Soccer fields in synthetic and natural grass: A comparative study on muscular injuries of the lower limb

Research has shown that the surface of artificial turf soccer fields has caused more injuries than the natural turf surface in amateur footballers. The objective of the research was the detection of muscular injuries of the lower limb on a sample of one hundred senior athletes aged between 40 and 50 with an average age of 44.7 (sd +/-4.26) for an average weight of 77.4 (range 68-89 kg.) and an average height of 178.3 cm (range 168-187 cm). Study was conducted for eight months, from September 2018 to April 2019, on athletes divided into four teams, each composed of twenty-five members, who carried out four months of training and competitions on each surface and the results showed a greater percentage of accidents on artificial turf pitches compared to natural turf pitches. Yellow and red teams, which carried out training for the first four (September – December) on fields in synthetic turf, have shown, in the following four months (January-April), an improvement in performances in terms of continuous attendance during the official races. The monitoring was carried out by detecting the number and type of muscular injuries, classified according to the time of absence from sports activity, of the lower limb considering the conditions that induced a player to leave the field, therefore to interrupt the activity, which had an impact on participation in training and matches. The data collection relating to the number of muscular injuries of the lower limb, showed that, in total, the athletes sample suffered 67 muscular injuries (of which 5 relapses). These events mostly occurred during training (about 73%) compared to competitions (about 27%). There were 22 minor injuries (contractures-around 33%), 33 moderate injuries (stretches-around 50%) and 12 serious injuries (tears-around 17%).