More research is needed... I play indoors on Fieldturf at least once a week. I've had no problem wearing Sambas, but then I'm an old duffer who can't run very fast. (My dog, however, had two ACL's, both on grass.) The stuff is a little hard on your skin if you slide on it, though. I've gotten some nasty rug burns. To me, it's more than a turf vs grass battle. There needs to be more research on knee injuries in general. With all the investment in players, it seems like some of the bigger leagues would be interested in sponsoring research on knee injury prevention. Would wearing a certain brace help? I don't know. Would it be possible to develop a treatment to strengthen ligaments before they stretch or pop? Certainly worth checking into. With the money paid for top players, it seems a $10 or $20 million investment would be money well-spent.
Steffi Jones went down with a right ACL tear at RFK Stadium on Saturday. Hege Riise's happened on an immaculate turf at SAS Stadium early this year, and Shannon MacMillan's was also on grass at Torero Stadium. Kelly Smith did blow hers out on the SafePlay turf at Villanova, though. Injuries can happen on all kinds of surfaces, for all sorts of reasons. Just a player can catch in a seam on the carpet, many grass fields have horrible ruts and holes.
Re: More research is needed... I saw on Tv (can't remember where) last week a program that talked about women soccer. In this program, they mentioned that women soccer players are much more (2-8X??) proned to ACL damages. They also listed a website where you can find information about exercises that can help one to minimize the chance of getting ACL damages.
Re: Re: More research is needed... I believe that there was also an article about this in soccer america a while back. That women are more likely to tear their ACL's then men. The reasoning behind this idea was the way that the female body is set up with the whole child bearing thing. The way their hips are aligned with their legs puts more pressure on their knees then with men.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/soc/2124447 "TURF BURNED The Dallas Burn's star striker, Jason Kreis, continues rehabilitation on a torn anterior cruciate ligament he incurred on the artificial surface at the Burn's temporary home in Southlake. "The injury is coming along slowly," said Kreis, who is one of MLS' all-time leading scorers. "It is extremely tedious at this time. It has been a long and arduous process." Kreis believes the artificial surface is to blame. "It was 100 percent the turf's fault," Kreis said. "I was 20 seconds into the game, planted on my left foot, and it didn't slide out like it would on natural grass." Kreis will have to play another year on the surface before the Burn moves to Frisco and their new soccer-specific stadium. "
Re: Re: More research is needed... They're doing some sort of study on precisely this - female athletes who've suffered an ACL injury - here at OU at the moment. Saw a poster for it the other day.
I apologize if this has been brought up before, but right now, they don't make shoes specially designed for FieldTurf and the like. They have shoes for firm ground, soft ground and AstroTurf, but none for the new type of synthetic turf. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems even thr pros wear natural field boots on FieldTurf and perhaps traditional cleats give too much traction on plastic?
You might be right... The common shoe for indoor amateurs is the Adidas Samba, but it's been around for a long time, at least since Astroturf was the stuff of choice. Also, the boot manufacturers trie to hedge their bets by making an all-purpose indoor shoe that's also good for hard surfaces. (Futsal is played on basketball courts and the like in some countries.) The fibers in real grass have very little strength, they rip off easy. The new turfs have smaller fibers but they're still pretty strong. Sometimes I've tried to watch the feet of the MLS players when they're playing on plastic, and it seems to me that most wear regular cleats. Are you listening, Nike?
For every injury on turf it seems you can come up with an injury that happened on grass. But I think that comparing the Armas injury directly to Rimando's and others is not quite fair. At least in MLS, while ACL injuries maybe 50 - 50 fake to grass, the % of games played on is far less over the years. And injuries aside, players detest it. It distorts the game with bounces and long rolls, the heat absorption, wear and tear on their feet, etc... That alone shoudl be enough to steer clear of it. In the NFL, as stadiums are replaced, more stadiums are going to grass, (Philly, Pitt, others) Attendance at games is up. While there is no direct correlation, 99% of fans and players will tell you that they prefer to play and watch played on grass. Try and replace NBA wood floors with rubber floors and say it helps reduce injuries. NO ONE would support that. The only people that like the fake stuff are the GD accountants and some cheap owners. Someone come up with a reason besides being cheaper why the fake stuff is better.
For what it's worth, Milan recently installed a synthetic field on their training ground: http://www.acmilan.com/mostranews.asp?Statica=News_19881_1.htm
Well, yes and no. What is being replaced are AstroTurf fields. However, a fair number of them have been replaced with FieldTurf fields. According to all accounts, NFL players really like the FieldTurf fields. But then, football is a different game from soccer and the players' requirements for their fields are drastically different.
The new generation of fake stuff has not been around long enough for there to be a significant body of injury data. Data on the actual useful life of these fields is also lacking. Field Turf, for example, which has sand in the infill which some say will compact with time, hasn't been around long enough for anyone to know exactly how exagerated the claims of field life expectancy are. The trend in both MLB and the NFL has, in recent years, been away from plastic to real grass, but that trend may be changing. The trend in NCAA football has already changed. Greatest turf on show More and more institutions are finding that the grass is greener when it's synthetic The NCAA News -- September 29, 2003 I hate the fake stuff but it seems I will have to live with it. I've tilted at enough windmills. The salesmen who sell the fake stuff like it pretty much, too.
Add another to the list Add another to the list Taylor Twellman Stress fracture of the left fifth metatarsal Dragon Stadium 10/4/03
Re: Add another to the list Josh Wolff and Carlos Bocanegra both had streess fractures of the foot while playing (practicing) on grass.
Looks like our friends from across the pond want the fieldturf......... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/3242319.stm