Artificial Sports Pitches: Giving sports a new definition

The numerous advances made in the field of science and technology have touched every aspect of our lives, including sports. Today, grass sports pitches are passe, thanks to artificial sports pitches. Such surfaces are ideal for many sports such as football, hockey, tennis, netball, athletics, and many more. These sports surfaces have found a prominent place in Multi Use Games Areas where a variety of sports can be played.

The credit for the invention of artificial turf goes to David Chaney, the dean of the North Carolina State University College of Textiles. He, along with a team of researchers, created the first artificial turf in early 1960s. However, artificial turf began to gain popularity from 1965, when Astro Turf was installed in the newly built Astrodome in Houston, Texas. By 1970s, these artificial sports pitches could be found in many of the indoor and outdoor stadiums, used for playing baseball and grid iron football, in the USA and Canada.    

An artificial sports turf is a man-made sports surface made from synthetic materials like polypropylene or polyethylene. The most common type of artificial turf uses grass-like fibres made from polypropylene, which are then lubricated with silicone. These synthetic fibres are then tufted into a primary cloth, and latex is applied to its back for providing stability. The artificial turf, thus created, is then in-filled with a layer of sand and rubber granules. This layer helps to keep the fibres upright and provide the right level of shock absorbency.   

Another popular type of artificial grass is the ‘Third Generation’ artificial grass. The artificial grass fibres, in this case, are made of a softer material, known as polyethylene. The lubricated polyethylene fibres are shorter and more densely packed. Another feature of such an artificial pitch is an expanded polyethylene base, which serves as an effective “cushion” to prevent injury to players. There is no doubt why this foamy material was originally used as a shock absorber in cars. These modern artificial sports pitches also feature spring-like fibres in between the main in-filled fibres to keep the latter upright.   

An artificial sports surface offers many advantages. For instance, it can be used all year round and also requires minimal maintenance. The shock pad just beneath the top layer of artificial grass offers protection to players whilst sliding and falling on the surface.  Furthermore, it is easy to alter the playing characteristics of such a surface by varying the length and the density of the synthetic fibres.  It is therefore possible to design a sports surface specifically suited to particular sports including athletics.