For Coaches Vault Table Trainer

[elilla]

We are fairly new gym owners. We have taken our time buying equipment and buy only what is needed. We are at the point where we have all recreational kids and one level 4 team. We are looking to buy either the vault table or the vault table trainer. We have limited space and thought that the table trainer might be a better option for us. So my question for all of the coaches is if you have a table trainer does it do the trick for your kids. Is it a useful piece of equipment or do we need to bite the bullet and buy the table. Thanks!

 

[gymkat]

My home gym is currently using our vault trainer as a platform for spotting bars. I don't remember the last time we used it for vault.

The main problem that I see right now is that when kids go to meets, they'll only have a table. You only have L4s this year, but if you expand to L5s and 6s, you probably won't want them to go over a table for the first time at a meet. You can add or take away mats from the trainer, but it's much easier to adjust the table.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

This post is based on the assumption that the trainer is half the cost of the table.
The trainer might be a sensible option for your gym this year. Especially the ones that break down into different sized bits (wedges and blocks). I have trained gymnasts on one of these and they competed fine. I did however take them to another gym closer to competition so they could get a feel for the 'real' table.
Your recreation program is most important to the success of your gym and the trainer potentially has more uses for a larger number of your program. If the group of level four gymnasts do move up to level 5 next year perhaps their parents could be involved in fundraising for a real table. From a management point of view I would not be forking out a lot of money on something that only benefit a few unless the money is there.

 

[elilla]

Pineapple - yes that is exactly where we are at right now. I am just looking for some feedback from coaches who have used the vault table trainer. I know that it is not the same as using a table but were your gymnasts able to transition ok? We have a couple of kids that may compete lvl 5 in the spring but probably only 2-3. It seems ridiculous to spend $6,000 on a piece of equipment for 2-3 kids out of 500!! What are the drawbacks of using the trainer? Thanks for any feedback I appreciate it!!