POWERgrass™ offers the benefits of natural grass at low maintenance costs because the system's fabric carpet protects the plants from intensive play. The maintenance method of regenerative agriculture creates a symbiotic ecosystem between the vegetation and micro-organisms. The natural grass grows vigorously and contributes to temperature reduction and sequesters carbon, purifying the air also from the dust offering a positive environmental impact. The POWERgrass™ pitch mitigates climate change and prevents soil erosion, offers many more hours of safe play and limits the risk of extraordinary maintenance because it does not require replacement of the system as long as the natural grass is maintained regularly.
Hybrid grass cross section
The POWERgrass™ system is the only system in the world offering stability, softness and superior traction where teams can play many hours on natural grass and with reduced maintenance. Customers ask why POWERgrass™ is so unique and so different from others. The POWERgrass™ system is the result of a rich know-how from two completely different worlds which has led to the perfect combination of natural with the strength and support of a fabric carpet.
Hybrid grass systems are in fact an alternative to the synthetic pitch and not something in between as the “reinforced natural system” because the game activity never stop during the playing season. Those who love to play on natural grass and wish to provide a high performing pitch that will reduce maintenance and overall costs, select POWERgrass TM.
POWERgrass TM offers the ideal solution for players, investors and groundsmen of the sport fields.
POWERgrass offers the benefits of natural grass with low maintenance costs because the system's hybrid carpet protects the plants from intensive traffic. The maintenance method of regenerative agriculture creates a symbiotic ecosystem between vegetation and micro-organisms. The natural grass grows vigorously and contributes to temperature reduction, sequesters carbon and produces oxygen, offering a positive environmental impact. The hybrid pitch offers many more hours of play than any other system and limits the risks of extraordinary maintenance.
The hybrid turf system incorporates up to 3% synthetic turf to counteract the wear and tear of natural grass. The remaining 97% of the turf is covered by natural grass.
POWERgrass TM offers numerous advantages:
POWERgrass has a 100% natural appearance
1. Predictability of ball bounce, just like a traditional natural grass pitch.
2. Up to 1,200 hours of play time per year for the northern climate and 1,400 hours per year for the southern climate, enough to meet the needs of most clubs.
3. Slip resistance during player acceleration and deceleration. The anchorage of the natural grass roots to the carpet provides better traction during changes of direction and reduces the risk of falls.
4. Softness in case of a fall: the player will have the sensation of falling on a natural field.
5. Low maintenance costs. The grass recovers quickly after use, while the roots penetrate the carpet, minimizing the risk of raising grass sods and forming divots.
6. Durability of more than 20 years with careful and dedicated grass care.
7. Easy removal and reuse. Removing hybrid sod is easy: the carpet with the natural grass can be harvested by cutting into pieces and the sod can be reused for public green spaces, parks or home gardens.
Today, the most prestigious pitches are made of natural or reinforced natural grass, while intensive-use pitches are made of synthetic grass.
The national federations and FIFA have established the quality criteria FIFA QUALITY or FIFA QUALITY PRO for the construction of synthetic pitches.
The surface supports the player
According to FIFA standards, all playing fields must guarantee:
In recent years, new parameters have been added to assess the quality of the playing surface:
Although synthetic turf pitches undergo few changes during the season, on natural grass pitches these characteristics change rapidly and require continuous maintenance.
NFL players are fed up with synthetic
During the game, the player is constantly accelerating, decelerating and changing direction. Consequently, the adherence of the shoes to the playing surface is crucial to support the player and avoid unintentional slips or falls.
Although synthetic turf pitches have made considerable progress in terms of quality, professional players do not seem to be convinced that they experience muscle problems more frequently on an artificial turf pitch than on a natural grass pitch.
The problem with natural pitches is even more complex because the pitch varies considerably depending on the weather conditions and the quality of maintenance. On the one hand, players complain about the condition of the pitch, but on the other hand, it is objectively difficult to maintain a natural grass pitch in top condition.
A prime example of this was the stadium in Trieste during the 2020 U21 European Championship. The Municipality of Trieste has a beautiful stadium and spends an average of 13,500.00 Euros per month, plus incidental expenses (VAT, technical expenses, etc.) to keep the grass in efficient condition for 22 matches on the natural grass during the championship.
The risk that the natural grass will have to be completely replaced during a cold and rainy winter is high, so at least 130,000 Euros of reserves are needed. In Italy, every year 10-12 stadiums fail to keep the grass in good playing condition and change the sod in particular after a hot summer. It is no coincidence that several stadiums are in a poor state due to a lack of funds or know-how to maintain the grass.
In our work we are always in contact with managers, former players, who complain about the condition of the synthetic pitch based on past experiences. When the pitch is hard, players experience back pain or burning ligaments.
