Ground conditions and injury risk. What do we really know

The social, economic and environmental effects of the drought on the farming community are widely publicised and acknowledged, however, the implications of these dry conditions on the risk of injury while playing sport on harder ground is also of critical importance to the wellbeing of sporting communities. At present, natural turf surfaces throughout Victoria and elsewhere in Australia are being declared unsuitable for players and consequently closed for use. Therefore, it would seem both pertinent and opportune to examine the existing evidence of injury risk on harder, drier natural turf surfaces and the links that have been reported between ground conditions and increased injury risk. (author abstract)