The latest development in the use of artificial grass fields has recently been highlighted ahead of the start of the World Cup soccer finals in South Africa. The system is an artificial grass and natural grass combination that has been devised by a company from Belgium called Desso Sports Systems.

The way the surface works is with the use of 8 inch long artificial grass threads that are woven into the grass surface and intertwined with the root system of the real grass. The result is a surface that is far more robust than a grass surface comprising 100 per cent grass.

This company has already supplied artificial grass fields for some of the big name sporting teams around the world, most notably for the fields of Arsenal and Liverpool in England and by the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles in the US.

This particular system is known as the Grassmaster system and it demonstrates yet another way in which synthetic grass may be used effectively to improve the quality of a playing surface. The interweaving effect means that the ground that has had the system put in place comprises around 97 per cent of natural grass with only 3 per cent making up the synthetic portion.

This is a rather expensive way of creating an artificial pitch and it is largely suitable for use at grounds that are dedicated to a single sport. If it were necessary to remove the turf on occasion for other events to take place the cost of the entire process would be completely unsustainable.

Through the process of intertwining synthetic fibers with natural grass roots, the devastating effect of players sliding across the grass is not quite so severe. The grass is more capable of withstanding the unnatural forces that is applied to it and so it is able to be used more frequently without the typical die-off that would occur.

The first match that will use the system will be the match between Algeria and Slovenia in Polokwane.