Turf going: how synthetic surface companies are striving for acceptance and safety.

The world of synthetic surfacing is a dog-eat-dog business. It is the National Football League of artificial grass where "smack" is tossed around instead of tight spirals. Everyone claims to have the best product and that the competition doesn't measure up. This is the perfect way to lose an industry.

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While gaining approval in the marketplace and acceptance from the sports world is fine on the surface, the industry is well aware that the bottom line for coaches, athletic directors, and even parents is: How safe is the product for the student-athlete?

"What we are trying to do is win the game of player protection," says Chuck Fleishman, chief marketing officer for Southwest Recreational Industries (SRI). "I don't think you can have a playing surface that's great for ankles and bad for knees. You have to take the entire player into account. Most companies have tried to simulate the perfect natural grass field."

Obviously the difference between professional football and high school football is vast. You have highly conditioned mature bodies on one hand and teenaged boys on the other.

Fleishman suggests that the industry might be better served by finding ways to fine-tune the needs of each level of the game.

But here's the rub, particularly on the prep level. Fields can be too multi-purposed--we can ask too much of the synthetic field.

"You just can't fine-tune a high school field for just football," says Fleishman. "The pros and colleges have the luxury of having specialty stadiums."

To the uninitiated, a sure-fire way to lessen the severity of synthetic surface-related injuries would be to make a field as soft as possible. Au contraire. Industry executives to a man are on the same page when it comes to a field being too soft.

In short, too soft is too dangerous.

"Just as a freshly laid natural grass field is not the best surface to play on, an artificial turf field can be considered too soft." says FieldTurf president John Gilman.

Gilman offers myriad problems that can occur when playing on too a soft field: instability and unsure footing that might lead to ankle roll; no delivery of "energy restitution" to muscles, causing lower leg fatigue; overall fatigue that can lead to more debilitating injuries; and tendonitis.

"A lot of people think that if a field is soft, it is going to protect the player. Not true," says SRI's Chuck Fleishman. "It can be too soft. And too soft is too slow and takes more energy for the players to play on. At the same time, your feet can bottom out. Your body can bottom out."

The allusion of a field being "too soft" is a reference to the G-Max threshold, a standard set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission using the test method approved by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), to make a synthetic field comparable to natural grass.

Surfacing companies vary on the precise G-Max level, which is not to exceed 200 g's. SRI says a product that tests between 85-90 and 120 is a good zone. FieldTurf prefers anything between the 120 and 165-170 range. Sprinturf believes 110-125 is perfect turf. Sportexe's products--Omnigrass and Momentum Turf--rate 108 and 114, respectively.

By comparison, a solid G-Max level for a good natural grass field is between 127 and 140. The natural grass field at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was voted the No. 1 playing surface by the NFL Players Association. It has a G-Max of 127.

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G-Max is measured mainly via the Clegg and F-355 Methods. The Clegg method is used to measure the G-Max of natural grass. The F-355 system is more closely associated with synthetic surfaces, such as Astroturf type products.

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"While G-Max is a requirement for testing, it is important to understand the other values necessary in determining the benefit of a turf system," says FieldTurf's John Gilman. "Soft is not a descriptive word for our industry. Penetrations, point loading, point resilience and area resilience best determine the quality of a field performance. FieldTurf's secret lies in its attention to area resilience, allowing the shock load to be spread over a larger area. Similar to a wrestling ring. The structure absorbs the shock while maintaining sure footing, firm turf and shallow penetrations to reduce turf injuries."

Added Gilman: "There is no need to set the G-Max level too low at installation. As a matter of fact we discourage this greatly because of poor performance and even safety criteria that result from too soft and unstable playing surfaces."

GETTING FILLED IN ON INFILL

When it comes to artificial fields, you have two clear choices: sand and rubber infill-based fields and rubber-only infill fields, with the latter dominating the market. Synthetic grass with no infill is still around, but is fast becoming a dinosaur.

