The AD Playbook

A better field starts below the surface.

Your athletes don’t think about what’s underneath their turf. But as an Athletic Director, you should.

The turf system can influence impact protection, traction, field temperature, consistency, drainage, and long-term performance.

At Brock, our focus is simple:
Athletes. Their safety. Their performance.

We help athletic programs build better synthetic turf systems from the ground up.

What Athletic Directors Should Know

Not all synthetic turf systems are created equal.

It’s easy to focus on what you can see—the turf itself. But how a field performs depends on much more than the turf. From the infill within it to the shock pad beneath it, every layer matters.

Protect Your Athletes

A quality shock pad provides a consistent layer of impact protection beneath the turf and remains in place even as the turf system ages.

EXPLORE ATHLETE SAFETY

Fight the Heat

Traditional synthetic turf can get extremely hot. BrockFILL organic infill provides a more natural alternative designed to help create a cooler playing surface.

LEARN ABOUT HEAT SAFETY

Sustainable Choice

From reusable shock pads to organic infill, Brock develops solutions designed to reduce waste and improve the environmental impact of synthetic turf systems.

EXPLORE SUSTAINABILITY

Beyond the 1st Turf

Your field is a long-term investment. Brock shock pads can remain beneath multiple turf replacements, helping protect performance while creating long-term value for your program.

EXPLORE LIFECYCLE VALUE

Don’t Just Buy Turf.
Build a Better Field.

We don’t make turf. We make turf better.

Our shock pads and performance underlayments create the foundation beneath synthetic turf, while BrockFILL provides an organic alternative to traditional crumb rubber infill.

Together, these technologies help address three of the biggest issues facing synthetic turf:

Impact icon

Impact

Protection Where Athletes Need It Most

Every fall, tackle, and collision sends force through the surface. Brock shock pads help manage those impacts, providing consistent protection and safer performance throughout the field’s life.

EXPLORE IMPACT SAFETY
Heat Icon

Heat

A Better Field Shouldn’t Feel Like an Oven

Synthetic turf can become extremely hot under the sun. BrockFILL, our organic wood infill, is designed to help create a cooler playing surface while providing a more sustainable alternative to traditional crumb rubber.

EXPLORE HEAT SAFETY
Traction Icon

Traction

The Right Amount of Grip Matters

Athletes need traction to accelerate, cut, and change direction—but too much resistance can be a problem. Brock looks beyond how the turf feels underfoot to understand how the entire surface interacts with an athlete during play.

MORE ABOUT TRACTION

Brock is trusted from Friday Nights to the Pros.

2,600+ Fields. 50 States. 20+ Countries. 5M+ Athletes.

From local programs to some of the most recognized venues in sports, Brock systems are trusted beneath fields where athletes train, compete, and perform at every level.

See Brock Fields in Action. Visit our Project Map.

Brock systems are installed on 2,600+ fields, across all 50 states and 20+ countries, supporting more than 5 million athletes.

From middle schools and universities to professional stadiums, organizations around the country have chosen Brock to help improve the surfaces their athletes play on.

Planning a New Field?

You don’t have to become a synthetic turf expert. That’s our job.

Whether you’re planning a new facility, replacing an existing turf field, or simply trying to understand your options, our team can help you ask the right questions before decisions are made.

Talk to a Brock Field Expert

No pressure. No technical homework. Just a conversation about your athletes, your field, and what you’re trying to accomplish.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR FIELD

Athletic Director’s Field Checklist.

DOWNLOAD THE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR’s PLAYBOOK CHECKLIST

7 Questions Every Athletic Director Should Ask Before Buying a Synthetic Turf Field

Your athletes will spend thousands of hours on this field. Ask what’s underneath it before you buy it.

Choosing a synthetic turf field is a major investment—and the turf you see is only one part of the system. Before approving your next field, here are seven questions worth asking.

Safety shouldn’t be evaluated by the turf alone. Ask how the turf, infill, shock pad and base work together to manage impacts—and whether that performance will remain consistent as the field ages.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Complete system testing
☐ Gmax testing
☐ Head Injury Criterion (HIC) testing
☐ Advanced Artificial Athlete (AAA) testing
☐ Performance data over the expected life of the field

ASK THEM: “How does this complete system perform for impact safety—not just when it’s new, but as it ages?”

One of the most important components of your field may be the one you never see.

A quality shock pad provides a consistent performance layer beneath the turf, helping manage impacts while maintaining the firm, responsive surface athletes need to run, cut and compete.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Shock pad included in the system
☐ Long-term performance data
☐ Testing with the proposed turf and infill
☐ Warranty and expected service life

ASK THEM: “What is providing long-term impact protection beneath my turf?”

Artificial turf can become extremely hot in direct sunlight. Don’t settle for claims that a system is simply “cooler.”

Ask how the proposed turf and infill combination affects surface temperature and request comparative testing under similar conditions.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Infill material
☐ Independent or comparative heat testing
☐ Surface temperature data
☐ Whether cooling requires irrigation/watering

ASK THEM: “What has been done to reduce field temperature—and can you show me the data?”

More grip isn’t always better.

Athletes need traction to accelerate and change direction—but their cleats also need to release appropriately during cuts and rotations. Ask how the complete field system performs for both stability and release.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Foot stability
☐ Cleat release
☐ Infill movement
☐ Comparison with quality natural grass

ASK THEM: “Has the complete system been tested for athlete traction—not just the turf?”

Drainage is about more than water passing through the turf.

Ask how water moves through the turf, infill, shock pad and base—and where it goes from there. The entire system should be considered when designing field drainage.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Complete system drainage rate
☐ Vertical and/or lateral drainage
☐ Base drainage design
☐ Performance during heavy rain

ASK THEM: “How does water move through and away from the complete field system during a heavy rain event?”

Your first turf replacement shouldn’t necessarily mean starting over.

Ask which components can remain in place for the next turf cycle. A durable shock pad may be able to serve beneath multiple generations of turf, extending the value of the original investment.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Expected turf life
☐ Expected shock pad life
☐ Components that can be reused
☐ Replacement costs
☐ End-of-life/recycling plan

ASK THEM: “What can we reuse when the turf is replaced—and what happens to each component at the end of its life?”

Marketing claims are easy. Data is harder.

Ask for independent testing, applicable standards and real-world performance. Most importantly, make sure the data represents the complete system you’re actually considering.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

☐ Independent test results
☐ Applicable industry standards
☐ Complete-system testing
☐ Existing installations you can visit
☐ Performance data from aged fields

ASK THEM: “SHOW ME THE DATA.”

Brock’s materials specifically emphasize using Gmax together with HIC and AAA testing to develop a more complete picture of impact performance, rather than treating Gmax alone as a complete measure of safety. They also identify impact, heat and traction as the three primary areas of surface performance.

A synthetic turf field isn’t simply a capital project.

It’s a piece of athletic equipment your athletes interact with every practice, every game and every fall.

Look beyond the color, logos and turf fiber.

IMPACT • HEAT • TRACTION • DRAINAGE • DURABILITY • LIFECYCLE

Because when you’re responsible for your athletes, the questions beneath the surface matter.

Talk to a Brock Field Expert

No pressure. No technical homework. Just a conversation about your athletes, your field, and what you’re trying to accomplish.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR FIELD