Shock Pad & Turf Infill FAQs
Answers to your questions about shock pads, organic infill, and synthetic turf system performance.
General Education
A shock pad is an engineered layer installed beneath synthetic turf that absorbs impact force, stabilizes the surface, and moves water off the field. Turf and infill alone compact and harden with use, which changes how a field performs over time. The pad is what keeps impact protection, footing, and drainage consistent in year ten the way they were on installation day.
Yes. Brock makes two pads built specifically for artificial turf playgrounds — PowerBase PLAY50 and PLAY80 — engineered around Head Injury Criterion standards for fall protection rather than adapted from sports pads. The same drainage and durability that make them work on playgrounds also suits community parks and pet areas, where surfaces see constant use and need to shed water quickly.
Not every field has one, but the case for including one has grown steadily. Without a pad, safety performance rests entirely on the turf and infill, both of which compact and shift over time. A shock pad provides a stable layer underneath that holds impact protection steady, improves drainage, and reduces long-term variability — which is why it’s increasingly treated as standard on high-use fields.
They reduce the force an athlete absorbs on contact with the ground, lowering Gmax and HIC values toward the range measured on quality natural grass. They also stabilize the surface so footing stays consistent across the field, move water off faster, and slow the hardening that turf-only systems develop with age. The result is a field that behaves predictably season after season.
Fields that see heavy or varied use gain the most: K–12 and school district facilities, collegiate and competitive programs, municipal parks, and multi-sport complexes. These fields host more hours of play across more sports than a single-purpose field, which accelerates wear and makes surface consistency harder to maintain. A shock pad is what holds performance steady under that load.
Yes, and multi-sport fields are among the strongest cases for one. A shared field can’t optimize for a single sport — it has to protect a lacrosse player taking a fall on the same surface a rugby player drove into an hour earlier. A shock pad delivers uniform impact protection regardless of which sport is on the field, and absorbs the compressive loads that shorten turf life.
Artificial turf typically lasts eight to twelve years, depending on hours of use, maintenance, and climate. The shock pad underneath lasts considerably longer. Because a Brock pad is a one-time installation that stays in place when turf is replaced, it lowers the cost of every subsequent turf cycle — Boise State reinstalled the same Brock pads in 2019 that were installed in 2008.
It can. As infill compacts and migrates and turf fibers wear, fields tend to get harder, traction becomes less consistent, and drainage slows. Gmax readings typically climb as a field ages. A shock pad slows that decline by taking the compressive load that would otherwise reach the turf directly, which is why Brock pads carry a Gmax guarantee for the life of the field rather than a reading at handover.
Performance, Safety & Technology
Four tests do most of the work. Gmax measures impact force on the surface. HIC — Head Injury Criterion — evaluates head injury risk from a fall. The Advanced Artificial Athlete (AAA) simulates a foot strike to assess force reduction and energy return. Traction testing measures rotational resistance and cleat release. Brock tests both new surfaces and aged ones, because a field that passes on day one may not pass in year eight.
ASTM protocols govern impact attenuation and durability testing in North America, with Gmax thresholds and HIC criteria as the primary safety measures. Sport governing bodies add their own: FIFA Quality and Quality Pro for soccer, World Rugby Regulation 22, and FIH standards for field hockey. Playground surfacing is governed separately by ASTM fall height and HIC requirements.
Impact protection is the pad’s primary job — it lowers Gmax and HIC and holds those values steady as the field ages. It also creates a stable base that keeps traction consistent across the surface. Heat is driven mostly by infill rather than the pad: BrockFILL organic infill runs 20 to 50°F cooler than crumb rubber, which is where meaningful temperature reduction comes from.
Substantially. Brock pads are engineered with drainage channels that move water faster than the turf above them, so the pad never becomes the bottleneck. PowerBase YSR uses lateral drainage rated at over 500 inches per hour; the playground pads exceed 1,500. Faster drainage means fewer cancelled games, less standing water, and less erosion of the base beneath.
