Trampolining - A Brief History

In the 1930's a man named George Nissen noticed the way artists on trapezes bounced off the safety net and performed tricks. Following on from this but on a smaller scale,  he invented the first modern trampoline in his garage and used it to help with his research of tumbling and diving activities.  He later formed a company who manufactured trampolines for sale to the public. The marketing strategy he used for his product involved entertaining audiences and letting them take part in his demonstrations.  This was the beginning of trampolining as a sport.

Trampolining is natural, easy and rhythmical allowing those involved to enjoy excitement and fun by being able to jump much higher than normal.  The landing and take-off positions include the feet, chest, back and seat.  The sport was rapidly introduced to physical eduction programs within schools in the United States and was also performed in private entertainment centres. Trampolining became an Olympic sport in 2000 and today it is a widely attended international competition sport.

Trampolining Competitions

The basics of individual trampoline competitions are made up of two or three routines, one of which will involve a set of skills. These skills are combinations of somersaults and twists, known as the pike, tuck or straight position.  A standard 14 x 7 foot trampoline of regulation size with a marking to show the center of the equipment, is used to perform the ten different skills required in each of the routines.  There are five judges who mark the routine out of ten, taking off points for unfinished moves or for straying too far away from the center marker.  More points can be added by the judge, depending on the level of difficulty the performed skills. The DD (degree of difficulty) is calculated by a factor being added for each somersault or quarter turn.

Synchronized trampolining is also a competition sport, where two performers carry out the same routine at exactly the same time on adjacent trampolines.  The athletes are judged separately but in the same way as individual competitor routines,  by two two judges, then another set of judges score the pair for overall synchronicity. So long as the pair of athletes are bouncing in unison and at the same height fewer points will be deducted for a lack of synchronicity and the routine's degree of difficulty is assessed, the same as in the individual trampolining rules with points being added to the score.

Even though trampoliners are trained to a high level, the difficult and complex movements they are trying to perform are likely to lead to falls and accidents.  In order to lessen the chances of injury from landing off course and away from the bed altogether the trampolines have their springs covered with padding.  As the end decks are the most likely place for the athletes to take a tumble, they are also padded to protect them while competing.  The rules of the competition state that mats are to be placed on the ground for a radius of two meters around the trampoline and that spotters have to be in place to carry out the task of attempting to catch or lessen the impact of a competitor falling over the side of the trampoline.