Initially the game takes place on natural grass. In the early 1970s, “artificial turf” courts began to be used for hockey, with the first Olympics to use artificial pitches in the 1976 Montreal Congress. Nowadays all international leagues and most national leagues require the use of artificial pitches. Even so, a number of local and low-level national tournaments are still organized on the traditional grass field. There are three main types of artificial pitches.
Since the 1970s, sand courts have been favored for greatly increasing the speed of the game. Recently, however, the number of “water-based” artificial courts has increased significantly. The water pitch allows the ball to move faster on the sand court. This is the characteristic that makes this type of pitch used in international and national tournaments. The water-based turf is also less rough than the sandy surface thus minimizing the player’s injury when they touch the grass. Current FIH [when?] Proposes new yards that require less watering due to the negative ecological impact of using too much water.
See more at: You don’t stop playing hockey when you get old poster
