So far preseason I’ve noticed something the pitches players are playing on have lead to an increase in acl injuries.
Have you noticed the big ones have been non contact injuries.
My first ever job was to do with understanding how pitches are created.
I did five years city and guilds in sports horticulture an obscure knowledge I know. However these big budget NFL teams are not spending the money on the very turf the players are using.
Both Nelson and Benjamin’s injuries could have been avoided most likely.
My guess is there were both over watered before use and this lead to the injuries both sustained.
The knowledge from what I learnt almost 25 years ago is not bring applied because it’s a lost skill now.
Those pitches look great but are unfit for the game of American football and its unique nuances.
Now I know you might be sitting there thinking not sure about this one Sean.
We’ll have you ever wondered how each sport needs a different length of grass to fit it’s requirements.
American football must be firm not soft to allow cutting of the type receivers and running backs need.
That requires rolling of the pitch before use in most cases.
Or in some instances the pitch might be to hard putting small holes into it via scarification to allow air in to take the firmness out of it.
Sometimes the length of the grass can be over managed being to pretty.
There are a significant amount of skill required to get it right even the type of grass. In the UK we have traditional ryegrass ideal for sports tough hard wearing and somewhat forgiving when players cut and plant there feet to make quick turns.
Anyway the point is this will not be the end to the injuries spend millions on the teams and the facilities but forget the very surface at your peril.
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