Women Mats sliding when landing bar dismounts

[justanothergymmom]

I have noticed recently at a few meets that the mats sometimes slide out under girls when they dismount bars (Level 7- Level 10). Why isn't it required for the host gym to provide a non-skid liner between mats? It seems a little unsafe and it can be unsettling to watch. I feel like the coaches shouldn't have to worry about watching/spotting dismounts and also have to keep their foot on the mat to prevent it from sliding! Has anyone else witnessed this?

 

[cbifoja]

Not on bars but at our last meet the vault landing mat slid when the girls landed on it. It didn't seem to bother them too much. Bella didn't mention it in all of her post-meet chatter.

 

[bogwoppit]

Here they cannot use anything to stop the mats sliding, so the coach will just put her foot on the mat to hold it in place. The kids are used to it, so are the coaches.

 

[catou]

It happened to us to. As we were two coaches, one of us was standing at the end of the mat, helping with one foot so it would not move. I'm pretty sure that without that, we would have had at least one more gymnast falling.

Edit: Well, I just gave a good example of what bogwoppit just explained

 

[vagymmomma]

This happened to DD at her last meet. It scared everyone (coaches probably more than myself) the way she threw her neck back on landing after the mat slid. There definitely should be some kind of rule - even if it's just a coaches foot.

 

[gymkat]

Spraying the bottom of the mat with water works pretty well and was a common practice where I grew up. I haven't seen it as often in my new location, though.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Spraying the bottom of the mat with water works pretty well and was a common practice where I grew up. I haven't seen it as often in my new location, though.

Not a good idea for meets because you end up with wet spots if the mats are moved for others, which is also a safety concern.

 

[Kiwi]

I saw this happen in one of my DD's competitions in step 3 year before last. After the first few girls went sliding, they used some water to stop the mat slipping. There was a lot of grumbling amongst some of the parents about the scores for those first few girls.