Impact of artificial turf on our teams' speed?

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ramblin_man

Jolly Good Fellow
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I was just curious if the artificial turf at the Dome will effect the players ability to cut and their overall speed. Will they perhaps even get better traction & thus maybe slightly faster than playing on real grass?

Will the team get any reps at the Dome itself prior to the game. Might take a couple of practices to get used to it....Your thoughts?

Just curious...It may not even have much of an impact at all....Just thought it might be an interesting conversation piece.

I can't help but think that Dwyer, R. Jones, Nesbitt, & M. Wright....If it makes you faster...then would anyone be able to catch Wright in the open field? Of course Dwyer has shown pleanty of top end speed as well.... I just wish we were playing tonight!
 
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Mike Leach had a humerous quote on fast vs. slow fields. Something to the effect that a faster team is faster on a slow field and faster on a fast field so it doesn't really matter.
 
spaceballs_large_02.jpg


ludicrous speed.
 
ramblin_man said:
Will the team get any reps at the Dome itself prior to the game. Might take a couple of practices to get used to it....Your thoughts?
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I second this part of the question. How many practices will we get on artificial turf prior to game day?
 
cajunjacket said:
I second this part of the question. How many practices will we get on artificial turf prior to game day?
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They could always commandeer the giant artificial turf field used for intramurals if they can't get any practice time in at the Dome.
 
Enuratique said:
They could always commandeer the giant artificial turf field used for intramurals if they can't get any practice time in at the Dome.
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Two totally different kinds of turf. The SAC fields are your classic astro- variety. Complete with seams that help cause turf toe and the amazing ability to remove square feet of skin. The Dome has sported fieldturf since '02. Fieldturf is spongy and soft and quite wonderful.
 
SeePops said:
Two totally different kinds of turf. The SAC fields are your classic astro- variety. Complete with seams that help cause turf toe and the amazing ability to remove square feet of skin. The Dome has sported fieldturf since '02. Fieldturf is spongy and soft and quite wonderful.
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Ah yeah - good point... I had forgot they replaced that stuff... Then again, I remember seeing the stuff spray up from the ground when Michael Vick injured his leg in the preseason to keep the Madden Curse alive.
 
In previous years, teams in the SEC CG or the Peach Bowl have used local high schools that have the same turf as the Dome.
 
SeePops said:
Two totally different kinds of turf. The SAC fields are your classic astro- variety. Complete with seams that help cause turf toe and the amazing ability to remove square feet of skin. The Dome has sported fieldturf since '02. Fieldturf is spongy and soft and quite wonderful.
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Maybe I am wrong, but I have to disagree with this. The CRC fields(as they are now called) are carpet. They are not "astro" in any way. I have used them regularly for a long time, and if any professional sports player has played a game on something like that, I will eat my shoe. And by "eat my shoe," I mean buy them a beer :). Seriously though, I don't think they are even close to the quality of astroturf....
 
gmlane said:
In previous years, teams in the SEC CG or the Peach Bowl have used local high schools that have the same turf as the Dome.
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As a CE with several Atlanta area school projects under his belt, I have to question this. I've never heard of APS, FCS, DCSS or GCPS using any sort of artificial turf. Not even on a project as audacious as Alpharetta High School.

Perhaps one of the private schools has it. But I'd be shocked and amazed.
 
gt7282c@prism said:
As a CE with several Atlanta area school projects under his belt, I have to question this. I've never heard of APS, FCS, DCSS or GCPS using any sort of artificial turf. Not even on a project as audacious as Alpharetta High School.

Perhaps one of the private schools has it. But I'd be shocked and amazed.
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Locations with the Sprinturf (actually mostly public schools):
McEachern
Northview
Roswell
St. Pius
Valdosta
Calloway Stadium
Hallford Stadium
Harrison
Milton
Riverwood
Westlake
Banneker
Chattahoochee
Creekside
Tri-Cities
Etowah
Lowndes
Lakewood

Fairly certain Marist has it too, or will within the year.


My apologies if I missed any schools.
 
In 2005, UGA practiced at St. Pius before their SEC CG win over LSU.

Also, NFL prospects have used the field to prepare for the combine, including David Greene of UGA and Dwayne Jarrett of USC.
 
gmlane said:
What is the difference between the two?
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Granted, this may be complete PR, but have heard it before, when Georgia Dome selected FieldTurf.

The Atlanta test. When the Atlanta Falcons began their search for a new field, they wanted a fair process, the best surface and, most importantly, what the players wanted. They conducted a blind test with five fields: AstroPlay, NeXturf, Sprinturf, RealGrass and FieldTurf. They asked the players to rate them on seven categories: start/stop, balance, cut/plant, speed/quickness, impact, abrasion and appearance. FieldTurf finished first in every category.
5. The NFLPA (Players Association/Union) Field Survey. Every other year, the NFLPA surveys players on the best and worst playing surface. After only three years in the league, the FieldTurf surface in Seattle finished third, ahead of many natural grass fields. All other artificial turf fields were ranked 20th or below.
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http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian...9/Opinion/Letters.To.The.Editor-2153536.shtml

There is some negative to FieldTurf; however, the MLS really does not like it compared to natural grass.