Montreal-based FieldTurf is the selfproclaimed industry leader in sand and rubber infill fields. It has made a name for itself in NFL and NCAA circles, both at stadiums and practice facilities, for the playability of the surface. According to the company, an NFLPA survey of all active players ranked FieldTurf third overall, which was higher than 20 of the NFL's natural grass fields, and 20 places ahead of the closest artificial turf competitor

SRI, of Leander, TX, has two major lines of rubber-infill surfacing: AstroPlay, a 100% rubber infill field, which was recently installed at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, and NeXturf, another 100% rubber product that uses green virgin environmentally friendly EPDM infill. Sand is optional with AstroPlay, which SRI will add up to 30% of the granules for customers.

A-Turf, a division of Surface America, is the so-called new kid on the block in the synthetic surface market. It manufactures three primary variations of turf: rubber and sand infill, rubber only infill, and synthetic grass with no infill. Its Premier RS field, which was recently installed at SMU's Ford Stadium, is a rubber-send mixture, as is FieldSport RS. Its SportFlex R is rubber only.

According to Sprinturf (Wayne, PA) president Hank Julicher, the industry has shifted from sand and rubber to all rubber--to the tune of 75% to 25%. "The problem is rubber is lighter than sand and sand is used as ballast--weight--to hold the product down so it won't stretch, creep, expand, and contract."

Sprinturf, introduced in 1997-98, owns the patent for the all-rubber infill surface. Its rubber pellets--40,000 tires are used for one field--are cleaned and screened three times. Among its installations are playing fields at U. of Montana and Youngstown State and practice fields for Ohio State, Auburn, and the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.

Sportexe--the exclusive turf provider for the Arena Football League, AF2, the National Lacrosse League, and Major Indoor Soccer League--has made inroads into the outdoor market this year.

Headquartered in Fonthill, Ontario, Canada, Sportexe has made a big push for the high school and college markets. And it has had some initial success with installations of its premier Momentum Turf--a 70-30 rubber and sand mixed on volume, not weight--for the Baltimore Ravens and Cal-Berkeley. Its Omnigrass surface, a 100% rubber infill surface, is the field of choice for De La Salle HS of Concord, CA, the No.1 prep football program in the country.

Says Sportexe president Mark Nicholls: "If you don't cater to high-profile notable clients, then a high school coach in Wyoming doesn't know who you are and when he decides to replace his football field--even at a high school level--he'll pick up the phone and call either FieldTurf or AstroPlay (SRI) because that's all he knows."

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Proponents of the sand-rubber and allrubber combos would rather fight than switch allegiance. However, there are considerable differences between all-rubber and rubber-and-sand compositions in choosing the right for your needs.

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It all depends on whom you talk to.

"When grass blades are surrounded only by rubber, they provide a less stable surface," John Gilman says. "They lay over with use so that play and wear occur on the sides of the fibers. This affects traction, especially in wet weather and has a significant impact on product life. The FieldTurf system emulates natural grass in terms of biomechanics. It allows players' cleats to penetrate, plant into a firm earth-like surface, twist and release, without undue torque transmitted to knee and ankle joints.

"All rubber systems are not firm--they can be characterized as excessively loose--so play is not like natural grass. Players may adapt to it some, but all rubber surfaces are certainly not viewed by elite players as similar in feel and performance to natural grass."

"Sand and rubber is old technology. It's 20-something years old," counters Hank Julicher. "Sand is abrasive, it compacts, and it's not really hygienic. Rubber is not porous so it won't absorb moisture or contaminants. It won't change composition. It won't compact. You don't have hygiene problems. And it drains much faster than adding sand. The G-Max always stays the same. So you are playing on a surface that is like natural sod. But it stays that way year round."

A-Turf (Williamsville, NY) sources all of its silica sand, which has round granules, from a quarry in Texas. A-Turf president Jim Dobmeier says that round granules will not compact, compared to angular sand, which is not only more abrasive, but will compact over time.

Ironically, one of FieldTurf's sister companies has been manufacturing an all-rubber product called E-turf for the past two years.

