Choose the Right Athletic Flooring for School Gymnasiums: Safety and Performance

In the realm of student athletics, a facility’s sports flooring is the foundation that significantly shapes the athletic experience. From physical education classes to batting cages and weight training rooms, selecting the right flooring is more than aesthetics. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the key attributes that define the best sports flooring, how these features impact young athletes in a school environment, and the types of athletic flooring that best serve schools’ needs.

Why Choose Athletic Flooring

Sports flooring is built to support athletic activities. Not only will it meet the safety standards necessary to support student health, it comes with added perks. 

• High durability: Rubber Floors products are made to last, making them a cost-effective option. 
• Low Maintenance: can be easily maintained and cleaned by school facility cleaners
• Acoustically sound: flooring options often provide noise reduction elements to enhance experiences inside the gym and outside of it.
• Customizable: School colors and logos can be incorporated to enhance the aesthetics of your space. 

What Makes Athletic Flooring Safe

Choosing the safest flooring option depends on how that surface is being used. Differing combinations of energy absorption, traction, and area deflection create ideal surfaces for weight lifting, basketball, football, and beyond. 

• Energy Restitution: The amount of energy “given-back” by the surface. Balancing energy restitution and shock absorption reduces stress on joints while enhancing playability and performance. 
• Traction: the level of grip the surface provides, minimizing slip or fall risks.
• Force Reduction: often an element utilized in sub flooring to reduce strain on an athlete’s lower extremities, mitigating risk of injury. 

Basketball courts are a great example of all three elements working in harmony. Wood or synthetic flooring provides the right amount of energy restitution to keep the ball bouncing for consistent game play. Meanwhile, sub flooring beneath the surface provides force reduction to reduce the strain that athlete’s experience in their lower extremities. The proper finish on the surface pulls everything together by providing the right amount of traction to reduce stumbling or falling while also providing an aesthetic bonus with custom logos and coloring to show team spirit. 

Choosing the Right Sports Flooring

First and foremost, choosing the right flooring for your athletic facility is dependent on how you use the space. Are you looking for an option that is highly versatile to accommodate multiple athletic activities, or are you looking for a specialized surface for one sport? 

Here are some of our favorite options for academic athletic facilities: 

• Rubber flooring is the preferred surface for weight rooms, with a variety of options that can be utilized to enhance functionality. Interlocking Rubber Tiles provide increased versatility with easy replacement. For heavy lifting areas, Zeus Performance offers a variety of thicknesses as well as custom inlay platforms and logos. For areas that support football training, Indoor Turf is utilized for sled and agility training.
• Faux wood-grain Zone and Rebound Flooring offers a low-maintenance alternative to wooden flooring with enhanced performance, making it a great option for basketball and volleyball courts, as well as gym classrooms and dance studios. 
• Athletic turf is a low-maintenance, cost-effective option, perfect for sports fields,  batting cages, baseball halos, etc. can also be incorporated on the field and customized with school logos.
• Rubber flooring is a great addition to band rooms, enhancing acoustics with sound reduction to keep the music inside to mitigate environmental distractions for nearby classrooms. 

Flooring that Works for Your Facility

In your pursuit of creating a safe, high-performing haven for young athletes, your choice of athletic flooring holds the key. To transform your school’s gymnasium into a sanctuary of excellence, explore the wide range of options offered by Rubber Floors and More. 

Our products, built with uncompromising quality and innovation that embody the perfect blend of safety, durability, and performance. Whether you’re looking to revamp a basketball court, set up a weight training area, or establish a versatile multipurpose space, we have the ideal solution for you. 
To start planning your school’s space, contact us today.