Updating the overall format of the site.
Synthetic Turf or Natural Grass? Which is Best?
Possibly one of the best measures is: "What do the players think?"
Most NFL players prefer playing on natural grass
http://sturf.lib.msu.edu/article/2009mar31.pdf
U.S. Soccer Star Abby Wambach: Playing on Turf a 'Nightmare'
----2015 UPDATE---
In an interview with Julie Foudy, Abby Wambach broke news that FIFA leaders assured her that the Women's World Cup would never again be played on turf. She said, “[Valcke] assured us that the Women’s World Cup would never be played on turf again. He gave me his word, which for me, that’s a win. For me, that’s progress.”
November, 2013
Tom Brady spoke about how the Patriots prefer grass, but know it might be a bit different at Reliant.
“It’s that grass field. We practice on it all the time. Like every grass field, [it] gets more chewed up as the season goes along,” Brady said. “They don’t look like they’re slipping much or anything like that. When I watched the Jacksonville game last week, everyone looks like they’re playing on their feet. It’s not like turf; everyone plays on turf these days. It’s actually nice to play on a grass field because it’s a little bit easier on everybody.”
Sydney Leroux: Why Turf Is Terrible For Soccer Players
While Beckham didn't want to rattle any local feathers over the Field-Turf on the weekend, his teammate Landon Donovan had no trouble doing so.
"It sucks. It sucks," Donovan said after his team's practice on Saturday. "It's kind of a shame because you have a gorgeous stadium in a beautiful city, and then we come out and play on this.
"I don't know why they decided to cut corners there. It sucks."
You can't play a game like soccer on that sort of field," Beckham told reporters in Washington leading up to last night's game between D.C. United and his L.A. Galaxy. "What it does to your body as a soccer player, you are in bits for two or three days after that ... Every game, every team should have grass, without a doubt."
As [New England] Revolution coach Steve Nicol said, the Gillette FieldTurf is a much better playing surface than others, but "there is no give in it. Grass is still the best surface." http://www.espnfc.us/story/452763/artificial-turf-not-to-beckhams-liking
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4108054/
References and More Information
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20131128/SPORTS/311289986
http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=ae6322a5-278b-4206-82b4-4a4b596d4d2e&sponsor=
http://www.oswegonian.com/2015/09/11/preference-for-grass-keeps-lakers-off-turf/
McGrane shared Wambach’s opinions on playing on turf. He himself has seen substantial differences between the two different types of soccer fields.
“The biggest one is the speed of the game,” McGrane said. “Any time you add turf and the ball takes off, if you have a team that has a lot of pace then thats great. Pace is certainly an advantage I guess, depending on what team. Another one is injuries. You see a lot less ACL tears and knee injuries on grass than you do on turf.”
His players are also in favor of their coach’s decision to remain on the grass field, instead of moving to the turf stadium.
Sophomore midfielder Emma Geyer shared McGrane’s sentiments in oppisition to the turf field.
“We’re just really aggressive and good on grass, so I think the grass helps us a lot,” Geyer said. “A lot of times you can get injured more on turf and just the way we play, I think we’re better on grass.”
Along with noticing a different playing style, junior goalkeeper Melissa Siegfried brought up the possibility of injuries.
“All throughout high school I played on grass,” Siegfried said. “Rarely any teams I played against had turf. Injuries wise you see more ACL tears and more concussions, and especially being a goalkeeper it’s not fun to get on it.”
