Gyms come in all shapes and sizes, from your DIY home gyms to the professional, dazzling basketball courts of the NBA. The one thing they have in common, however, is the role they play in optimizing the athletic performance of those who step foot on them. Choosing the right floors may seem like an unnecessary concern, but you’ll be surprised to hear just how complex this topic can get!
The Most Common Gym Floors
The glowing hardwood that you see in basketball courts and many indoor sports halls is usually made out of maple wood. On the other hand, volleyball fans will notice how different their gym floors look — that’s due to the fact that the other popular choices of materials for gymnasium flooring are PVC and vulcanized rubber. Some other types of flooring that are less often used, but nonetheless great options for a variety of sports, are clay, sand-filled artificial turf, and acrylic.
The Right Floors for Each Indoor Sport
Basketball
The famous indoor sports hall that was once home to the Celtics had oak floors, but they were the exception in the world of court flooring. Maple is the industry standard here, well loved for its durability, as it possesses one of the highest hardness ratings out there. It also has high-shock resistance, a major factor in preserving athletes’ joints from impact, as well as contributing to ball bounce-back.
Volleyball
The most common material for professional volleyball courts is PVC flooring. Although this type of floor gets worn out much quicker than indoor courts made out of hardwood, it’s the perfect choice for a sport in which players frequently dive down onto the ground: the softer PVC material ensures athletes experience the least amount of abrasion and friction burn possible.
Weightlifting
When it comes to lifting weights and the everyday workout at the gym, the best flooring option is a rubber floor. Rubber flooring should be around 0.32 inches or thicker for the best shock and noise absorption possible. If you’re building your DIY home gym, you might prefer to start with interlocking mats before investing in a flooring system that will be installed over your subflooring.
Gymnastics
The floor gymnasts do their acrobatics on is made out of a combination of foam and carpeting, with springs that ensure the least amount of stress on athletes’ joints. Foam mats and carpet rolls used in gymnastics training centers are also the recommended floor options for cheerleading and tumbling.
The Benefits of Maple Flooring for Sports
Why is maple the preferred material for so many sports floors and indoor courts? Is it really so much better than oak, or walnut? Overall, when it comes to optimal sports performance, the answer is yes. Maple hardwood is dense, with an ideal Janka hardness rating, it has high-shock resistance, looks great, and is widely and easily available in the United States. The hardness rating of maple is 1450, making this a resilient wood capable of coping with the intense wear and tear of a sports court, professional or otherwise.
Maple hardwood is also extremely stable, making it so the floors have little likelihood of responding negatively to environmental changes. Other than decreasing undesired joint impact, the high-shock resistance feature contributes to ball-bounce back, which is why bowling alley floors and pins are made out of maple, as well.
Lastly, the aesthetic qualities of maple can’t be ignored: the bright and warm shade of this hardwood is capable of elevating any sports facility to put-together, professional levels. One final upside of maple flooring? The smooth grain of maple hardwood makes it the perfect canvas for painting court lines and team logos.
What to Consider Before Selecting Your Sports Flooring
Make sure your subfloor is flat and even, as what’s going on underneath your floors can be the deciding factor when it comes to their final quality. Then, reflect on the sports that will be played on your court — as we’ve seen above, the flooring needs for a basketball court are incredibly different than the needs of a volleyball court, and completely opposite than those of a gymnastics training center! Always think of the athletes first: how can my flooring choice minimize injury and improve performance? Then take it from there and contact a professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are gym floors made of?
Rubber or foam are the usual choices for gym flooring. This is because these materials are great at absorbing impact, as well as being durable and easy to clean.
What is sports flooring?
Sports flooring are floors made with the specific goal of absorbing extraneous impact, being long-lasting, maximizing athletic performance, and minimizing the risk of injury. These are floors specially designed to be played on, for decades to come, whether they’re made out of hardwood or artificial grass.
What are basketball courts made of?
Usually, maple hardwood! If the floors have a light, bright wood color, that is your best clue that you are dealing with maple. In fact, maple is such a standard material for basketball courts that the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association, or MFMA, is the institution which decides the standards for sports flooring in America.
Are gym floors springy?
All sports floors have some give and flex to them — this is necessary to ensure the comfort and optimal performance of athletes who play on them. However, some floors are more “springy” than others: gymnastics floors have small, metal springs underneath the layers of carpet, foam, and plywood, whereas basketball court floors have nothing of the sort, and the bounce factor is due to the natural qualities of the maple wood only.