On-Court Chemistry
Rewind the clock just one generation to the people approaching 50, a generation who are starting to break. They’re the folk who used to be able to play the game, the old rep players, the current coaches, the one’s who’d still be hitting balls and chasing points…if they could.
A Case Study | The Injury that Keeps on Giving
Annie’s part of that generation, a young 50-year-old who used to be a hockey player: a Canterbury representative and a New Zealand age group player. And then injury happened. At just 19-years old, she succumbed to shin pain. After playing her formative years on synthetic turf laid over unforgiving asphalt, her tibia bones were fractured, her ligaments torn and she limped with compartment syndrome.
Today she can laugh about it, but even now, those injuries hold her back. Training for a half marathon causes her legs to flare and her shins are lined with painful scar tissue.
And the leading cause of this injury? The sports surfaces of the 1990s – brutally unforgiving turfs that made the game fast and exciting but took their toll on many of the players.
Sure, Annie was a hockey player and she played on a larger surface than the ones we lay, but there’s a reason we recommend fit for purpose surfaces. We don’t want young people side-lined by avoidable injuries and we don’t want 50-year-olds suffering the hangovers of injuries from their youth.
Force Reduction = Injury Prevention
We’re proudly part of a revolution in sports systems, the Laykold Masters Float® system from Advanced Polymer Technology. But titles mean little without understanding them.
The Laykold® Gel system is where the magic happens. It’s an all-weather cushion court system that can be used on tennis, netball and basketball courts, as well as multi-purpose school courts. From recreational to professional athletes, it provides up to 17% force reduction, enhancing player performance by reducing joint impact and body fatigue. The chemistry behind the gel is complex, but the results are refreshingly good.
As sport has evolved over the years, science has played an increasingly important role, from lighter tennis rackets to moisture wicking apparel. Balls are constructed with consistent bounce, and footwear is sport specific and training specific. So, it makes sense the surfaces we play sport on are finally getting the attention they deserve too.
With Laykold® Gel, we not only see up to 17% of impact protection, but the depth of foot depression is minimised, protecting athletes from injury during lateral changes of direction. Unbelievably, this system also features incredible energy return properties, allowing athletes a longer, faster and more powerful performance!
We’re New Zealand’s Exclusive Laykold® Agents
As owner of Prestige Sports Surfaces, Rod Armstrong explains, ‘We didn’t want to lay just any old court and paint some lines on it. We wanted to offer the very best sports surfaces possible, ones designed to help you play better, be kinder to your body and nicer to the environment.’
And that’s what led to our commitment to Laykold®, the cutting-edge sports surfaces that are the official surface of the US Tennis Open and US Soccer Foundation’s Safe Places to Play initiative.
Sport in New Zealand provides a vibrant community, from the young tikes getting started, to the high-performance athletes, and the twilight players who keep on playing and playing!
It’s this passion for sport that motivates us: the good health, the highs, the lows, the winning shots, the diving saves, the laughter, the sweat, the banter. And if the science behind our courts can keep everyone doing the things they love for longer, our job is done.
To find out more about a system that will keep you playing and playing, call us today.