WAG Trampoline parks

[Jard.the.gymnast]

What does your gym say about trampoline parks? Are you not allowed to go there, or is it up to you?

 

[profmom]

The men's coach would very much prefer that they not go. I think if you're going to go, be sure to do it at a low demand time. Gymnasts with good aerial awareness probably won't hurt themselves if they are being sensible, but they can't do anything about the other crazy people running around doing stupid stuff. While I've let my offspring go once in a blue moon (usually for a party), my permission comes grudgingly and with a lot of lecturing. I really don't like those places, and it seems like a good number of their young employees don't have much personal knowledge about trampoline safety other than whatever their supervisors have told them.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My girls' t&t coaches have always encouraged trampoline play, but their artistic coaches have been mum about it either way. My kids love those places, especially now that there are ropes and ninja warrior courses at a lot of them.

 

[coachmolly]

We just got one about an hour from us not too long ago and I know some of my kids go. I don't recommend them, but I also don't tell them not to go. Usually if I hear that a group of kids are going I just lecture them to be sensible and safe. Like profmom said, I worry less about my gymnasts going and more about the people sharing the space with them. If we had one with a ninja warrior type course I would totally encourage that! Might even encourage a group trip for that part of it.
I did overhear one of our class coaches recommending a teen boy go to one to teach himself skills the other day and I was about ready to pull my claws out and attack, but I held my tongue. Not a good place to teach yourself new tricks.

 

[skschlag]

mine is like profmom. I don't worry about my kiddo so much as the kids running into him, onto his tramp, etc. Our coach has just seen too many good gymnasts injured at those places as their safety ratings are not good. (one of our top L6 is in a cast for another month after breaking his ankle in a place like that). Mine have gone, again, usually with a birthday party, and with lots of instructions, etc.

We have a separate ninja gym, and a rock climbing gym. After attending all 3, D said the safety of the 3 was so different. The rock gym had tons of safety, certifications, and rules. The ninja course fewer, and he said the tramp park was virtually zero. He noticed immediately how different it is.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

our trampolinepark gives a lot of safety instructions and also sits kids out if they don't follow those rules. It was a lot of fun and there actually were more gymnasts (not from my club). One of my teammates works there, so that was fun too. Our gym doesn't have a policy, so I was wondering what other gyms think of it.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

I let my gymnasts go. We occasionally go all together and book the whole place for us only. That way they can benefit from the amazing trampolines and pits more and it's also safer for everyone. I've asked them to be careful when they go alone.

 

[SMH]

One of our coaches is very outspoken about how dangerous they can be, but although she doesn't recommend them, she also doesn't say the kids can't go to one- just that they shouldn't.
My kids have been to them before and we will likely go again.

 

[gymbeam]

Coincidentally, just drove past one yesterday and saw them carrying out someone on a stretcher to an ambulance. It did give me the heebies because my kids do go 4-5 times a year. Plenty of other team girls go as well but they don't tell their coaches.

It is so true that it's the crowd that's dangerous not necessarily the park itself. We try and find spots away from others but inevitably there will be a wild and crazy toddler who makes a run for it across everyone else's path just about every time we go.

I know it's risky but I'm in the camp of not letting gymnastics limit what the kids want to experience. I understand both sides of the argument though, for sure.

 

[MILgymFAM]

We try and find spots away from others but inevitably there will be a wild and crazy toddler who makes a run for it across everyone else's path just about every time we go.

Every tramp park we've been to has a completely separate area for little ones- is that not the case everywhere? My kids would definitely not use a tramp anywhere near a toddler.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Every tramp park we've been to has a completely separate area for little ones- is that not the case everywhere? My kids would definitely not use a tramp anywhere near a toddler.

In ours, kids 6 and under have their own hour, every morning. For the rest, they are only allowed to be in the viewing area

 

[gymbeam]

Nope apparently not at ours.

