Turf experiment

One European researcher set out to discover why players are sceptical about artificial turf, despite the excellent progress the industry has made. Is it just a question of understanding the surface?

The reluctance towards artificial grass football fields by professional sports players in Europe is hard for the industry to understand. Despite numerous research projects and proven improvements in the product quality, still many people do not want to accept artificial grass as a replacement for natural grass. Understanding this problem is therefore vital for the industry. Artificial grass manufacturer Ten Cate Thiolon assigned researcher Hans Jager to find out if this negative attitude can be changed.

The characteristics of today’s artificial grass systems
are very similar to natural grass

Many European football players got familiar with artificial grass in a time when no specific artificial grass systems for football were available. Their first experience, mostly negative, made an indelible impression. But while the industry rapidly made progress in developing new systems, public opinion remained the same.

It is not a problem exclusively to the artificial grass industry says researcher Hans Jager: “From research we know that it is better and safer driving a car with the use of a joystick instead of a steering wheel. But mentally people still do not accept this as fact.” It is also not strictly a problem just for a typical society. “Even elite members of the American Navy Air Force refuse to accept that the technology is better than their own capabilities. To enable a smooth take-off from an aircraft carrier, pilots are forced to hold a handle to prevent them from interfering with the procedures.”

Jager can understand today’s general opinion about general artificial grass. “It only takes one person to have a bad experience and start talking about it at home, school, in the office or during a party. Before you know it everybody had the same experience. People underestimate the influence of the vox populi.”

To find out if he could change the attitude of the players, Jager invited over 120 football players for a tournament in the Polman Stadium in Almelo, The Netherlands. An artificial grass field was installed there in 2003.

“While we sent half of the players downstairs to get changed, we taught the other half about artificial grass, the various aspects of the fibres and infill material as well as the slide-friendly properties of the field.” The lecture is not something that should take much time, he says. “It only took us 20 minutes to give a small presentation.”

The quality of artificial grass is monitored using
the latest testing equipment

As a final part in his presentation Jager also gave the players some advice. “Playing on an artificial grass field is different from playing on a natural grass field. The ball roll on artificial grass is faster and the ball won’t, once it has bounced on the field, slow down immediately. This means that instead of reducing speed when running after a ball, the player should increase speed.”

During half-time all the players were asked to fill in a questionnaire. “We did this deliberately during half-time to prevent the final outcome of the match influencing their opinions.”

Once Jager had reviewed all the questionnaires differences were clearly shown between those who had received information and those who hadn’t. “We asked their opinion about several aspects including the shock absorption of the field, their experience with the ball roll and ball bounce. Those who were informed were much more positive than those who didn’t receive any information at all.”

Jager also asked questions about the slide-friendly properties of the field. “Funny enough you hardly see a sliding tackle in today’s matches for adults. But still everybody has an opinion about the favourability of a field. The outcome of our test was like we expected; those who didn’t receive any information were very negative, even though they hardly made a sliding. The players who did receive the information, made more slidings and were more positive about this aspect of the field.”

Players in Europe have been able to get familiar with artificial grass for over a decade, but for many Chinese players it is still a new phenomenon. Ensuring a positive attitude is therefore vital for companies like Ten Cate Thiolon.

“Although it is only six or seven years since artificial grass was introduced to China, it is quite obvious that it has been developing quickly and widely. For many years potential users and governments doubt whether artificial grass is good in practice and for health,” says Emiel Arts, marketing and sales manager for Ten Cate Thiolon Asia.

The company works together with the Chinese government to ensure that new artificial grass products will be of good quality. “Ten Cate Thiolon has been an official member of the National Standards of China drafting committee of Technical Requirements. We have also been involved in introducing new test methods for artificial turf football surfaces since the end of 2003.”

Arts foresees how important good information is going to be to the market. “China is a market that is receptive to ideas and always drives for more advanced concept, technology and products. With the 2008 Olympics coming up, artificial grass will be accepted by more and more clubs. Making sure that they know the advantages of the product is vital.”

Though Hans Jager admits that it is difficult to measure in what way the information affected the outcome of his test matches, he thinks good information might enable a team to have a better performance. “Eighty per cent of the teams that received information managed to win its matches. That is an interesting aspect and might be of great importance in the future when China wants to become a dominant nation in sports.”