup
will be played exclusively on artificial
turf
here's how this drastic change can
affect the game first bounce compared to
natural grass artificial turf has a
coefficient of restitution about 28%
higher this means a ball will retain
more of its speed off the bounce
creating an overall faster game that
could potentially affect timing all else
being equal if a strike from the 18 yard
box is missed times by one hundredth of
a second it could cause the shot to fly
it off target in either direction by
more than 11 feet another factor that
could be in play is heat although the
average highs for the six World Cup
Canadian cities float around the mid 70s
for the month of June surface
temperatures of artificial turf on sunny
days generally exceed those of natural
grass by 35 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit
that could turn a palatable 75 degree
day into a 110 degree scorcher
increasing the risk of dehydration and
reducing reaction times by up to 30%
the biggest difference however could be
risk of injury
some research indicates skin abrasions
are up to three times more likely on
turf - due to the increased friction of
the synthetic grass fibres in while a
recent study found that playing on
artificial turf actually reduced overall
risk of injuries by the ten to fourteen
percent other studies have shown that
turf can actually increase stress on the
ACL joint by up to forty five percent
this is one reason why in a study
covering more than 2,600 NFL games ACL
sprains were 67% more likely to occur on
artificial turf than on natural grass
studies have shown that players actually
do adjust their game to compensate for
the different surfaces when playing on
artificial turf one of the game's key
defensive techniques slide tackling is
reduced by nearly 50% for ESPN sports
science I'm John Brenkus
