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Surface Temperature ≠ Heat Stress

During summer, the importance of surface choice in managing heat stress is more apparent than ever. Well-maintained natural grass remains the gold standard for thermal comfort. Its ability to cool itself through evapotranspiration, combined with high surface reflectivity and low thermal mass, provides a naturally regulated environment for sport and outdoor leisure. However, not every field can be irrigated or maintained at this level. To understand heat stress, it is important…

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Grip, Traction, & Cleat Release

In our latest round of player testing, we’ve taken a deep dive into the biomechanics of cleat release, often simply thought of as grip or friction, between the athlete and the surface. Using a suite of high-end sensors, IMUs, and high-speed video analysis, we’ve measured cleat release down to the millimeter. We worked with a diverse group of players (N = 300); male and female, elite and amateur, and tested under…

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Predictability: The Foundation for ALL Sports Surfaces

When athletes step onto a field, whether they are elite professionals or grassroots players, they expect one thing above all else: trust in the surface beneath them. Different sports require specific surface characteristics such as defined traction, ball properties, and shock absorption. Yet across all ages, abilities, and disciplines, one factor consistently emerges as essential for both performance and safety: predictability. Extensive biomechanical research and independent player studies have demonstrated that the…

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Recoil and Foot Stability: A Critical Difference

Foot stability is fundamental to athlete performance, yet it is often overlooked in surface design. One of the key contributors to instability is recoil. Natural grass provides exceptional foot stability with minimal recoil. The surface allows athletes to plant, pivot, and push off with confidence and control. This stability is not accidental. It is the result of a surface that absorbs impact in a controlled way without returning disruptive energy back…

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Understanding Player-Surface Grip

Biomechanical Complexity, Surface Design, and the Limitations of Current Testing Standards Grip between a Football or Soccer player’s footwear and the playing surface is one of the most critical factors in performance, comfort and safety. Scientifically, grip is defined using metrics such as the coefficient of friction, shear force, translational traction, and torsional resistance. These terms attempt to quantify how well the player can push off, stop, and change direction safely…

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Grass & Turf: Approach to Maximising Playability

The video below demonstrates the difference in how grass and turf respond to intensive use, simulating the equivalent of 8 full matches over a typical weekend (4 on Saturday, 4 on Sunday). While the grass surface visibly degrades and becomes increasingly unplayable, the turf retains its performance characteristics throughout, showing no meaningful change in playability. This is not a criticism of grass. Rather, it highlights the growing need for a more flexible, resilient…