The grip of the studs reduces the risk of falls
Several studies have revealed that ankle or knee sprains are more frequent on artificial turf pitches than on natural grass pitches. Researchers have concluded that artificial turf has too much grip on the player's shoe. Natural grass, on the other hand, tends to yield to the rotational force of the player, allowing a more natural rotation that does not damage or injure the athlete.
On the interaction of the player's shoes with the sports surface, once again, only synthetic grass is tested. The first test concerns the slipperiness of the surface. An instrument is used that simulates the player's shoe and provides measurements regarding the risk of slipping. The second test concerns the traction of the pitch. A round plate with studs similar to those of a football boot is used. The plate rotates progressively and is able to measure the force required to achieve a 45° rotation.
The cause of this 'greater grip' by the synthetic turf can be attributed to the synthetic fibers that tend to lie flat on the surface after only 2-3 seasons. When the synthetic fibers are not upright, friction and resistance to rotation increase significantly; this is exacerbated if you are in a climate with high temperatures. Synthetic turf manufacturers claim that this risk can be reduced by replenishment to maintain proper infill, continuous brushing and refreshing of the pitch.
More investigation is due to synthetic turf pitches with rubber infill as "the springback acts as a grindstone for the player's back".
We at POWERgrass TM have come to a different conclusion because nowadays, the biggest problem with synthetic turf is not the excessive "stud's grip" on the synthetic fibers because resilient fibers have been developed in recent years. Furthermore, football players are not dancers and do not need to make intense rotational actions on the supporting foot.
In our opinion, the biggest problem with synthetic turf pitches is in fact the slipperiness of the surface because the stud does not grip the synthetic surface enough because the infill is in loose granules without consistency and when compacted the stud does not penetrate sufficiently. The ligaments work harder to compensate for the instability of the surface, the player loses grip and therefore speed and traction.
Every player's dream is to play on a thick and homogeneous natural pitch. What players often don't think about, however, is the difficulty of maintaining a natural pitch in top condition every day for the duration of the season.
With intensive use, a natural grass pitch is easily ruined, whatever the sport! A footballer hitting the ball too far underneath or a rugby player making a tackle... Sods of natural grass are easily torn. After each game, especially if you are a professional, you have to restore the turf in the most damaged areas and, if the damage is serious, replace the turf. As well as being time-consuming and expensive, the results are often not optimal because the new turf needs months to integrate with the rest of the pitch.
Building and maintaining a purely natural grass pitch is often a challenge in both cold and hot climates. If the temperature is out of the ideal growing range, or for reasons of time constraints, transplanting nursery-grown turf sod is used, but it is a costly and time-consuming operation and it is not easy to make sure that everything works properly. Lawn diseases during sod transplantation are common when the lawn is under severe stress. Sudden thermal stress can cause serious damage.
The POWERgrass TM hybrid turf is the perfect combination of synthetic and natural. POWERgrass TM has been specially developed to overcome the problems of conventional synthetic turf while offering the best possible base for growing natural grass. By installing it in situ, a uniform surface is formed where you can play either immediately or 4 weeks after seeding on reinforced natural grass. Once the turf reaches the desired density, the risk of sprains is reduced because the natural grass covers 97% of the surface and allows the shoe to rotate with the player. The risk of slips and falls is reduced because the roots penetrate and anchor themselves to the carpet, offering greater resistance to traction. The sensation is that of playing on a natural pitch that is easy to maintain in perfect condition during the playing season.
At the same time, the system has much lower maintenance costs than purely natural turf. The fibers protect the crown of the plant from wear and tear and regenerate quickly, while the roots penetrate the carpet making it much more difficult for the player to "tear up" the natural sod. The presence of the carpet strengthens the natural pitch in all its aspects. The risk of the player creating a hole is nonexistent. If, for any reason, the natural grass has not yet grown or has been damaged, players can still play on the synthetic turf until the next 3-4 week seeding interval.
On a pitch like POWERgrass TM , the absence of divots is obvious and is the first saving in the maintenance budget. The softness and the traction strength of the playing surface can be measured and maintained uniformly over a long period of time with ease. Thanks to numerous studies conducted by the industry, it has been possible to develop tools, first and foremost the Clegg hammer, which enables you to measure the hardness of the sports surface from your groundsman in less than an hour. According to numerous studies, all technicians agree that the ideal values to measure on a football pitch are in the range between 65 and 85 Gm; values above 85 Gm are acceptable, but should NOT exceed 100 Gm. In order to keep the field soft, it is sufficient to wet it before the game and, if this is not sufficient, to aerate the substrate with a hole punching machine equipped with thin tines.
The POWERgrass™ pitch in San Benedetto del Tronto provided further proof of our innovation and know-how. The team played its first match 17 days after planting and the coach was impressed. We ourselves were in stunned by nature's potential. The pitch offers a champions league playing surface with simple and modest maintenance.