Now, it's important to point out that the fields involved here are AstroTurf brand, while I think most MLS fields, etc, that are artificial are made by FieldTurf, which probably has different ingredients.
Grass is good, though. Still my favorite playing surface.
3 comments:
There is really no comparison between Astroturf and Fieldturf. Astroturf is basically a carpet on top of concrete while Fieldturf is much, much, much more like grass. It has soft rubber pellets and cushioning. All MLS artificial surfaces are Fieldturf. I don't think Astroturf even exists anywhere anymore. Astroturf causes injuries, Fieldturf is not as bad.
In fact, Fieldturf is probably the future of soccer fields. As technology improves, they will probably be able to mimic grass very accurately.
Fieldturf still sucks to play on. My high school had it installed before my junior year.
After a long cross country season, playing on fieldturf killed my ankles.
I had never had problems transitioning before, especially since we held all soccer practices on grass. But as the season progressed, we started playing and practicing on the turf. After a point I was noticeably less agile and my top speed in a flat sprint declined.
It just puts lots of stress on your joints as a whole because it grips your foot too hard.
I think they still need to improve the technology before it's a viable alternative to grass for pro play, no matter what FIFA says.
I agree that good grass is better than turf. But, I've played too many times on really crappy grass fields that can't be maintained. Fieldturf is a step above those.
I agree that MLS should try really hard to install grass on all their fields until Fieldturf becomes a viable replacement.
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