 

[gymbeam]

Here's a link to their FAQ. If you expand the question about age limit, it says "if you can walk you can jump."

https://www.skyzone.com/macon/about#faq

 

[gymbeam]

Further down under "can I jump with my kids?" it says they reserve the right to separate by age but it obviously doesn't always (ever?) happen. Maybe it does when it's crowded but we always go during slow times since our school schedule allows for that.

 

[Noideaaboutgym]

My kids love to go, in fact were there this morning, but they go to the first hour now when it is quiet as we experienced the madness of a busy time with kids everywhere ! 5 kids today, the capacity is 260 so there is a lot of space!

 

[notthatmom]

Our gym actually was just recently invited to one of our local trampoline parks to be featured in a news segment! They wanted to ask a gym so they could show kids with more talent rather than kids just bouncing around. It was so cool!
Our gym is obviously ok with them, just as long as the kids are safe and responsible about it.

 

[profmom]

This is going to come off as contrary and cranky, so I apologize in advance. It's not the little kids who worry me. The one my kids have been to a few times does have a restricted zone for the tiny tots, and the parents seem to keep a better eye on them. My concern is much more that my older children, both teenagers, will be using the tramps safely to do things that are impressive and well controlled, but some idiot teenager with no gym background will go running and flipping across in front of them or will double-bounce them and put them out of training for months. My daughter broke her arm at gym when she was little. Sure, it was no fun and the recovery was tough, but if she had the same injury now as a teenager with all the pressures of high school alongside a heavier gym schedule (even in XCel), it would have a much bigger and more negative impact on her life. And in a year when my son is really, really hoping to make it to nationals? I am just trying to imagine having to explain that one to his coach.

The big commercial enterprises that are popping up all over the place do not look to me like they have any real understanding of the dangers of trampolines. They put most of their resources into looking after and protecting the little kids. The big ones are the ones who are more likely to do things that will get themselves and others badly injured. The people minding the tramps don't need to read another manual of safety rules. They need to watch some videos of people getting injured by crashes, and they need a physics lesson about what happens when two bodies that are both accelerating rapidly hit each other. And they need to be much more aggressive about kicking people out who can't follow safety rules.

I hadn't thought about it, but I am struck by Skschlag's comparison between climbing gyms and trampoline parks. That really nails it.

 

[chalkbowl]

I always thought that as a former gymnast that I, as well as my own gymnasts, were smart enough and had enough air sense to not get injured. However, I was recently informed that many (all?) trampoline parks have tramps that are essentially tied together. Two trampolines next to one-another use one railing for their springs. Meaning that if a person jumps on the left trampoline, they are fully capable of double bouncing the person on the right trampoline...as all the trampolines are interconnected. Basically everyone is capable of double bouncing one-another within the park even if they are on separate trampolines. I will definitely be doing a lot more research before stepping onto a trampoline in a trampoline park myself.

 

[Vivianflips]

We were never told not to go, just to be careful because of the dangers of a kid running in front of you etc. With that being said, I've found that open gym is almost more dangerous than trampoline parks Some children have almost befallen injury by me when they ran in front of me (or under the beam I was on)! I also had a child crawl onto the vault table while I was vaulting! He was very lucky I had enough space to stop. Back to trampoline parks though, I worry that when I'm doing higher levels skills like front layouts that little kids are going to copy me and hurt themselves. My teammate took her friend to a trampoline park and her friend ended up breaking her foot attempting to do something she'd seen my teammate do...

 

[ayyyrial]

I had a friend who was almost 30, a great gymnast, who had a serious neck injury at a trampoline park. Apparently he and a friend were doing some kind of trick where they were doing saltos over each other. The guy saw that they were going to run into each other, so he stalled out and landed on his neck. He was in a neck brace for a good long time - I think he's OK now. Just goes to show you don't have to be young or untrained to do dumb stuff and get hurt.

One of the biggest safety concerns to me is that it seems like at many trampoline parks, you are allowed or even encouraged to jump on the same trampoline as others. So people just bounce around. While that's fun if you're just bouncing, if you're trying to do tricks, any unexpected interference could be really unsafe. I've been to a trampoline park where each trampoline was sectioned off and you were supposed to stay in your own area - that seems a lot safer to me.