The Need to Replace the Springs on Your Trampoline
Do you remember bouncing for hours on a trampoline as a kid? Perhaps you’ve installed one in your garden to keep your children occupied. We all know that trampolines can be an endless source of fun and they can help to keep you fit into the bargain. However, in the interests of safety and performance, you need to understand how different bouncing styles can impact the wear and longevity of the trampoline springs – especially if you’re using your trampoline as more than just a kid’s toy.
Play Equipment or Sports Equipment?
Today, trampolines are increasingly being used in ways that weren’t seen in earlier years. While a home trampoline was usually bought as a piece of play equipment to be mainly used by kids for jumping, today it’s increasingly utilized as a piece of sports equipment to enable training at home for athletes of many different sports disciplines.
As you may be aware, trampolines are designed so that you get the optimum bounce in the middle of the mat. To execute a flip, for example, the aim is to start in the middle of the trampoline and land in the same spot. By doing so, you’re not only ensuring your safety but you’re ensuring that all the springs are activated evenly in the way in which they’re designed to perform. This practice is in line with what we see when the Olympic level trampolining is performed.
Now trampolines are being used to perfect the tumbling, twists, and acrobatics that are synonymous with activities such as Gtramp, (garden trampolining that involves jaw-dropping acrobatics and gravity-defying moves that are far removed from your typical kiddy jump and bounce stuff), cheerleading and all the variants of board sports.
No longer are users sticking to the "sweet spot" in the middle but their tumbling, twisting, double bouncing and dropping in off towers, ladders and roofs are giving their trampolines a serious workout right at the edges of the mat which, in turn, affects the performance of the springs.
Why Weight Capacity is Important
There’s also the need to take into account the weight capacity of the trampoline – and this can prove to be less than simple – as weight capacity is calculated according to a static weight load at the center of the trampoline. As we all know, nobody stays still on a trampoline, so even if the user weighs less than the weight capacity given for a trampoline, once they start moving the calculation needs to take the dynamic weight, the velocity of speed and weight in motion into account. Plus, these calculations are made assuming that the user is jumping right in the middle of the mat when sometimes this isn’t the case. See we told you it was a little more complicated!
The Causes of Over Sprung Springs
When a user consistently bounces in the middle of a trampoline it’s unlikely that they will overload the springs. Even if they jump into a trampoline from a platform or something similar, it’s likely that it will bottom out the trampoline rather than overload the springs.
However, when trampoline routines and tricks need the full length of the mat rather than just the center and incorporate double bouncing and other acrobatics, the focus of the load moves nearer to the edge of the mat and it is this that causes overloading of the springs. The law of physics shows us that this can’t be avoided. Therefore, if you’re using a trampoline to perfect your tricks and routines for the kind of sports and activities mentioned above, it tends to result in over sprung springs much faster than usual!
Never Bounce if You Have Over Sprung or Missing Springs
It should always be remembered that if you think that any springs have been over sprung or you have springs missing from a trampoline, you should stop using it until you are able to replace the springs. Safety should always be your priority.
If you continue to use the trampoline with a spring missing the extra load that the missing spring absorbed, will now have to be taken up by the remaining springs; increasing the odds of you soon losing more springs and additionally putting your mat at risk of tearing.
If you need further advice on whether your springs need replacing, you can either email us or give us a call on 03 5293 1100.
