Turf vs. Grass

Whether you’re a high school, college, or professional athlete, the question of turf vs grass has been a huge debate. They both have their pros and cons that mostly are dependent on the athlete’s personal preference. We decided to break down this argument:

The majority seems to side with turf in this argument because it’s less maintenance.  You don’t have to repaint the lines or worry about athletes’ cleats tearing out patches of grass. On turf grass stains or allergies from falling on the grass are no longer a concern, overall making turf nicer to play on.

But falling on turf can lead to turf burn (Turf Wars: Grass vs Artificial Turf for School Sports Fields). Turf is also a leading factor in rising concussion rates due to the fact that it is less effective at cushioning falls and protecting athletes. Turf fields have also increased the amount of reported ACL tears because turf has less ‘give’ then grass. Harrison is one of the only high schools in the area with a turf game field but also a turf practice field, which is impressive when considering the cost of maintenance and insulation.

Those who love grass tend to also love “traditional” aspect in sports. They argue that grass is what sports fields started as and changing it now is unnecessary. This a valid point considering that football players have been playing on a grass field sense 1869. Grass can also to a good option because it has more give than turf. This is especially important for contact sports, such as football. In football, concussions are bound to happen, and studies find that most of these injuries happened when athletes’ heads collide with the turf. This “better” option’s ungiving nature can make the turf fields more dangerous for athletes (Natural Grass or Artificial Turf: What’s Right for Your School? – EDspaces). Many NFL teams are making the switch back to grass for the sake of their players health. Grass is also arguably a lot cooler than a turf; from personal experience I know that our team is moved from turf to grass when the turf is too hot to play on. If we always just played with grass, we wouldn’t have to worry about the turf being too hot for practice.

We conducted interviews at one of our football teams practices and determined that most Harrison football players prefer turf to grass. They argued that turf is much nicer to play on and claimed they could care less about the concussion rate because that’s “part of football”. Other players also said they had gotten used to the heat and the grass fields are just to uneven and itchy. Most agreed that they would rather play on turf not matter the weather, or temperature.

At the end of the day everyone has their own opinion based on personal preferences and experiences. Both grass and turf have many pros and cons regarding health, safety and tradition, so the option is yours. Which do you like best?