Turf Fields Linked to Knee Injuries Among Football Players

College football players suffer knee injuries about 40% more often when playing on an artificial surface compared to when they’re playing on grass, according to a new study recently published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine from Stanford University School of Medicine.

With more colleges switching to artificial turf for its supposed performance benefits, researchers uncovered significant evidence that artificial grass should not be considered safer than real grass.

By analyzing the number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears that were reported to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Injury Surveillance System, experts found that ACL injuries were 10 times more common during games than during practices, and close to five times as common during scrimmages than during regular practice. The data also called into question the use of turf; Athletes were 1.39 times as likely to be injured when playing on modern artificial turf as they were when playing on grass.

So what explains the jump in injuries?

Many argue that the “shoe-surface interface” allows players to grip better on turf, which prevents your leg from distributing force and protecting your knee.

The NFL, which has been facing this issue for a while now, has started trying to design footwear that helps players adjust their grip on turf to reflect the grip they would get on grass.

The Importance of Injury Prevention Training

Specialized footwear would help, but study leaders and sports performance specialists familiar with the study also champion ACL injury prevention training as an essential part of athletic training. The football performance specialists here at Bon Secours In Motion emphasize that athletes can help mitigate their risk of an ACL tear by spending time focused on building proper biomechanics and injury prevention training strategies.

If you are training to play high level, collegiate football, the experts at the In Motion Football/Combine Preparatory Program can assess your potential and take you to new levels of performance on the football field.

Source: Reuters