FEA TURE — EST O SPECIAL


ESTO & Although the sports sector is slowly


recognising the importance of having the right elastic layer as part of their artificial grass field, misinformation still is rife. The Shockpad Working Group's mission being to educate the


market and draft industry-wide quality guidelines, as feature-writer Guy Oldenkotte reports.


E-LAYERS IN FOCUS


A rtificial grass systems have


had a huge impact on the sports sector, particularly in the case of soccer grounds, which is why, along with many ground- breaking products and high-quality solu- tions, the market has been swamped with poor-quality and ill-considered ideas since its inceptions in the mid-‘90s. However, the concept that a thick layer


of infill material will be sufficient to meet the requirements set for ball bounce and shock-absorption by governing bodies like FIFA and UEFA has proven to be outdated and insufficient. In the short-term, such an approach has ultimately led to questions about the field’s energy-restitution, as well as many other aspects. Enter the shock-ab- sorbing or elastic-layer (e-layer as it is com- monly referred to). Some companies realised at an early stage that artificial grass fields for soccer required some sort of an e-layer, which is already common in the case of athletic grounds. Polytan, the


20 th AN N I V ER S AR Y P AR T II/ S U M M ER 1 2 P AN S T AD I A 11 4


The Shockpad Working Group — made up of


shockpad suppliers from within ESTO — hopes to draft guidelines that will assist in determining the quality


among similar-like products.


German-based company, is perhaps best known for this approach, as they have been installing artificial grass football fields on asphalt layers since they first entered this market back in 1994. Over the years, many more shockpad/


e-layer solutions have entered the indus- try, ranging from open– and close-cell


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