Repairs, Maintenance, and Improvements
The High Standards of our Competitive Trampolines
Airborne Woodbridge’s reluctant quest to always improve our programs will often have us turn focus to our equipment. Along with additions and improvements, having a top-notch competitive trampoline program will also require constant maintenance and repairs.
Before the season, we’ve added equipment features such as the bungee harness system. Tending to the equipment we already have was next on the old “to do” list. We had begun to notice that our trampolines were beginning to have some minor issues. Slight pulls to one side, as an example, were making our high jumping, competitive trampoline athletes work harder than they should to stay in the middle of the trampoline. Of course this was never an issue noticed by amateur jumpers during our public programs, it was however starting to become a bit of a nuisance to our competitive team members. So out came the maintenance and repair protocol. Re-calibration of the trampolines was necessary. As the first point of repair, we went deep down to the core of the trampoline system to attend to the frames. Adjustments were made; improvements were added.
Next, the springs. One would think that a spring is just a spring. Any spring will do, as long as it’s in place and intact. Oh no no, how oblivious one would be. Springs, and especially ones that are used for competitive trampolines, actually have a certain life span were its quality and current state is optimal to be used. A spring that has been worn out tends to stretch out more, have more give and does not have as strong of a pull back. Having multiple lower-quality springs on one trampoline bed is a possible reason an expert jumper may experience slight off-centre pulls, or “loose” feeling beds. Therefore, the classic solution of “out with old, in with the new” was applied. All of the springs that were not as strong as they should be were replaced with brand new high-quality springs.
Furthermore we chose one of our trampolines to have the best of everything: frame, springs, pad lifters and beds to be considered as our highest performing trampoline. Pad lifters, for those who are unaware, are metal contraptions that hook up on the frame of the trampoline and, literally, lift the side padding an inch or so off the actual springs themselves. This makes the springs act more effectively, the beds push up quicker and, therefore, allows the jumper to jump higher. This was done so that our new national athletes could have a pristine conditioned trampoline that would mimic one they would jump on at all major competitions. Of course, we couldn’t have these conditions be applied to all of our trampolines as we have many public programs and a trampoline that makes you jump higher than normal, may increase chances of falling for beginner jumpers.
Seems like almost on a weekly basis, there is some kind of change going on at Airborne Woodbridge. Our competitive trampoline team gets to experience the best of all we have to offer, however, anyone could get a taste during our public programs. So come out, give us a try and maybe we can begin your path to our competitive trampoline program!
For more technical information on the competitive trampolines that are used at Airborne locations, please visit:
