Mr Bounce Says – Trampolines and Trampolining Specialist

Do I really want a Trampoline safety enclosure?

Trampolines with Enclosures seem to be the most popular type of garden trampoline setup, why are there enclosures on Trampolines and are they needed? These are the netting enclosures that you see attached to most garden trampolines. They are almost universally ugly and intrusive and probably the reason why everyone ’sees’ so many garden trampolines these days. The commonly held view is that they are essential and help to reduce injuries. However, I have yet to see any statistics that prove the point. I do know that parents run the risk of being ostracised by fellow parents, friends and neighbours if they are single minded enough to buy a trampoline without an enclosure. It is much easier to conform. However, there is a growing minority who do not favour enclosures. Aware of the fact that trampolining develops balance, coordination and spatial awareness, they are prepared to accept a small risk in order to achieve a greater gain. As a long term user and customer said to me last week: “Jimmy fell of when he was 2. He is now 14 and has not fallen off since then”. Perhaps the difference lies in customer wants & expectations. Does the customer want an enclosed bouncy play area or a trampoline? Play versus development exercise. So lets look at these two surprisingly different products.

The Enclosed Bouncy play area.

Kids generally play with other kids so this is most likely to be multiple use area. Thus the customer already intends to ignore the numerous safety warnings that trampolines should be used by only one person at a time. Statistics clearly indicate that the majority of injuries sustained on trampolines are as a result of multiple use. Most enclosures and frame pads are designed for occasional body contact. Once young users discover that pads, pole foams and nets will cushion an inaccurate landing there is a tendency to repeat such moves ‘just for fun’ or even to take things a step further and start bouncing off the net as well as the bed. Instructions for use are ignored, balance, coordination and spatial awareness take a back seat and the equipment takes a beating. My advice to those who just want an enclosed bouncy play area is to buy something that will stand up to this sort of misuse. Either a Springfree trampoline, a Super Bouncer package or the Punchi 430, but be prepared to spend more in a few years because warranties do not cover wear and tear and misuse. The good news being that replacement components will usually be available.

The Trampoline

Originally developed as a training aid for gymnasts and high divers, the trampoline was designed to give the user maximum air time for practising various tumbling or twisting moves with landing and take off from feet, seat, front and back. All moves carried out from the centre of the bed which produces optimum lift and keeps the user away from the edges.

There are a few simple rules: Always just one user at a time. Bounce in the centre of the bed. Only land on your feet, seat, back or front. Only climb on and climb off. Do not bounce off or onto the trampoline from other structures. Like flying and driving trampolining requires considerable skills of co-ordination so stay sober and drug free. And I almost forgot: It’s vastly more exhilarating than playing around in a bouncy cage and you are developing skills that will make other sporting activities so much easier to master.

Other considerations

There are 3 basic types of trampoline enclosure. Suspended, wraparound and non rigid:

SUSPENDED. The net is suspended inside the padded support poles, aligning with the inner edge of the frame pads in order to keep users away from the poles and padded steel top rail of the trampoline frame. Simple versions of this type attach to the tops of the poles and lace around the edge of the bed. Improved versions are full suspended with 3 elasticated bungy rings per pole

WRAPAROUND. The net is attached directly to the pole covers and around the outside of the frame pads. This has the advantage of creating a bigger play area inside the net as the frame pads are included within the netted area. However, there will tend to be greater wear and tear on the frame pads and a greater risk of impact with both support poles and the trampoline top frame.

NON RIGID The net is supported by fibreglass rods that give under impact. The best known version being on Springfree trampolines.

I’ll start with a controversial statement by saying that a ‘REAL’ trampoline is rectangular in shape. It was George Nissen in the late nineteen thirties who first named his folding wheelaway rebound training device a ‘trampoline’. It was rectangular in shape.

For several decades trampolines were only to be found in sports halls and gymnasiums. Then there was a gradual realisation that they could be enjoyed by almost everyone as more of a recreational than a sporting activity. It was in Australia that the production of garden trampolines really took off in the seventies. But they were all rectangular in shape. The first commercially produced round trampolines were made in America in 1990. They were hugely popular as the round design allowed a much lighter frame that kept the cost down. Although not nearly as bouncy as the real thing they were affordable and arguably safer as they delivered a slower and lower bounce. However, it was not long before our risk averse society decided that they were not safe enough so along came the trampoline safety enclosure in the late nineties. It was simple to attach vertical enclosure poles to a round trampoline but the standard rectangular frames were a different matter, the solution being a fundamental change of frame design.

So now you can have either a round or a rectangular trampoline fitted with a safety enclosure. But the change in frame design generally means that although still bouncier than a round trampoline the difference is not as marked. Makers claim that oval trampolines are nearly as bouncy as rectangular trampolines, but on testing one the writer felt this to be something of an exaggeration. Proper outdoor rectangular trampolines without safety enclosures are still available for those seeking more time in the air. Serious trampolinists would rather have padded end decks than nets around their trampoline. So you have a choice. It may well be that the shape of your garden better suits a rectangular trampoline.