From the University of Oregon to Boston College, a growing number of NCAA schools have installed Brock PowerBase underneath their synthetic turf fields to help prevent brain injuries and keep student-athletes safe. The industry’s leading shock pad and drainage layer, Brock PowerBase has been proven to reduce G-max, the peak force of impact, which may reduce the risk and severity of concussion.
“With escalating concerns about concussions, collegiate football programs are using the latest technological innovations in areas like shock pads to build state-of-the-art synthetic turf fields that mimic not only the footing of natural grass, but also the safety of it.” noted Dan Sawyer, CEO of Brock International. “There is now no reason why a program has to tolerate a higher G-max just because they want the consistency and durability of synthetic turf. The average G-max rating of a field constructed over PowerBase is around 100g’s, the same as a professional level, pristine natural grass field.”
With the collegiate football season now in full swing, seven NCAA schools are currently using Brock PowerBase – the University of Maryland, University of Oregon, Boston College and Boise State in their main stadiums, and UCLA, Georgia Tech and Stanford University on their practice fields. In addition, Brock currently helps protect professional athletes on the San Francisco 49ers playing field and at Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
Recognizing that athletes tend to experience brain injuries in one of four impact areas – head-to-head, head-to-body, head-to-ball and head-to-surface, Brock tries to prevent concussions by focusing on safer playing surfaces. Research firm BioMechanica, LLC studied the estimated risk of head injury on synthetic turf surfaces with Brock underlayment and found the product reduces G-max, which the lab tests indicated should reduce the risk and severity of concussion; provides the same playability as a pristine natural grass field and mitigates field hardening over time. In evaluating Head Injury Criteria (HIC), also known as critical fall height, Sports Labs LLC found that Brock PowerBase offered significant improvement in HIC when compared to a turf field that featured a stone base.