Turf vs. Grass

In professional soccer, you always play on grass. When you watch on TV, you can see it's always perfectly cut, patterned grass pitches that look fake almost. However, aside from the pros, nobody else gets that treatment. In youth soccer in particular, the surface can play a huge part in the game. Here's the breakdown of the differences in playing soccer on turf vs. grass.

Artificial turf is usually preferred by young players who are starting to play at a higher level. You don't have to worry about bumps in the surface messing up passes and traps. That being said, there are different types of artificial turf. AstroTurf is not great for soccer because it's basically carpet. It's alright for indoor soccer, but not full field. The preferred type of turf is grassy turf. Per it's name, it's made to feel like real grass. It sticks up like grass and it doesn't grow, so it's always at the right length.

Grass is what most players will play on growing up since, well, there is grass everywhere. Grass is not always maintained well though. If you're not playing on short, thick grass, you're going to have problems. When you get to a higher level  of play, it can really effect how the game is played. You end up playing very sloppy soccer because you can't string passes together. However, grass is still preferred by most players, as long as it is nice grass. I have always liked nice grass because it plays like turf, minus all of the heat, plastic and rubber pellets that get everywhere (including in your eyes).