John Gilman indicated that this line extension is available to customers who cannot afford a FieldTurf system, but wish to upgrade from natural grass to a synthetic surface.

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"We don't want these customers to do without a well installed and serviced system, despite the drawbacks of an all rubber fill, glued seams, and off-the-shelf fibers," states Gilman. "This product is certainly not FieldTurf, but it is far better than punishing a worn out grass field with the kind of use most facilities have to withstand. E-turf is also a big improvement over other alternatives. Eventually clients will upgrade to FieldTurf so we have no issue offering an introductory product."

Today's synthetic fields are made with a polyethylene fiber that resembles grass. Most companies' surfaces, such as Sportexe, have a 3/8-inch gauge--other have 3/4 inches--between the rows of fiber that produces a plusher finish. Length of the fibers is typically in the 2-2-1/2 inch range.

"The big issue for us is that we have a much different fiber matrix and a beefier product," says Sportexe's Mark Nicholls. "Whereas one of our better known competitors has a face weight of 33 to a 36-ounces, typically, and another product that is a 28, our product has a face weight of 51 ounces. What that means is, where they have 10 blades of grass, we have 16."

Backing is also vital to a sound, safe surface if for nothing else than to provide stability. Sprinturf invented the woven non-woven triple backing, which, according to the company, provides twice the dimensional stability.

"We use 40% more fiber than the competition," says Sprinturf's Hank Julicher. "Our backing is about 40% heavier. It has dimensional stability so it won't expand and contract. And it won't wrinkle."

Sportexe offers its Quadback, comprised of four layers of primary backing with a secondary layer of 28 ounces of polyurethane.

"What it comes down," says A-Turf's Jim Dobmeier, is, 'What type of rubber infill do you use? What kind of sand? What is the stitch rating of your fiber? What is the gauge of your fiber? Ultimately that is what the athletes are playing on--rubber granules, sand granules, and fiber."

Installation is a key component of safety. Schools should make sure the field site preparation is top-shelf and that the surface has a very level grade--that it's not uneven. It's also imperative to have good drainage to prevent puddles or standing water.

A viable subsurface drainage system is another, perhaps overlooked, safety factor. Some companies utilize a perimeter drain with no piping. Sprinturf, for example, has taken it to another level with its Rapid Continuous Drainage System, a traditional Herringbone pattern that is used whenever the field has a crown in the center, running the length of the field. It has a perimeter drain every 20-feet so that you never have a spot on the field that is wetter than another. Better yet, the field dries faster. Sportexe uses similar technology.

Once the site and sub-base is in perfect condition, it's just a matter of laying the surface down and properly connecting the seams of the turf.

DUTCH TREAT 

The latest technology in surfacing is a hybrid of natural grass and synthetic fibers, the brainchild of The Netherlands-based Desso DLW Sports Systems. Its DD Grassmaster system is sand-based but uses polypropylene fibers sewn into natural sod every threequarters of an inch as anchors.

The Grassmaster system has been installed in more than 180 soccer pitches in Europe, including Real Madrid and Manchester and the NFL stadiums of the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Denver Broncos.

Self-propelled, computer-controlled machines that work up to a week, 24 hours a day, install the surface. The final process consists of a sharp blade that cuts the fiber followed by 88 needles pushing the fiber into the ground.

The beauty of the product is that the roots of the natural grass--Kentucky bluegrass in the case of the Eagles' field - lying 1 1/4 inches below the surface, use the sewn fibers, as an anchor and "soil stabilizer" to help prevent field stress from excessive play.

In essence, the grass roots become entwined with the fibers, which, in turn, holds the grass in place and the new growth replaces the worn areas of grass.

According to Desso DLW's Olaf Janssen, "Teams in the U.S. are realizing that they really can get the best of both worlds. The playing comfort of a natural grass field with the durability almost of an artificial grass field."

Testing is an integral part of the manufacturing process for synthetic surfacing. You might be surprised at how thorough and to what lengths surface companies test their fields.