Turf fields or natural grass: which is better?
Maria Carrillo High School's artificial turf field (Sloane Crocker / The Puma Prensa)
By Sloane Crocker, Co-executive Editor
Bruises, sprains, fractures, tears. Injuries are, for the most part, an accepted part of life as an athlete; one can only hope to minimize the damage as much as possible. But the truth is that choosing the best playing surface for athletes to compete on actually has a large impact upon the incidence of said injuries. And even if choosing between artificial turf or grass isn’t an option, there are still so many things that athletes can do to be proactive and set themselves up for peak health and performance.
The argument to phase out artificial turf in favor of grass alternatives is nothing new, and it has certainly received its fair share of publicity. In September of 2020, JC Tretter, then president of the NFL Players Association, wrote an article published on the association’s website titled “Only natural grass can level the NFL’s playing field.” Tretter argued that the lack of give in synthetic turf means a scientifically higher chance of players’ lower extremities absorbing force in such a way that injuries ensue. According to him, “artificial turf is significantly harder on the body than grass.”
There is also plenty of data to back up the argument for artificial turf. The National Center for Health Research, or NCHR, breaks it down, citing a study, published 2019, that observed the rates of knee injuries in college football athletes over a period of ten years. The findings of this study were shocking-- tears of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) occurred on turf fields at a rate three times that of grass fields. The NCHR also discussed ankle injuries, this time citing a 2007 study which found that ankle sprains in young female soccer players occurred at a rate of 1.5 injuries per 1000 hours on artificial turf versus 0.8 injuries per 1000 hours on grass. The trend was evident in Tretter’s article as well, which stated that from 2012 to 2018, NFL players had a 28% higher rate of non contact injuries to lower extremities while playing on artificial turf.
Although there may not be professionally collected stats to prove it, artificial turf has a very real impact upon high school level athletes as well. At Maria Carrillo High School, several sports teams play on the artificial turf field, including Jordan Henry’s flag football team. Henry is no stranger to injured players, stating that although many of these injuries are concentrated on the upper body and have to do with contact with the football or a person, there are also injuries such as turf burn, turf toe, shin splints, and ankle issues that could be in part due to the turf field. Henry certainly feels that a correlation between turf fields and injuries is possible, and wonders whether the high incidence of concussions on the team could be partly because of the “lack of sponginess” of the turf. She says that she wants to “play with whatever is safer” for her athletes, and so would be on board with a switch to grass fields if that would mean a significant reduction in injuries for her athletes.
As for the men’s football team, coach Jay Higgins said that the most common injuries in his team include sprained wrists and elbows from players falling down. He also said that he has seen a few instances where players’ heads “snap back and hit the ground,” putting them at risk for concussion. And, although he feels that overall “the nature and frequency of the injuries don't seem to be different” between grass and turf fields, the possibility of concussion that he voiced is very real and is in fact impacted by the type of playing surface. According to the NCHR, a study observing almost 20,000 football players over three years found that concussions due to contact with the ground occurred more often on turf surfaces and were also more serious when they occurred on turf versus grass.
However, the fact is that switching to a grass field isn’t much of a feasible option for the school at the moment. And, there are drawbacks to every type of field, grass included. Higgins named resistance to changing weather conditions as a main reason for his preference for turf fields, saying that in recent games his team had to play on grass fields in the “driving rain” and players “couldn’t really run.” Carrillo’s athletic trainer Julie Rudy shared a similar sentiment; from her time working with Sonoma State University she knows that at some times of the year their grass field was great, while at others there were “holes” or “dry spots” that made playing more difficult. She also said that since at this point most high school level athletes have been playing on turf for years, suddenly transition to a grass field would cause them to suffer the same non-contact injuries that can occur on turf.
In all, Rudy made clear that her top priority is to encourage athletes to be proactive in doing what they can to maintain their health. However beneficial grass fields may be, the choice between the two isn’t in the hands of the athletes, and so she shared a few things that athletes can take control of. For one, she emphasized the importance of proper footwear, specifically footwear with the correct fit that is designed for the correct playing surface. She even recommended athletes experiment with turf-specific cleats, saying that she has noticed that players who wear them tend to slip less often. She also feels that the actions athletes take before and after practice are crucial in terms of injury prevention, as a top priority in her mind is a proper dynamic warm up as well as at least a ten minute cool down post-practice. She added that two days of recovery per week as well as fueling with enough food–including breakfast–will also work wonders in terms of energy and injury prevention. Finally, she made clear that strength training is key to keep athletes healthy and thus encourages athletes to focus on a “foundation of basic strength.” Even if this means simple body weight exercises or light recovery lifting, Rudy feels that this component of training makes the difference in terms of gaining strength and range of motion. Higgins agrees, stating that “the biggest thing that athletes need to do to prevent injuries is train in the weight room.”
It seems that overall grass fields have the upper hand in terms of the best playing surface for athlete health and safety, a fact which must be considered across all levels of athletic competition. But, the issue is far from black-and-white, and given that Carrillo will have a turf field for the foreseeable future, the best thing for athletes to do is be aware of the risks involved with their sports and therefore take the right steps to take care of their bodies. As Rudy said, every little thing can make the difference; “it doesn’t have to be much and it doesn’t have to be crazy.”