Artificial grass was designed for sports in the early days.

Since its beginning, the synthetic surface cover has been adopted not only by sports organizations across the world but also adopted by homeowners, business owners, and organizations interested in reducing waste.

What’s the big deal anyway?

Sure, artificial turf is known to save time, money, and water, but why are sports organizations using it?

Today, we’re here to reveal some of the benefits from an athletic perspective.

Sports field turf is designed as a durable sports surface

Nowadays it’s more common to see synthetic grass used in your neighbor’s backyards, but in fact, it was initially designed for sports use. Way back in 1964, the first kind of artificial grass, dubbed Chemgrass, was invented. It was first used in the Astrodome in 1966. This was because the semi-transparent roof didn’t let enough light in, so the grass that was originally installed died within a few months.

While the first synthetic turf wasn’t without its problems, it did pave the way for new and better types of artificial grass to be developed and used for sports.

It doesn’t need as much maintenance

It’s no secret that grass takes a lot of upkeep. In your backyard, you could spend days reseeding, watering, and mowing a lawn. When that grass is being used for sports, it can be difficult to keep up with the needs of that lawn. It needs to be watered frequently to keep it healthy, and mowed to a decent length so it can be played on comfortably. As well as this, it could need replacing frequently thanks to the wear it receives on a regular basis.

Keeping your turf in excellent condition is such a demanding job that you can actually get a degree in the subject. Because it’s such a demanding job, many sports centers are choosing to simply replace their turf with synthetic grass instead. A good quality synthetic playing field could last for as long as 15 years, meaning there’s almost zero maintenance needed in keeping it in shape.

Sports turf is safer

Some sports fans have expressed concerns that synthetic turf isn’t as safe to play on as natural grass. In the past, this may have been a serious concern. Previous iterations of artificial grass have been rougher and harder than the turf used today. That means that it could be more slippery, and cause more damage if a player were to fall on it.

Modern turf though is much better quality. The Synthetic Turf Council states that modern synthetic turf is just as safe to play on as natural grass. All turfs are now rigorously tested to ensure that they won’t harm anyone using it.

As well as this, they state that artificial grass can increase the time a pitch can be used. This is because they can be used in all kinds of weather, without the risk of damage to the pitch or injury to the player. They can also be used just hours after installation, unlike regular turf. This is a boon to sports centers that worry about losing profits when they’re replacing their turf.

Synthetic turf is more eco-friendly

Every business is trying to reduce wastage and pollution these days, and sports teams and centers are no exception. Real grass has a lot of benefits, but it can be incredibly draining on the environment. Keeping a sporting pitch healthy and ready for use, takes a lot of work and resources:

• A real pitch needs to be watered … a lot.
• A sporting pitch needs to be kept short, so it must be mowed regularly too. A regular lawn mower can do more damage to the environment than you’d think, so keeping this up can be more polluting than you realize.
• Once the turf is too damaged to use, it needs to be pulled up and replaced. In many cases, natural turf is removed and deposited into a landfill.

Synthetic turf can eliminate all of these problems at a single stroke. As it’s artificial, there’s no need to water or mow it, as it never grows. It can be used repeatedly, and as mentioned above, can last for up to 15 years.

Artificial Grass Recyclers is at the forefront of repurposing sports turf for additional applications. Recycling sports field turf extends the life of the turf, prevents unnecessary waste from reaching landfills, and supports a more sustainable environment.

Synthetic turf is suitable for almost any sport

The best thing about modern synthetic turfs is that you can use them in almost any sport you can think of. The most common sports to use them are baseball and football, but many other sports use them too. It was used in the 2015 Women’s Soccer World Cup, and the athletes said there was no difference, performance-wise, between natural turf and artificial sports field turf.

This is because you can order synthetic turf to custom-fit the sport you want to use it for. Turf comes in all kinds of lengths, textures, and even colors, so you can get exactly what you need. Many sports centers choose to buy turf that’s made in colors that show the playing area, so players can clearly see the pitch marked out for them.

There are lots more benefits that have already been outlined above. Because of this, it’s clear to see that synthetic turf is here to stay when it comes to sports. It’s durable, it’s low maintenance, and modern turfs feel just like the real thing to anyone playing on it.

If you’ve been on the fence about installing synthetic turf in your sports center, now’s the time to get on board. Before long, sports players will never miss the mud and mess of a regular pitch, and you’ll save a huge amount of time, money, and effort.