Coaches Broken Springboard

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taylortumbles

Coach
Proud Parent
I was watching American Ninja Warrior tonight and there was a competitor who was 250 lbs. They kept talking about his weight and how the course was not really designed to handle his weight. They do use springboards and this reminded me of a situation that happened when I was a very young, very new coach.

A little over 15 years ago, I began coaching at a local Y. There was a girl in the advanced class (equivalent to Level 5 today) working on punch fronts with a springboard and crash mat. She was 14 and built big. She wasn't overweight really, just very muscular and boxy. None the less, she was very self-conscious about her weight/shape. Anyway, she hit the springboard on one of her turns and it (the wood) literally split in half lengthwise. It was a freak occurrence. She wasn't hurt and the springboard had never shown any signs of weakness prior. It was a full size board, not a junior board.

Just curious if this has ever happened to anyone.
 
Something similar happened in my gym. There was an old wooden carpeted type board, one of the itty bitty level 7s was working FHS full drills onto a resi. She hit the board and then there was a deafening crack...The wood in the board just cracked. Definitely a freak accident like you mentioned, she wasn't even remotely bulky! Had a lot of power I guess! Since then we've got new "basketball" boards that don't have wood in them, and haven't had another scare like that.
 
YES! I know exactly what you are talking about with the sound. I don't think I've ever quite got that sound out of my head!
 

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