Early pads were essentially cushioning — a foam layer that softened the surface. Modern pads are engineered systems. They’re designed to hold specific Gmax and HIC values across a decade rather than just at installation, to handle drainage as a primary function, to resist compaction, and to be reused through multiple turf replacements. The shift reflects how fields are now evaluated: on lifecycle performance rather than opening-day numbers.
Products & Materials
Brock makes shock pads and organic infill — not turf. The sports pads are PowerBase PRO for collegiate and professional play, PowerBase YSR for high school and community fields, and the ShockPad Series for replacements and budget-conscious builds. The playground pads are PowerBase PLAY50 and PLAY80. BrockFILL is an organic wood infill that replaces crumb rubber. Transition Wedges handle height changes between pads.
Drainage direction and warranty term. PowerBase YSR uses lateral drainage — water moves horizontally through engineered channels at over 500 inches per hour — and carries a 25-year warranty. The ShockPad Series uses vertical drainage at 250 inches per hour, comes in 14mm, 17mm, and 20mm thicknesses, and carries a 16-year warranty. YSR suits new construction; the Series is often the better fit for turf replacements.
Specifications differ by product. The ShockPad Series comes in 14mm, 17mm, and 20mm. PowerBase PLAY50 is 50mm in 24-square-foot panels; PLAY80 is 80mm in the same panel size. All Brock pads are molded from expanded polypropylene and interlock without glues or tapes. Complete specification sheets and CAD Details for every product are available through the Specifier Hub.
Brock pads are made from 100% pure expanded polypropylene — non-toxic, fully recyclable, and free of PFAS and microplastics. They’re Cradle to Cradle Certified, the only shock pads in the industry to hold that designation. BrockFILL is organic rather than recycled: sustainably farmed southern pine, grown and processed in the USA, with Cradle to Cradle Material Health Gold certification.
Yes, and the reasoning doesn’t change with infill type. Infill contributes to surface feel, traction, and temperature, but it isn’t engineered to absorb the impact forces that cause injury — and like any infill, it compacts over time. The shock pad handles impact attenuation and holds it steady. BrockFILL and a Brock pad are designed to work as a system, each doing what the other can’t.
Applications & Use Cases
More than 2,500 fields across North America, concentrated in K–12 athletic facilities, collegiate programs, municipal parks, and professional venues. Brock pads are installed at NFL practice facilities for the Patriots, 49ers, Cowboys, Eagles, Cardinals, Bears, Colts, and Texans, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, and at collegiate programs including Colorado, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Stanford, LSU, Ohio State, and Washington.
The range runs from youth programs to professional venues: school districts, colleges and universities, municipal recreation departments, multi-sport complexes, playgrounds, and professional training facilities. What these have in common is high usage and long replacement cycles — environments where a surface has to keep performing for a decade rather than a season.
Yes. Community parks and pet areas need the same things a shared athletic field does: surfaces that drain quickly, resist wear from constant use, and don’t require the water, fertilizer, and mowing a natural surface demands. BrockFILL is a further advantage in these settings, since it’s organic, contains no additionally added PFAS or microplastics, and runs meaningfully cooler than crumb rubber.
Widely. A blind study by SportsLabs found athletes overwhelmingly preferred turf with a shock pad, contributing to every professional soccer club in Scotland installing pads on all 3G facilities. FIFA, World Rugby, and FIH have established performance guidelines that in practice require a shock pad system to meet and maintain.
Installation, Durability & Lifecycle
Start with intended use — sport, level of play, and hours per week. Then drainage: whether your site needs lateral or vertical, and what the base can handle. Then safety targets, including any governing body requirements. Then warranty terms, specifically whether performance is guaranteed over time or only verified at installation. Finally, lifecycle cost, since a pad that survives multiple turf replacements changes the math considerably.
A turf-only system depends entirely on infill for impact protection, and infill compacts, migrates, and thins with use — so safety performance declines as the field ages. Adding a pad puts a stable engineered layer beneath that holds Gmax steady, drains faster, keeps footing consistent, and extends turf life by absorbing compressive loads the fibers would otherwise take directly.
