[bubbaramfan]

I have some grandkids who are starting to show interest in the Rams now that they will be playing here in LA. I'm a bit surprised since they are big on soccer, but they know what a big Ram Fan I am and have asked some good questions.
How will playing on natural grass affect their play (from 14 year old Sean)? Going from playing inside on artificial surface to outside on real turf? I don't know how many games they played last year on natural grass or their won-loss record playing on such last year but I promised I'd ask here at RFU to get members opinion. I think it will slow the game down a bit for them and might affect the DE's more than the others. Its going to take some getting used to.

Thoughts?

[Hacksaw]

bubba, The Rams played 11 of their games on some type of turf last year. (Green Bay has a hybrid surface of both turf and grass).

Of the 5 games they played on natural grass, the Rams were 1 and 4 only beating the Cards on a natural surface.

Grass in most cases is slower because it's softer. Some turf surfaces are pretty good though.
It is commonly perceived that fewer injuries occur on natural grass caused by impact with the surface.
Slipping can occur (see Levi or the Mud Bowl) more frequently as it's harder to dial in the right cleats though.

The GSOT may not have been as fast and furious on natural grass but that's not the current Rams make-up (other than Austin).
City of Champions stadium will be turf but the Coliseum isn't so we shall see what we shall see.

I do know that our D line will be putting a lot of grass stains on opposing QB's rear ends.

[trueblue&gold]

In college I played on natural grass and the occasional Artificial turf ( Field turf didn't exist when I played). The big advantage to playing on Natural grass is that you know your field better than the visiting team. With Artificial Turf or Field Turf, the field is basically uniform. There are no surprises but with Natural grass, even when in really excellent shape still has irregularities that you can take advantage of. Knowing the right spikes to use while your opponent is trying to figure it out mid game can be a huge advantage. The other big advantage is that you can elect to let the grass grow a little longer if you are going to come up with an extremely fast team. Thicker grass also becomes a little more slippery as well so that also plays into it.