Artificial turf advances have enabled surfaces to behave like natural grass, however, debate remains as to whether artificial turf is as safe as natural grass. To reduce injury risk, sport surfaces should have low rotational traction with artificial surfaces having a potential advantage as components can be manipulated to change surface properties and traction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence that different components of artificial turf have on rotational traction and athlete lower extremity joint loading. Twelve surfaces underwent mechanical testing to determine the influence of fibre density, fibre length, infill composition and compaction on rotational traction. Following mechanical testing, Control, Low and High Traction surfaces were selected for biomechanical analysis, where sixteen athletes performed maximum effort v-cuts while kinematic/kinetic data were recorded on each surface. Mechanically, fibre density, type of infill and compaction of the surface each independently influenced traction. The traction differences were substantial enough to alter the athlete kinematics and kinetics. Low traction surfaces reduced ankle and knee loading, while high traction surfaces increased ankle and knee loading . Reducing the rotational traction of sport surfaces is possible through alterations of individual components, which may reduce the joint loading at the knee and ankle joint.
Keywords: Footwear traction; artificial turf; infill material; lower extremity.