A Brief Trampoline History

When you’re bouncing around the trampoline park, do you ever wonder how trampolines got started? Here’s a brief history!

The first modern trampoline appeared in 1936, built by George Nissen and Larry Griswold who were on the gymnastics team at their school and needed a new way to practice. They’d seen the circus using trapeze safety nets, and thought it could be adapted. Originally, they had the trampoline trademarked as a rebound tumbler, but the trademark has ran out — and just about everyone knows it as a trampoline these days.

Competitive trampolining has had its ups and downs. Initially, it was hard to establish a safety procedure, leading to a lot of injuries. These injuries were usually due to bouncing outside, and overestimating how much room they had to land. Even now, with an outdoor trampoline, you’ll usually find that they’re sold with netting around the outside. As the sport advanced, and competitions began to move inside where floors could be padded, injuries became much less common. Once it was established as an Olympic sport in 2000, it became easier to follow. While America popularized the sport, there has yet to be an American medalist in the games.

Perhaps trampolining has hit its all time high in the past couple of years with trampoline parks becoming popular. In part, trampoline parks are safer than stand-alone trampolines, and deliver much more bounce than a single trampoline can at home. Who knows? Maybe the increasing amount of trampoline parks will lead to an American athlete placing in the games. It’s a lot easier to practice tricks on a trampoline court, as opposed to a single trampoline at home. The International Association of Trampoline Parks estimated that by the end of 2015 there would be 100 trampoline parks open worldwide. Two years later, and that number has soared, especially with franchises opening all over America and world-wide.

So what are you waiting for? Keep on bouncing!