Researchers find new generation of artificial turf isn’t any softer

Heather Parrott and Jay Webb measure accelerations on a frozen field.This month, more than 130 million people will tune their televisions to football’s biggest event, the Super Bowl. It’s not certain which team will win, but it’s a good bet that someone may be injured. In fact, injuries are common to football at every level. In recent years, the sport has focused on playing fields as a significant source of injury, and new surfaces have been developed. But are the new surfaces safer? Emergency medicine researchers at the School of Medicine have found that in terms of concussion risk, the new fields are no safer, and they may get worse over time.

Researchers find new generation of artificial turf isn’t any softer

Heather Parrott and Jay Webb measure accelerations on a frozen field.This month, more than 130 million people will tune their televisions to football’s biggest event, the Super Bowl. It’s not certain which team will win, but it’s a good bet that someone may be injured. In fact, injuries are common to football at every level. In recent years, the sport has focused on playing fields as a significant source of injury, and new surfaces have been developed. But are the new surfaces safer? Emergency medicine researchers at the School of Medicine have found that in terms of concussion risk, the new fields are no safer, and they may get worse over time.