Trampolines

What we think of as the modern trampoline was invented in 1934 by the gymnasts George Nissen and Larry Griswold. After seeing the tight nets that were used by circus performers they developed the trampoline by stretching various materials between a series of suspension springs. Trampolines were named after the Spanish word for a diving board 'trampolin' with a slight change in spelling to make it appear more English. Today buying a trampoline is easy and there are many kinds of trampoline that you can get including mini trampolines, a water trampoline, an exercise trampoline and various accessories such as trampoline mats.

Trampolines have many uses. Besides the acrobatics that can be done on official sports trampolines by trained gymnasts trampolines are also used by physical therapists as a way to improve fitness and help people heal because a trampoline provides a low impact form of exercise. Although the legs of a person who is using a trampoline leave the surface of the trampoline and reconnect, the trampoline absorbs some of the energy on the way down which reduces the strain on the joints of the user. A mini trampoline is often used for physical therapy as mini trampoline exercises allow the user to control themselves more easily and one can keep oneself from flying off of the trampoline.

One of the dangers of using a trampoline for trampoline tricks such as trampoline basketball is that trampoline accidents sometimes occur. In particular, accidents can happen when people are using home trampolines for fun. Trampoline sales for various brands of new trampolines such as the Skywalker trampoline have increased over recent years as well as sales of used trampolines which has led to a rise in the number of accidents as people have gone flying off of their trampolines and either fallen to the ground or have struck the edge of the trampolines on the way down. Every year, some people paralyze and / or kill themselves when they strike their necks falling after trying to perform flips on a home trampoline without the proper instruction. Because of these dangers of trampolines when they are not used properly, gyms that have trampolines installed have special spotters or trampoline instructors standing at the edges of their trampolines to make sure that users of the trampolines do not use them unsafely and that they do not do stunts on the trampolines that are out of their league. As long as trampolines are used safely, however, they can be an aid to healing and a good way to get aerobic exercise.