Parents Cheerleading floors dangerous?

[Mom2monkeys]

Do any of you guys have experience with cheerleading floors being used for gymnastic training too? Our gym has had a few too many arm/elbow injuries and I was wondering if the cheer floor may have something to do with it? It has these soft spots all over. Thanks for any info!

 

[notthatmom]

I honestly thought the floors were the same. Maybe this specific one is just broken? Doesn't sound right...whether it's being used for cheer or gymnastics

 

[gymdog]

What do they do on it? Most gyms in the USA have carpeted bonded foam somewhere in their gym on surfaces that aren't spring floors (runways or around equipment, etc). Usually various drills are done in these areas, but not actual tumbling like back handsprings. It is unusual for them to have "soft spots" unless equipment was put on them and the foam become dented in those areas - maybe that's what you mean?

 

[Mom2monkeys]

This is the only floor in our gym. They do routines, tumbling etc. everything on this floor. It is very different than a gymnastic floor, not as much bounce and it is not carpeted. There are soft or dead spots the girls hit sometimes and it's my girls say it just feels like a dip. I just really want to know if others train on these floors and if they are more accident prone for gymnasts? Thanks

 

[l.c.o]

Are these cheerleading floors spring floors? Or are they just carpeted foam?

My DD does gym and she competed cheer for two seasons. She was "rec" or "middle school" cheer rather than All-Star cheer. She only ever used wrestling mats (sometimes at practice, depending on which gym they could snag), a tumbl trak, or carpeted foam (practice and competitions). She only practiced cheer 2-3 hours over one day per week and was often immediately in some kind of pain from tumbling on the mats/carpeted foam surfaces (compared to no or little pain tumbling at gymnastics), and that was with throwing much "easier" skills (standing tuck, ro-bhs-bt). I would practically hold my breath waiting for the end of the season, hoping she wouldn't get a big injury.

Now, I think some area All-Star cheer gyms use some type of spring floor (DD follows them on Instagram)... I don't have any idea whether that's different...?

I wouldn't want my kid doing "gymnastics" on just carpeted foam. Nothing above maybe simple BHS anyway.

ETA: We must have posted at the same time... DD is not familiar with that sort of floor. I'd use your judgement as to whether it's "safe" or "ok" or not. I can't speak for safety, though inconsistencies in "softness" do sound a bit questionable.

 

[Mom2monkeys]

It has some spring but nothing like gymnastic floors. When our girls go to competition they live the gymnastic floors.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

It sounds like it might be a rod floor, I think they used to be popular for gymnastics and are now used a lot in cheerleading. Our gym had one of those too, and it was old, so it also developed soft spots, or as my dd called them "holes." DD had a hard time avoiding the soft spots and had many little ankle tweaks, etc when she would come home sometimes. They repaired it a couple of times and that helped and then they went ahead and upgraded to a brand new spring floor this summer. It's been a night and day difference in the girls tumbling since then and I also think less wear and tear on their bodies. DD did a couple of weeks of training at a different gym on vacation this summer that still had the rod floor like our gym had, so I think there are some gyms out there that still use these.

 

[duyetanh]

It has some spring but nothing like gymnastic floors. When our girls go to competition they live the gymnastic floors.

Our good friends frequent a gym thay has a cheerleading floor. My kid went to an open gym there, and agreed with what her friend who goes there says already. The floor sucks for gymnastics.

 

[gymdog]

Hmm okay. A rod floor is bouncier than a spring floor and has to be in a strip, not a square. It's probably not a rod floor.

Cheerleading uses carpet bonded foam rolls ("dead" mat, sort of like ultra fancy wrestling mats) or spring floors for club cheer programs. Usually the spring floors are covered with carpet bonded foam strips, whereas in gymnastics we usually have an additional carpet over that and because of that typically use non carpet bond foam layer (although more kits are coming with it). In my opinion it makes some difference vs the carpet bond even if all else is equal. Not a big difference but a little.

Most likely what is happening here is a difference in quality. The floor described likely has some foam blocks rather than all springs. Typically, a big gymnastics school will have the following: full spring deck with all springs attached under 3/8in Baltic birch wood, 2 in foam, relatively plush carpet.

You could also get, and in my experience cheer only schools may have this because it's easier to get away with when you don't have kids doing double backs, a partially spring deck that also has some foam blocks (harder foam than pit foam) attached to lower quality wood in order to save money, and also 1 inch foam with no carpet over it. These things would make the floor less expensive, but would also make it lower quality. Foam blocks are more likely to break and create spots in the floor that sink through, because of course a spring floor is sort of floating on its springs (or blocks). Boards can also break on a spring floor, particularly in certain areas, but a big gymnastics school will likely replace it quickly because their upper levels cannot do tumbling on that.

So basically what is happening is that the floor they are using is probably the same concept but just lower quality.