American Journal of Sports Science

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The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players

Received: 13 December 2013    Accepted:     Published: 30 December 2013
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Abstract

The sprint performance on natural and artificial grass of 5th generation was assessed. Sixty eight young male soccer players, which were divided in two groups according to their age [children (n=36; 12.1±0.5y) and adolescents (n=32; 14.2±0.4y)], performed 30-m sprint tests with and without handling the ball on natural and artificial grass. The performance was recorded during 0-10m, 10-30m, and 0-30m running distances. It was found that children were significantly faster during 0-10m running distance on the artificial compared to natural grass when handling the ball while adolescents revealed no differences in sprint performance between the surfaces irrespectively of the ball condition. In running distances 10-30m and 0-30m, children were significant faster in the artificial compared to the natural grass either with or without ball, while the adolescents were significantly faster in the artificial grass only without handling the ball. Children run faster on artificial than natural grass while adolescent soccer players are faster in artificial grass when they do not have to handle the ball. It is clear that children should be more careful when play soccer on artificial grass because the ball is moving faster and greater skill is needed in order to avoid injuries.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11
Published in American Journal of Sports Science (Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2014)
Page(s) 1-4
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Adolescent, Artificial, Children, Natural Grass, Sprint Ability, Turf

References
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[8] R. Di Michele, A. M. Di Renzo, S. Ammazzalorso, and F. Merni. Comparison of physiological responses to an incremental running test on treadmill, natural grass, and synthetic turf in young soccer players. J Strength Cond Res. 2009, 23, 939-45.
[9] A. Sassi, A. Stefanescu, P. Menaspa, A. Bosio, M. Riggio, and E. Rampinini. The cost of running on natural grass and artificial turf surfaces. J Strength Cond Res. 2011, 25, 606-11.
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Author Information
  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Thessaly, Greece; Laboratory of Exercise, Health and Human Performance, Research Center, European University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

  • Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Vasileios Kanaras, Thomas I. Metaxas, Athanasios Mandroukas, Ioannis Gissis, Andreas Zafeiridis, et al. (2013). The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players. American Journal of Sports Science, 2(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11

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    ACS Style

    Vasileios Kanaras; Thomas I. Metaxas; Athanasios Mandroukas; Ioannis Gissis; Andreas Zafeiridis, et al. The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players. Am. J. Sports Sci. 2013, 2(1), 1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11

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    AMA Style

    Vasileios Kanaras, Thomas I. Metaxas, Athanasios Mandroukas, Ioannis Gissis, Andreas Zafeiridis, et al. The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players. Am J Sports Sci. 2013;2(1):1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11,
      author = {Vasileios Kanaras and Thomas I. Metaxas and Athanasios Mandroukas and Ioannis Gissis and Andreas Zafeiridis and Christos S. Riganas and Evaggelos Manolopoulos and Vassilis Paschalis and Ioannis S. Vrabas},
      title = {The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players},
      journal = {American Journal of Sports Science},
      volume = {2},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-4},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajss.20140201.11},
      abstract = {The sprint performance on natural and artificial grass of 5th generation was assessed. Sixty eight young male soccer players, which were divided in two groups according to their age [children (n=36; 12.1±0.5y) and adolescents (n=32; 14.2±0.4y)], performed 30-m sprint tests with and without handling the ball on natural and artificial grass. The performance was recorded during 0-10m, 10-30m, and 0-30m running distances. It was found that children were significantly faster during 0-10m running distance on the artificial compared to natural grass when handling the ball while adolescents revealed no differences in sprint performance between the surfaces irrespectively of the ball condition. In running distances 10-30m and 0-30m, children were significant faster in the artificial compared to the natural grass either with or without ball, while the adolescents were significantly faster in the artificial grass only without handling the ball. Children run faster on artificial than natural grass while adolescent soccer players are faster in artificial grass when they do not have to handle the ball. It is clear that children should be more careful when play soccer on artificial grass because the ball is moving faster and greater skill is needed in order to avoid injuries.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    T1  - The Effect of Natural and Artificial Grass on Sprinting Performance in Young Soccer Players
    AU  - Vasileios Kanaras
    AU  - Thomas I. Metaxas
    AU  - Athanasios Mandroukas
    AU  - Ioannis Gissis
    AU  - Andreas Zafeiridis
    AU  - Christos S. Riganas
    AU  - Evaggelos Manolopoulos
    AU  - Vassilis Paschalis
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11
    T2  - American Journal of Sports Science
    JF  - American Journal of Sports Science
    JO  - American Journal of Sports Science
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20140201.11
    AB  - The sprint performance on natural and artificial grass of 5th generation was assessed. Sixty eight young male soccer players, which were divided in two groups according to their age [children (n=36; 12.1±0.5y) and adolescents (n=32; 14.2±0.4y)], performed 30-m sprint tests with and without handling the ball on natural and artificial grass. The performance was recorded during 0-10m, 10-30m, and 0-30m running distances. It was found that children were significantly faster during 0-10m running distance on the artificial compared to natural grass when handling the ball while adolescents revealed no differences in sprint performance between the surfaces irrespectively of the ball condition. In running distances 10-30m and 0-30m, children were significant faster in the artificial compared to the natural grass either with or without ball, while the adolescents were significantly faster in the artificial grass only without handling the ball. Children run faster on artificial than natural grass while adolescent soccer players are faster in artificial grass when they do not have to handle the ball. It is clear that children should be more careful when play soccer on artificial grass because the ball is moving faster and greater skill is needed in order to avoid injuries.
    VL  - 2
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