As Athlete Workloads Rise, Playing Surface Performance Takes on New Importance

At the National Athletic Trainers' Association convention, TenCate highlighted how advances in turf technology can support athlete health, availability and performance

PHILADELPHIA, July 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Athletic trainers are being asked to manage one of the most complex challenges in sports: helping athletes stay healthy and available as training loads, game schedules and year-round competition continue to increase.

At the 77th Annual NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo, hosted by the National Athletic Trainers' Association from June 29-July 2 in Philadelphia, that challenge was part of a broader conversation about the many factors that shape athlete health, performance and availability. As athletic trainers take an increasingly holistic view of player health and recovery, playing surface consistency is becoming a more important part of the equation.

"Athletic trainers are already evaluating how workload, movement, fatigue and confidence affect athlete performance over a long season," said Joe Fields, President and CEO of TenCate Americas. "The surface beneath the athlete is part of that environment. Our focus at NATA was on reducing one of the variables athletes experience by making the field feel and respond more consistently under repeated use."

At the event, TenCate featured Pivot^® Performance Turf, a next-generation turf system designed to deliver a more consistent playing experience without rubber infill. By removing the loose rubber layer found in traditional synthetic turf, Pivot is designed to reduce one of the variables that affects how a field feels and responds during repeated use.

The topic was especially relevant at NATA, where athletic trainers, researchers and sports medicine leaders evaluate the many factors that influence how athletes prepare, compete, and recover. As that work becomes more data-driven, playing surface performance is becoming part of the broader environment that shapes long-term athlete health.

For athletes, consistency matters during the movements they rely on most: planting, cutting, sprinting, decelerating, landing and pushing off again. A more predictable surface can help athletes train and compete with greater confidence, while giving athletic programs another factor to consider when evaluating the demands placed on athletes over a long season.

"Pivot was developed around the way athletes actually use a field," said Colin Young, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer at TenCate. "That means looking beyond traditional turf measurements and focusing on how the surface feels and responds through repeated use."

Pivot was developed through athlete-centered biomechanical research, including testing with college and professional athletes across many sports. That work helped TenCate better understand how athletes interact with the surface during sport-specific movement and apply those insights to Pivot's design, replicating the response athletes expect from high-quality natural grass.

The infill-free design is central to that approach. Traditional turf systems often rely on loose rubber, sand or other infill materials to help shape how the surface feels and responds when athletes plant, cut, accelerate, decelerate and absorb force. Pivot removes that loose rubber layer and is designed to provide a more consistent surface during repeated use.

For schools, universities, municipalities and sports facilities, that distinction extends beyond the sports medicine staff. A more consistent field can support athlete confidence, coaching decisions, facility planning and long-term field management.

"Athletic trainers are dealing with more information, more expectations and more pressure to help athletes stay on the field," Fields said. "That raises the standard for every part of the athletic environment, including the surfaces beneath them."

The post-event takeaway is the importance of looking beyond how a field appears on installation day and paying closer attention to how it performs under repeated athletic use. Pivot is designed around that standard, giving athletes a surface that responds consistently over long-term use.

"Athletes need surfaces they can trust," Young said. "When the field responds consistently, athletes can train, compete and return to play with greater confidence."

Contact:
Erica Rumpke
[email protected]
513-484-6795

About TenCate

TenCate is the world's leading manufacturer, distributor and installer of synthetic turf systems for sports and landscape applications. Headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, with operations in the U.S., Netherlands, U.K. and U.A.E., the company serves customers in more than 40 countries with a suite of trusted brands and products. They include the new Pivot^® Performance Turf, designed to deliver grasslike performance without rubber infill. Learn more at www.tencategrass.us and www.pivot-turf.com.

SOURCE TenCate Grass Americas