Turf is generally replaced every eight to twelve years. A Brock pad is built to outlast it: PowerBase YSR and PowerBase PRO carry 25-year warranties with a Gmax guarantee below 120 for the life of the field. In practice that means one pad installation can serve two or more turf cycles, which is where most of the lifecycle savings come from.
Reused, in most cases. Because the pad sits beneath the turf and isn’t exposed to UV or direct wear, it typically remains in good condition when the turf reaches end of life. Boise State installed Brock pads at Albertsons Stadium in 2008 and put the same pads back down when the field was replaced in 2019. Individual panels can be replaced if a section is damaged.
Four layers. A compacted aggregate base provides structural support and drainage. The shock pad sits on top of it, handling impact attenuation and moving water. The turf carpet is the visible playing surface. Infill sits between the fibers, holding them upright and contributing to traction and temperature. Each layer affects the others, which is why systems designed as a whole outperform components selected independently.
The sequence runs: site preparation and grading, installation of the aggregate base with drainage, laying the shock pad, installing and seaming the turf, then applying infill. Each stage depends on the one beneath it — an uneven base will show through the pad and the turf regardless of how well the later stages are executed. Testing at completion verifies the finished system meets its specified performance.
Costs & Quotes
Field size, site conditions, and system selection drive most of it. Sites needing significant grading, drainage work, or base repair cost more before any turf is laid. Product choices — pad type and thickness, turf, infill — account for the rest. Worth weighing separately: a system that survives two turf replacements costs less over twenty years than one replaced entirely each cycle, even at a higher upfront price.
Reach out through the contact form with your project location, type — sport, playground, or multi-use — approximate field size, and timeline. A Brock specialist will follow up to discuss system options and can work directly with your architect, contractor, or specifier. Getting Brock involved during design rather than at bid stage generally produces a better result.
Ordering & Availability
Start with the contact form on this site. A Brock representative for your region will follow up to understand the project, recommend a system, and coordinate with whoever else is involved — architect, contractor, or turf supplier. Brock works alongside your project team rather than selling in isolation, since the pad has to be specified correctly against the turf and base to perform.
Brock products are supplied through turf contractors, installers, and authorized distributors rather than sold directly to end users. If you don’t already have a contractor, contact Brock and we’ll connect you with partners working in your region. Brock systems are installed throughout North America — the Projects map shows more than 2,500 completed installations.
Through a partner, in nearly all cases. Shock pads and infill are components of a complete turf system, and performance depends on correct specification and installation alongside the turf and base. Supplying through contractors and distributors ensures that happens. Brock supports the process directly with technical guidance, specification language, and product documentation.
Order quantities generally align to project scope rather than a fixed minimum, since most installations cover a full field or playground area. For smaller or unusual applications — a practice area, a partial replacement, a rooftop installation — contact Brock and we’ll advise on what’s practical.
Lead times depend on product, order volume, and current production schedule, and are typically coordinated with the overall construction timeline rather than quoted in isolation. Because turf projects involve sequenced trades, early engagement matters more than a short lead time — bringing Brock in during design allows material delivery to be scheduled against your installation window.
Support, Warranty & Contact
Use the contact form on this site and a representative for your region will follow up. Include your project type, location, and timeline if you have them — that routes you to the right specialist faster. For questions during the specification phase, the Specifier Hub has product data, CAD Details, and a direct line to the team supporting design professionals.
Warranty terms vary by product. PowerBase YSR and PowerBase PRO carry 25-year warranties with a Gmax guarantee below 120 for the life of the field. The ShockPad Series carries 16 years. PowerBase PLAY50 and PLAY80 carry 10 years covering durability and maintenance of critical fall height. BrockFILL carries 10 years. The performance guarantee matters as much as the term — it commits to how the surface behaves over time, not just what it’s made of.
Contact Brock through the form on this site and request warranty documentation for your product. Including the installation date and project name helps us send the correct version. Your contractor or distributor can also provide it. Warranty documents are frequently requested during procurement and for school board or municipal approvals, and we’re set up to turn them around quickly.