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)

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceedingpeer-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 languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProcedia Engineering
    EditorsDavid James, Simon Choppin, Tom Allen, Jon Wheat, Paul Fleming
    Place of PublicationSheffield, UK
    PublisherElsevier
    Pages907-912
    Number of pages6
    Volume72
    ISBN (Electronic)1877-7058
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 19 Jun 2014
    EventThe 2014 conference of the International Sports Engineering Association - Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom
    Duration: 14 Jul 201417 Jul 2014

    Conference

    ConferenceThe 2014 conference of the International Sports Engineering Association
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    CitySheffield
    Period14/07/1417/07/14

    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

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