From Wikipedia
In September 2006, several top Canadian soccer players appealed to the Canadian Soccer Association to install a natural grass surface at BMO Field in Toronto.[4] The Association has, however, decided to install FieldTurf despite the players' request.
In addition, following David Beckham's move to Major League Soccer in 2007, in which he arrived carrying an ankle injury,[5] he voiced his opinion that the league should convert to grass for all pitches, specifically singling out the FieldTurf brand[6][7] (which he later partially recanted[8]). During a telephone interview on David Beckham's Soccer USA (UK version), former Aston Villa and current Red Bull New York striker Juan Pablo Ángel criticized the surface, saying, "I find it really hard to adjust to the [Giants Stadium] turf field... it takes me two or three days just to recover [after a match]."[9]
New England Revolution manager Steve Nicol is quoted as saying "there is no give in [FieldTurf]. Grass is still the best surface," [10] in regards to professional soccer matches.
Gary O'Connor, current Birmingham City and Scotland striker, has recently spoken out against the FieldTurf surface at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, which hosted the England-Russia Euro 2008 qualifier on 17 October 2007. After a short summer term at Lokomotiv Moscow, O'Connor described playing on the FieldTurf surface as "a nightmare" and a "misfortune".[11] He noted the effects of the artificial surface during the run of play, saying, "The ball skids off the surface, so it becomes extremely hard to read where it is going to go."
In 2007, a Connecticut non-profit organization Environmental and Human Health Inc. (EHHI), released a report about the safety of recycled tire crumb rubber in artificial turf.[12] EHHI funded a study by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, a state agency, which independently reported[13] that under laboratory conditions when the crumb rubber infill was heated to 60 °C (140 °F), four components of crumb rubber volatilize into the vapor phase (outgas) in contact with the crumbs: benzothiazole (an irritant), butylated hydroxyanisole (a carcinogen and toxicant), n-hexadecane (an irritant) and 4-(t-octyl) phenol (corrosive to mucus membranes, a suspected endocrine disruptor[14]). FieldTurf, ALIAPUR (a French consortium founded by tire makers Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop Goodyear, Kléber, Michelin and Pirelli)[15], and ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) released their own joint report concluding that there was no cause for concern to human health by inhalation of volatile organic compounds and aldehydes released by recycled tire crumb rubber surfaces.[16]
The safety of the rubber granules in artificial turf has been defended in other studies, such as the INTRON rubber study.[17].
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gth816f said:
Maybe I am wrong, but I have to disagree with this. The CRC fields(as they are now called) are carpet. They are not "astro" in any way. I have used them regularly for a long time, and if any professional sports player has played a game on something like that, I will eat my shoe. And by "eat my shoe," I mean buy them a beer :). Seriously though, I don't think they are even close to the quality of astroturf....
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The CRC fields are a form of artificial turf much like Astroturf. I played on Astroturf throughout my entire high school football career and it is identical to the CRC field surface. We also played in the Superdome before and it was identical to the CRC fields. That was before they installed the new age turf in the Superdome and Georgiadome a few years ago. It was funny because in high school we practiced on grass in cleats all week but then on Friday we would have to wear special tennis shoes that could grip that stuff. It hurt way more getting dropped on that old school artificial turf than on grass.

Looking back at the SEC championship game, I didn't see any impacts of the turf on any of those players (i.e. no slippage or anything). But I am still curious if we are able to get any practice time on that surface prior to the Chicken Bowl.
 
cajunjacket said:
I second this part of the question. How many practices will we get on artificial turf prior to game day?
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Guys, we have TWO practice fields at Rose Bowl field...the SECOND is THE SAME turf that is in the GA dome; its field turf.....we have had it for 5-6 years now. It was installed just after or before (can't remember) Oleary left. It was another facility upgrade George was pushing for and got....

Besides....even if our second practice field wasn't field turf....it wouldn't impact/matter.

Note: the field turf practice field is not even close to the fields at SAC. The fields at SAC are more "carpety". The Rose Bowl field turf is just like the Domes...with the long blades of grass and rubber pellets....
 
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gt7282c@prism said:
As a CE with several Atlanta area school projects under his belt, I have to question this. I've never heard of APS, FCS, DCSS or GCPS using any sort of artificial turf. Not even on a project as audacious as Alpharetta High School.

Perhaps one of the private schools has it. But I'd be shocked and amazed.
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Also, fwiw, the new field at Decatur High School has fieldturf. I only know this because I live a mile and a half away and watched them unroll it. Pretty nice stadium for a small school.

And yeah Buzz, MLS players hate the turf. There were a few significant players who turned down a contract with Toronto because they didn't want to play on it, and MLS has a soft rule now that all new stadiums need natural grass. The new NY stadium openning up in Harrison, NJ next year will have grass. Seattle got a reprieve because since Paul Allen owns them he's just putting them in the Seahawks stadium. They have held international games on that surface before though, so maybe it's not so bad.

Yeah, I know a lot about MLS.
 
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