According to the NFL Player Association, playing on an artificial turf field, you are 28% more likely to have non-contact leg injuries. If you are wondering why they are more dangerous, it is because no matter how innovative technology gets, it's not the same as grass. There is more traction with grass because cleats actually go into the ground . Unlike grass, while playing on turf cleats don’t actually plant into anything. This means ankles, feet, and knees have to absorb more of the force you're putting in the ground. Most athletes don’t know the dangers or look past it because of the convenience of turf. You don’t have to put any time or effort into making turf look nice or worry about it being muddy. But, if people knew that 69% of foot and ankle injuries occur on turf and that “players have a 32% higher rate of non-contact knee injuries on turf,” as said by the NFL Player Association, they may realize the dangers of turf fields for players.. This is not to say that players won’t get injured on grass because it is still very possible, but when looking at the statistics of the injuries, turf is clearly more dangerous.
Most studies done about turf fields are by the NFL. They pay their players millions of dollars a year to play, and want to make sure it is the best type of field for their players’ safety. When one of them gets hurt it’s a big deal for the league. Unfortunately, injuries occurring on turf fields not only happening in the NFL during football games. They are happening at every level and every sport activity that takes place on artificial turf fields. So what are things athletes can do to prevent these injuries? The obvious is to get rid of these fields but it's not always that easy; it takes a lot of money and time. For NFL teams it's not as big of a deal to make the change to a traditional grass field if they choose to do so. For high school teams that have to put money into getting a turf field, they can’t just tear them out. Local schools such as Mineral Ridge, Campbell, Springfield, and McDonald spent many years fundraising to update their fields just to find out it could be dangerous. Since tearing the field out is out of the question for most districts, schools, coaches, and athletes can work together to help prevent injuries before they happen.
In the article, “Five Ways to Prevent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries,” written by NYU Langone Health in March of 2021, ways to prevent ACL injuries include strengthening the muscles around the knee and ankle, where majorities of them happen. Also by stretching muscles properly, especially in the legs. There is no real way to completely cut these injuries out but athletes can do the little things that can help to best prevent them from occurring.
I interviewed Lowellville senior athlete Alex Modelski who unfortunately tore his ACL in 2020 while playing on Liberty High School’s turf field. Alex feels strongly that turf was a major part in how his injury occurred and took his upcoming junior football season away from him. He said, “I would rather play on grass no matter the conditions.” Alex went through surgery, treatment, and recovery. He feels it was one of the toughest processes of his life. He said,, “Mainly because you aren’t able to do what you want, you have to sit and watch it all happen.”
Alex completely lost his junior football season due to his knee injury. He is an advocate for grass fields over turf; also to help prevent these injuries from happening to anyone. His advice is to train hard in the off season, stretch, and stay focused on the task at hand with a positive mindset! Lowellville doesn’t have a turf field so we may not be affected as much as some schools, but we can see it has negatively impacted students of our school or fellow athletes throughout the area.
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