News Release

DEPARTMENT NEWS RELEASE/October 3, 2007

Boise State Professors Help NFL with Research Into Turf Related Injuries

Two Boise State professors are teaming up with the National Football League to research athlete injuries related to the use of artificial turf on football fields.

Michelle Sabick, an associate professor in Boise State’s Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, and Ronald P. Pfeiffer, a professor in the university’s Department of Kinesiology, are co-directors of the Boise State Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research and together will lead and manage the one-year, $115,641 research contract with the NFL.

The goal of the project is to systematically evaluate the traction of shoes worn by NFL players on various turf surfaces used in the NFL, including natural grass, to understand how turf-related injuries occur. A new traction testing device will be designed and tested, allowing researchers to measure traction in dozens of shoe-turf combinations on real athletic fields throughout the country.

“Very little is known about the relationship between new turf surfaces, footwear and injury incidence,” Sabick said. “Eventually, by studying the motions and forces involved when players jump and make cuts while wearing certain shoes on various kinds of turf, we’ll potentially be able to quantify how these different elements interact to create injuries.”

A recent proliferation of new types of artificial turf along with the wide array of footwear now available creates an overwhelming number of combinations of turf and shoes among players in the National Football League. Twelve of the 31 NFL stadiums (39 percent) currently feature artificial turf surfaces.

Ultimately, the study is geared toward helping football players avoid injuries – especially high ankle sprains, high ankle fractures and turf-toe – that could cut their careers short and be expensive to both the player and the team.

“A variety of factors influence the traction that can be developed between a shoe and its underlying surface,” Pfeiffer said. “While improved traction likely leads to better performance, too much traction can increase the likelihood of certain types of injury.”

Boise orthopedic surgeon Michael Coughlin is co-chairman of the NFL medical sub-committee sponsoring the shoe-turf study.

“It’s a great lab, great personnel and a great school,” Coughlin said. “I’m certain that they’ll get this done expeditiously. With that information, we’ll be poised to make good recommendations to the athletes that will hopefully add productive years to their careers.”

While the current contract only covers one year, Coughlin said it could be extended another year or two and could open a lead to other partnering opportunities between Boise State and the NFL.

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Media Contact: Mike Journee, University Communications, (208) 426-1517, mikejournee@boisestate.edu

For the 10th time in the last 11 years, Boise State University has set an all-time record for Idaho higher education institutions with an enrollment of 19,540 – an overall increase of 3.5 percent. A record freshman class of 2,280 students is also the most academically talented group ever to enter Boise State, including 12 National Merit finalists.

 

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Last reviewed on Wednesday, November 07, 2007