Heavyweight Infill Systems Once Again Proven Safest for Football

Calhoun, GA, January 07, 2016 --(PR.com)-- For more than 20 years, FieldTurf has focused on providing athletes not only with the highest performing surfaces, but also the safest. The most recent data of an ongoing safety study on synthetic turf corroborates this; confirming, once again, the importance of heavy infill weight as it relates to player injuries. This new data is even more conclusive than the initial results last published in December of 2014, showing an even lower incidence of injury between heavyweight >9 pound per square foot systems and other systems with 3-5.9 pounds per square foot.

The prospective cohort study entitled ‘Incidence, Mechanisms, and Severity of Game-Related High School Football Injuries Across Artificial Turf Systems of Various Infill Weight – A Four-Year Study’, consists in the analysis of injury-related data from high school games played on artificial turf. The latest data was taken from 1,163 competitive season and playoff games, from 2010-2013. The study concludes that “as the artificial infill surface weight decreased, the incidence of game-related high school football trauma significantly increased across numerous playing conditions.”

FieldTurf >9 lbs. /sq. ft. vs. other surfaces with 3-5.9 lbs. /sq. ft. of infill weight:

Injury Type:

Concussions Injuries Combined – 8.3% lower incidence of injury
Total Injuries – 20.5% lower incidence of injury
Severe Injuries – 16.8% lower incidence of injury
Player-to-Turf Collision – 17.8% lower incidence of injury

Conditions:

Adverse Weather Conditions – 26.3% lower incidence of injury
Turf Age (8+ years) – 72.7% lower incidence of injury
Turf Age (4 to 8+ years) – 33.8% lower incidence of injury

Today's new generations of artificial turf systems are being installed to duplicate or exceed playing characteristics of natural grass. Rather than playing on the polyethylene turf fibers, player to surface interaction actually occurs between the individual and the various proprietary sand/rubber infill compositions of varying weight.

About FieldTurf

In the NFL, the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, and Indianapolis Colts play their games on FieldTurf while 12 of the league’s teams currently practice on FieldTurf. Over 90 Division I Bowl Division and Championship Division schools have selected FieldTurf, including programs such as Notre Dame, Ohio State, Florida State, Louisville, Missouri, Oregon, Nebraska, Texas and Washington.

When it comes to artificial turf sports fields, FieldTurf is the most trusted brand in the industry. Whether its football, soccer, baseball or any other sport, FieldTurf fields provide athletes with the safety and performance they need to perform at their best, while giving field owners the durability they want to maximize the value of their investment. FieldTurf is the world leader in artificial turf with over 7,500 installations worldwide.