DOI: 10.32098/mltj_2026_7121

Natural Grass vs Artificial Turf for Injury Prevention in Youth Sports: A Scoping Review

Authors

  • John Nyland Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA
  • Jonathon Lewis School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA
  • Jarod Richards Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA
  • Ryan Krupp Louisville Institute of Orthopaedics, Louisville, USA

john.nyland@louisville.edu

Keywords

Playing surface, synthetic turf, child development, injury prevention

Abstract

Background: Studies of elite adult athletes have generally shown similar injury patterns on artificial turf (AT) and natural grass (NG). Since widely ranging physical, mental, cognitive, behavioral, and social development occurs during childhood and adolescence, we propose that the influence of playing surfaces on childhood and adolescent athlete injury characteristics might differ.

Objective: This scoping review compared childhood and adolescent athlete sport injuries on NG and AT to determine which surface was favored based on study conclusions.

Eligibility Criteria: A broad range of studies were included with a requirement that mean participant age was between 9-25 years and that evaluated musculoskeletal or concussion injuries having occurred on either NG or AT.

Sources of Evidence: The PubMedD, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched using the search terms “adolescent and sports injury and natural grass or artificial turf”. Only English language studies were included. Review and meta-analysis, clinical, biomechanical, training performance/physiology, dissertations and theses, meeting abstracts, case reports, case series, editorials/commentaries/letters to the editor were excluded. The primary investigator reviewed each study that was identified as having involved childhood or adolescent-age athletes.

Charting Methods: Publication year, country of origin, subject number, age, gender, study purpose, study methods, key study findings, study conclusion, and whether or not NG or AT was favored information was extracted.

Results: After screening, 46 studies contributed to this review. Overall, 26 studies (56.5%) favored NG, eight studies favored AT, and 12 reported no differences between playing surfaces. From the late childhood to young adulthood developmental period, study conclusions suggest that a NG surface was favored for reducing sports injury risk.

Conclusions: Athletes who perform on NG from late childhood to late adolescence may experience better musculoskeletal and concussion injury prevention.

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Published

2026-05-29

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2026)

How to Cite

1.
Nyland J, Lewis J, Richards J, Krupp R. Natural Grass vs Artificial Turf for Injury Prevention in Youth Sports: A Scoping Review. MLTJ [Internet]. 2026 May 29 [cited 2026 Nov. 12];16(2). Available from: https://mltj.online/index.php/mltj/article/view/7121

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