Elite football players' perceptions of football turf and natural grass surface properties.

Jonathan Roberts; Paul Osei-Owusu; Andrew Harland; Alun Owen; Aimee Meers (nee Smith)

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.06.150

Elite football players' perceptions of football turf and natural grass surface properties.

Jonathan Roberts, Paul Osei-Owusu, Andrew Harland, Alun Owen, Aimee Meers (nee Smith)

Loughborough University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › peer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

64 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Given the global spread of football (soccer) there are substantial differences in the playing surfaces used between FIFA member associations. This paper contains results from the second part of a study on elite football players’ perceptions of playing surfaces from across the globe. Using a questionnaire, which was developed based on an initial qualitative study, elite players’ perceptions of differences in surface properties between natural and artificial (football) turf were examined. In total, 1129 elite footballers, representing 43 countries across six FIFA confederations completed the questionnaire. Exploratory analysis of overall responses revealed that the players had strong opinions with regards to surface properties when directly comparing natural and football turf. In particular, a higher proportion of players stated that football turf was “Too hard/Harder”, “More/level”, “More abrasive” and had “Less grip” compared to natural grass. The results also showed that overall players’ perceptions of surface properties, between natural grass and football turf were dependent on their experience of different playing surfaces during their junior and senior careers, in particular, the variability within football turf pitches.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Procedia Engineering
Editors	David James, Simon Choppin, Tom Allen, Jon Wheat, Paul Fleming
Place of Publication	Sheffield, UK
Publisher	Elsevier
Pages	907-912
Number of pages	6
Volume	72
ISBN (Electronic)	1877-7058
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.06.150
Publication status	Published - 19 Jun 2014
Event	The 2014 conference of the International Sports Engineering Association - Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom Duration: 14 Jul 2014 → 17 Jul 2014

Conference

Conference	The 2014 conference of the International Sports Engineering Association
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Sheffield
Period	14/07/14 → 17/07/14

Bibliographical note

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Centre for Sports Engineering Research, Sheffield Hallam University

Keywords

Football playing surfaces
elite players
questionnaire
Quantitative
surface properties

Access to Document

10.1016/j.proeng.2014.06.150Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

PublishedFinal published version, 558 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877705814006663/1-s2.0-S1877705814006663-main.pdf?_tid=b61e9fec-a991-41ea-bcc4-8d233a488a61&acdnat=1524156882_0e33bf8c9209465a3bb60073fc29e0f4Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Alun Owen
- LIB Mathematics Support Centre - Head of Statistics Advisory Service
Person: Teaching and Research

Cite this

Elite football players' perceptions of football turf and natural grass surface properties. / Roberts, Jonathan; Osei-Owusu, Paul; Harland, Andrew et al.
Procedia Engineering. ed. / David James; Simon Choppin; Tom Allen; Jon Wheat; Paul Fleming. Vol. 72 Sheffield, UK: Elsevier, 2014. p. 907-912.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › peer-review

Roberts, J, Osei-Owusu, P, Harland, A, Owen, A & Meers (nee Smith), A 2014, Elite football players' perceptions of football turf and natural grass surface properties. in D James, S Choppin, T Allen, J Wheat & P Fleming (eds), Procedia Engineering. vol. 72, Elsevier, Sheffield, UK, pp. 907-912, The 2014 conference of the International Sports Engineering Association, Sheffield, United Kingdom, 14/07/14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.06.150

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abstract = "Given the global spread of football (soccer) there are substantial differences in the playing surfaces used between FIFA member associations. This paper contains results from the second part of a study on elite football players{\textquoteright} perceptions of playing surfaces from across the globe. Using a questionnaire, which was developed based on an initial qualitative study, elite players{\textquoteright} perceptions of differences in surface properties between natural and artificial (football) turf were examined. In total, 1129 elite footballers, representing 43 countries across six FIFA confederations completed the questionnaire. Exploratory analysis of overall responses revealed that the players had strong opinions with regards to surface properties when directly comparing natural and football turf. In particular, a higher proportion of players stated that football turf was “Too hard/Harder”, “More/level”, “More abrasive” and had “Less grip” compared to natural grass. The results also showed that overall players{\textquoteright} perceptions of surface properties, between natural grass and football turf were dependent on their experience of different playing surfaces during their junior and senior careers, in particular, the variability within football turf pitches.",

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AB - Given the global spread of football (soccer) there are substantial differences in the playing surfaces used between FIFA member associations. This paper contains results from the second part of a study on elite football players’ perceptions of playing surfaces from across the globe. Using a questionnaire, which was developed based on an initial qualitative study, elite players’ perceptions of differences in surface properties between natural and artificial (football) turf were examined. In total, 1129 elite footballers, representing 43 countries across six FIFA confederations completed the questionnaire. Exploratory analysis of overall responses revealed that the players had strong opinions with regards to surface properties when directly comparing natural and football turf. In particular, a higher proportion of players stated that football turf was “Too hard/Harder”, “More/level”, “More abrasive” and had “Less grip” compared to natural grass. The results also showed that overall players’ perceptions of surface properties, between natural grass and football turf were dependent on their experience of different playing surfaces during their junior and senior careers, in particular, the variability within football turf pitches.

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ER -

Elite football players' perceptions of football turf and natural grass surface properties.

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Alun Owen

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