Parkour during open gym sessions.. OPINIONS?

[bl1ndd]

at my gym, we have open gym (quite fun, i must add ) But every time it's open gym, there are there 19-25 year old guys that come and throw CRAZY skills, ones that i can't recognize.. they're too messy! but they try fulls, double backs, and crazy tumbling passes to say the least. - and i'll say 70% of the time, the land on their BUTTS! me and my team mates are on the other side of the gym just saying, "something bad WILL happen one day", but we don't mean to jinx them!

but what's your opinion? should open gym JUST be for gymnasts, maybe cheerleaders? or for crazy stuff like this? i understand you MUST sign the liability form to get in, but come on..



ALSO, on saturday, one guy, he was TALLL. asked a petite girl/ coach to spot a back tuck, he jumps up, rotates back a little, and chickens out. he landed on his neck... i don't know what happened with that, i just hope he's okay. but to put this story to an end, open gym shouldn't be for CRAZY STUNTS! IMO.

 

[jsfofec]

We once had that issue at our gym and what we did was changed the policies of open gym. There are basically 2 open gyms on Saturday, from 12-1, it's for those under 13 I think, and then from 1-2:30 it's for those 13-18. Due to insurance reasons, if you are over 18 you can't go to open gym. We have a special Parkour class on Friday from 8-9:30pm, so that there is nobody in the gym but them. There is also a beginner parkour class from 7-8pm, which is taught by one of the regular parkour guys.

edit - Team practice goes from 8am - 1pm on Saturday

 

[wallinbl]

A couple of gyms around here have specific age groups assigned to their open gym sessions. Adult open gym is usually at night. Keeps the little kids safe from the crazies. I'm not a lawyer, so can't comment on the gym's liability with regards to a nut job doing something foolish.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

bad idea. and currently, there is no liability coverage for parkour in the US. there may be down the road in a couple of months. it is being looked at by a couple of carriers.

 

[pattymello]

My gym doesn't have open gym sessions but we have an adults class which is basically the same just for people 16 and older. Sometimes we get people throwing crazy stuff but we haven't had anyone go too far yet. I'm going to be running a class soon which wil be for teenage boys who want to mainly learn flips (flips being any sort of tumbling). I might incorporate some parkour into the program because it is what they want to learn. Apparently our insurance doesn't have a problem with it because it is just extensions of basic gymnastics movements. Not sure if this is because australias insurance laws are different or not.

 

[Sarah'sMom]

We had that at a gym my daughter used to go to. At first there was just one or two and then there were 20 or more of them. Open gym started to be filled up long before it started and some of the gymnasts got closed out. We had to get there a half hour early to make sure my daughter could get a spot. They were mostly teenage boys, maybe some a bit older. They seemed nice enough, but the stunts they pulled were nerve wrecking. They were also unpredictable too. So someone walking by couldn't be sure where they would flip. It was also distracting to some of the gymnasts and nutsy inside the gym. Then there was damage to the gym. Someone mangaged to put a hole in a wall and the tumble track wore out right around where a bunch of them used to bounce up and down several times before jumping into some crazy stunt. The gym management decided to end it and then they ended open gym entirely.