All-Star Starting A Discussion: The Safety Of Spring Floor Vs... Well.. Anything Else

[King]

You can't go with shock absorption alone. If you want skills to be performed the surface has to be solid enough to make that feasible.

Going along with the wearing of a helmet or padded vest. Something that impedes the execution of the skill is also not safe.

 

[SharkDad]

I can think of several people that I would volunteer.

I heard that. . .

 

[Cheer_Explosion_Coach]

I found this clip today. I'm speechless.... What if this happened to a cheerleader? I thought this would fit into our discussion of concussions and head injuries. How tragic for that family, school, and community. I couldn't imagine losing a kid while they were in my care. Are we (society) pushing our teenagers too hard?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/...-head-injury-sustained-?urn=highschool-wp7202

 

[CGAcheer]

How will you most likely have the same concussion? I have experienced 3 of the 5 grades of concussions, unfortunately. I would say your impact on a cement surface would create a much higher grade concussion.

the same, as in having one. like you have essentially the same results from a 65mph crash and a 75mph crash, yes they are technically different, but is there a noticeable difference in the results?

 

[King]

the same, as in having one. like you have essentially the same results from a 65mph crash and a 75mph crash, yes they are technically different, but is there a noticeable difference in the results?

Again having had quite a few concussions I can tell you there's a difference from having your bell rung and blacking out.

 

[CGAcheer]

Again having had quite a few concussions I can tell you there's a difference from having your bell rung and blacking out.

I'll take your word on the concussion grades and severity, just saying that at a certain point there is no discernible difference in impact. Think of this, if a 200 lb man jumps feet first onto a 4 in mat he'll sink through to the ground but it will slow it down a bit, a 400lb man and a 500 lb man would both probably barely even feel the mat at all. At the other end of the spectrum, a baby will barely depress the mat.

 

[Eyes On The Prize]

I've been following this thread and I see everyone's point of view. But I think we need to make this question more specific. Are we talking about which surface is safer in regards to strictly falling from stunting or tumbling or are we talking about landing tumbling and the actual, overall performance? And are we talking about competitions, practice or games? It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges. Both are fruit, but they are very different.
Its obvious that if you're learning a tumbling skill than a crash mat or some sort of landing mat is the safest to learn it on when moving the skill to floor. But can you tumble on a crash mat like you can on a hard/spring floor? No, it's made to absorb almost ALL of the force you are putting into it. So would this be ideal for competition or even games? Most definitely not, you'd be hindered in every way possible.
So if the question is: What is the safest performance surface AT PRACTICE WHILE LEARNING A NEW SKILL, then its crash mat. If the question is What is the safest performance surface AT COMPETITION, then obviously a spring floor. But the very first question is too broad to be discussed properly. People are going all over the place here. Coaching has NOTHING to do with the performance floor and whether or not an athlete is going to get hurt when he or she hits it. A fall is a fall is a fall, no matter if you're a first time cheerleader or a member of the Olympic gymnastics team who decided to join F5. (New rumor? ) I also think we need to break it down into all star and high school/rec. For all stars, the question could still be "which is the safest....." but for high school, it might have to turn into "which is the most practical...." This is a very situational topic that wont have the same answer for every aspect of cheer. Just my opinion...

 

[laughAlittle]

just a question for thought.

football, hockey, etc players run, tackle, kick, shoot, skate, fall down, and more with pads on. why cant cheerleaders wear them?

 

[Deleted member 15]

just a question for thought.

football, hockey, etc players run, tackle, kick, shoot, skate, fall down, and more with pads on. why cant cheerleaders wear them?

Try tumbling in football gear and let us know how it goes.

 

[gofriars610]

just a question for thought.

football, hockey, etc players run, tackle, kick, shoot, skate, fall down, and more with pads on. why cant cheerleaders wear them?

I know from personal experience that is VERY hard to pull an arabesque in full hockey pads...haha. You can do a split in them easily, but actually pulling body positions is very hard and they look ugly. (curious teammates would make me pull things in the locker room before practice) I played hockey all through high school and my senior year I was messing around at practice trying to re-do all my old tricks from figure skating on hockey skates...i miiight have faceplanted out of a scale . (yay for helmets and face guards!) Figure skaters don't wear pads, and they twirl, jump, dance, spin and (in pairs) do stunts.

 

[King]

Random idea, why doesn't someone call the makers of a spring floor and hard floor and ask them if they have those numbers? I mean... they should know the ability of their products, right? Should be someone who is already a customer.

 

[laughAlittle]

Try tumbling in football gear and let us know how it goes.

it does not need to be football gear, I am sure that engineers can come up with something feasible.

 

[Deleted member 15]

it does not need to be football gear, I am sure that engineers can come up with something feasible.

The question is whether or not they can create something useful that doesn't make it too much more difficult to perform the skills.

 

[laughAlittle]

The question is whether or not they can create something useful that doesn't make it too much more difficult to perform the skills.

if its coming down to life-threatening safety though, shouldn't we adapt?

 

[Deleted member 15]

if its coming down to life-threatening safety though, shouldn't we adapt?

Not necessarily. The only way to eliminate all risk is to not allow anything. I think most of us are trying to figure out what an acceptable level of risk is and how to take measures that allow more skills/fun/height/wow without exceeding the acceptable level of risk.

Wearing full football gear and performing on 10 feet of pillows would probably put us at an extremely low level of risk, but few of us would want to watch or participate in those routines.