Off Topic Gymnastics at trampoline parks? Experience?

[Rookie Gym Coach]

I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss. What has your experience been with doing skills at places like sky zone for example. Any tramp park honestly. I was at sky zone with my friend and it was like not busy at all. They had a basketball court with like an air trak type thing. Me and my friend walk in to the area and see two 8year old boys. One does a sloppy front tuck. My friend who knows nothing about gymnastics other than the fact that i can do cool tricks tells me “don’t let them show off” so I run across the diagonal and do a round off tuck. The kid screams how do you backwards and I tell him practice but please don’t try it it is not safe. I tell him that I only can do it because I train every other day and am a competitive gymnast and my coaches taught me how to do it safely. He doesn’t care ACTUALLY throws one lands kind of on his neck kind of on his stomach he is not hurt badly from what I saw but then he starts crying hysterically and blames me when his mom is running towards him and he says that I dared him to do it. 30 minutes later he comes back FINE and does a front tuck. I tTy to be nice and help him by saying to set try going for it with your arms up because thats where you will go. Keep in mind he did this on an air trak and not a tramp. I would not be as scared or upset with this if it was trampoline. Also he was throwing his head back and not setting like at all on the back tuck.

thought this would be a fun thread for all the gymnasts out there that can’t for life of them go to a trampoline park and not throw skills lol.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I think trampoline parks in general are a terrible idea. For gymnasts and non-gymnasts alike. The danger is way beyond what any reasonable person should consider acceptable.

Furthermore, if you do go to one (which I don't recommend), you REALLY REALLY REALLY shouldn't try to coach anybody else there, because that exposes you to liability when they get injured.

 

[Rookie Gym Coach]

Ok, yeah I won’t anymore just wanted to vent about this incident.

 

[Rookie Gym Coach]

My mom only takes me when it is practically empty, we have a membership so we can leave and go anytime. If we get there and it is crowded, we just go home since it isn’t safe

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I still don't recommend it.

Even in the absolute best-case scenario, you're jumping on poorly-maintained trampolines without a qualified coach. Even if you don't get injured, the absence of a qualified coach means you could be practicing incorrect technique and reinforcing bad habits without even realizing it.

 

[JBS]

Trampoline parks seem like they would be a ton of fun in theory... in practice they are pretty dangerous. The 2 things that concern me the most are...

1. The jumping from trampoline to trampoline with no order
2. Multiple people on one trampoline at a time (and many times right when you are not expecting it)

I think it would be safer if the trampolines had spaces between them and you had to use them one at a time and wait around the edges.

I am definitely not an anti-trampoline person... trampolines are awesome! I just like to use them in an organized way.

 

[JBS]

This is older than me... but this is more of what I think would be cool...

 

[Rookie Gym Coach]

Yes that would be more fun in my opinion just a bit more modernized lol!

 

[SupportingHerDreams]

I know we have all heard horror stories about trampoline parks but I had a nephew get seriously injured at one. His leg broke so bad that his bone punctured the trampoline. The injury was so gruesome that the paramedics were disturbed. He had to have metal rods put in his legs and went from a very athletic 12 year old boy to not being able to run for almost a year! All of that happened when he was being safe but someone else wasn't. Seeing all the trauma that he went through first hand made me decide that my daughter will never go to a trampoline park. All that to say, be very aware of the people around you while you are at a trampoline park!

 

[skschlag]

THe hard part is that the trampolines are all linked together. So a bounce on one tramp can cause a double bounce on a different one. That makes it really unsafe.

 

[RTT2]

I've never been a fan of trampoline parks. We went a few times before either of my kids were really into gymnastics and they never seemed all that safe, but I was even less enthusiastic once they joined team and started competing. I remember my daughter was invited to a birthday party at a trampoline park when she was a level 4 and I told her to ask one of the head coaches what he thought about them. His response was, "It's a great place to break your arm," and she never asked to go to one again.

 

[Aussie_coach]

I would strongly discourage anyone from going to one ever.

Our local physio said that when the trampoline parks cane in, the number of injuries that had to treat increased by more than 300%.

As others have said,
1. The trampolines are connected together which causes a dangerous double bounce even if there is no one in the tramp with you.
2. You may be very safe and just jumping and not doing skills but you can’t trust what others do.
3. If you practice without your coach present to make corrections you are probably practising mistakes and getting good at mistakes.
4. The trampolines are poorly maintained
5. The injury rate at trampoline parks is
huuuuge
6. The types of injuries you see at trampoline parks are much worse than most other activities. Severe breaks that take years to heal, paralysis and death
7. They ignore health and medical advice

The same goes for backyard trampolines, and even worse backyard air tracks. If you practice on a backyard air track the odds are you are doing more damage to your gymnastics progress than good.

And young children, pre school age and toddlers should NEVER jump on a trampoline.

 

[superNova08]

And young children, pre school age and toddlers should NEVER jump on a trampoline.

Does that include small trampolines made for toddlers? We were instructed to have my sister jump on one to help improve core strength. We have a small one with a bar on it.

 

[Deleted member 28607]

I've definitely seen so many kids in trampoline parks try gymnastics with terrible form and as a gymnast, it makes me cringe so hard. Some examples of these are: back handsprings on a trampoline with arms so bent the kid's head touched the trampoline, countless front tucks with horrible technique that don't land on their feet. My coaches were almost always discouraging us from teaching ourselves skills on a trampoline. We were allowed to practice skills we knew how to do on home equipment though.

Also a safety concern with trampoline parks are how crowded they are. One time I was doing aerials in urban air and a kid ran in front of me at the last moment, when i could barely stop (he was fine don't worry)

So I definitely agree with all the coaches who discourage trampoline parks.

 

[JBS]

And young children, pre school age and toddlers should NEVER jump on a trampoline.

So are preschool aged athletes not allowed on trampolines at your club?