Natural Grass and Cleats Safest Combo For ACLs

Several studies have suggested that artificial turf is more likely than natural grass to do a number on the knees of soccer players. Now comes a team of researchers from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York that searched long and hard for the safest combination of footwear and turf. Using a cadaverous leg, yes, you read that correctly, the researcher analyzed the stress placed on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) with various combinations of footwear and turf: Astroturf/turf shoe, modern playing turf/turf shoe, modern turf/cleat, and natural grass/cleat.Science Daily reports that the natural grass/cleat combination placed
a statistically lower maximum strain on the leg than any of the
remaining three groups. All other combinations placed a greater amount
of strain compared to the natural/grass cleat combination. The
Astroturf shoe was 80.2 percent greater, modern playing turf/turf shoe
was 47.5 percent greater, and the modern playing turf/cleat was 45.1
percent greater.

Read more in Science Daily.