May 1, 2026 Redefining the Future of Sports Field Underlayment

Why 780 AllSport P.A.D. Could Redefine What Sits Beneath Synthetic Turf 

For the past two decades, synthetic turf has expanded playable hours, lowered maintenance demands, and widened access across schools, parks, universities, and sports complexes. But a turf field performs only as well as the system beneath it. 

For years, many synthetic turf installations relied on the turf and infill to do nearly all the work. That approach can look strong early in a field’s life, then become less predictable as infill shifts, compacts, and responds to weather, usage, and time. Field hardness can rise. Drainage pathways can tighten. Surface response can become less consistent. Without an engineered pad beneath the turf, there is no dedicated layer designed to buffer those changes. 

The 780 AllSport P.A.D. is a shock pad manufactured in the USA from Thermoplastic Elastomers Polyolefin Composites, or TEPC. This is a 100% recyclable material, dome construction for impact distribution, a honeycomb structure for subsurface stability, and a 360-degree drainage surface intended to keep water moving beneath the field. 

Why the Layer Under Turf Now Deserves More Attention 

The turf industry has long known what happens when underlayment is missing: infill migrates, hardness changes, drainage can decline, and the field becomes more variable over time. Its core point is not merely that pads add comfort. It is that they create an engineered buffer between the turf system and the stresses of repeated use, weather swings, and aging. 

Which is why we have introduced the Add a P.A.D. Sportfield Initiative, which presents engineered pad layers as a standard part of new and renovated athletic fields rather than a premium add-on. We tie this idea directly to Performance, Affordability, and Design. 

The Material Breakthrough: Why TEPC Matters 

TEPC—Thermoplastic Elastomer Polyolefin Composite—is the first pad material designed specifically to address the long-term performance and cost challenges the turf industry has struggled with for decades.

TEPC is the material breakthrough behind the ShockDrain Series Pads. In practical terms, that means a pad positioned to deliver repeatable mechanical performance without depending on foam expansion or curing chemistry. The TEPC composition, recycled-material framing, and the product’s focus on impact attenuation, drainage, and long-term consistency. 

Where traditional pads depend on foams that expand and compress, or binders that cure and degrade, TEPC delivers something entirely different:

• Stable mechanical performance over decades
• No reliance on trapped gas bubbles or curing chemistry
• Predictable vertical deformation and energy attenuation
• Resistance to cold, heat, and millions of load cycles
• Full recyclability at end-of-life

The turf industry had never seen a material like this—and once applied to field systems, everything changed.

The Geometry Breakthrough: Why The Honeycomb Design Matters

Even the best material needs the right structure. Nature solved this problem through the honeycomb—a repeating pattern of triangles and hexagons that distributes energy and resists deformation better than almost any man-made design. Our honeycomb design gives the pad repeating load paths, stable vertical cells, and open channels that support drainage while distributing force more evenly. The honeycomb structure below the turf and dome construction above it pairs field stability with impact management and installation practicality.  

Why Cost Changes the Conversation 

Even the best engineering doesn’t matter if people can’t afford it. The 780 AllSport P.A.D. was designed to be the first 25-year shock pad accessible to every field—new or replacement. 

This became possible through:

• Vertical integration
  → Reusing industrial byproducts, rubber fines, and turf plastics from within PlayCore’s ecosystem.
• Closed-loop recycling
  → Material streams that cost less, waste less, and reuse more.
• TEPC’s manufacturing efficiency
  → Reduced scrap, faster processing, and consistent quality.
• Honeycomb geometry that uses less material with more strength
  → Efficiency built into structure itself.

The result is a pad that delivers premium performance at a significantly lower price—finally making engineered safety available to schools, parks, and municipalities that could never justify it before.

Why Replacement Fields Create the Biggest Opening for Engineered Pads 

Across the country, thousands of first-generation turf fields are now entering replacement cycles. Most were originally built without pads—and most owners still don’t know they can finally afford to add one.

These replacement projects are the largest safety opportunity the industry has ever seen. And here’s why:

• The base is already built.
• The grading is already done.
• The infrastructure is already in place.
• Adding a pad now brings 25 years of protection at minimal incremental cost.

A child who played on the first-generation turf now has the chance to watch their own children play on a field built over the same pad.

What Owners Should Measure Before Choosing a Turf Underlayment 

The Add a P.A.D. Sportfield Initiative does not rely on marketing claims. It relies on science:

• Gmax: surface hardness
• HIC: head injury protection
• Vertical deformation: comfort and joint relief
• Energy restitution: athlete response
• Fatigue resistance: longevity
• Drainage stability: field consistency

These metrics speak to how a field feels underfoot, how it manages impact, and how consistently it performs through weather, use, and age. 

If sports field owners want a field that stays more consistent over time, they need more than turf and infill alone. They need an engineered layer beneath the surface designed for impact management, drainage, and repeatable performance.  

The Bigger Shift Beneath the Surface 

By combining TEPC, our innovative honeycomb design, and a more budget-conscious adoption model, 780 AllSport P.A.D. is presented as a way to move padded systems from premium add-on to mainstream field design.

The future of synthetic turf is not only about what athletes see on top. It is about the engineered decisions buried underneath. 

Whether designing a new installation or replacing an aging system, owners now have the ability—and the responsibility—to make a better choice.