Fans cheering in the bleachers won’t think twice about the quality of a sports surface. But that’s not the case for coaches, athletic directors, and engineers who build sports facilities. For them, they understand how critical a floor beneath the athlete’s feet can be – both for performance and safety.
And yes, hardwood sports floors are often considered the gold standard for most indoor arenas. While the cost of installing a solid hardwood sports flooring is higher than that of other flooring alternatives, there’s more to this. It all comes down to functionality, safety, and aesthetics.
Here are the reasons for using hardwood for sports flooring.
- Shock Absorption
Unlike asphalt or concrete, wood flooring provides the necessary shock absorption when a player or athlete impacts a surface. So, why is shock absorption important in sports? Well, it diverts enough force to the floor instead of the athlete’s joints and ligaments thus reducing the severity of their injuries.
Due to their high shock absorption rate, hardwood sports flooring is ideal for various sports like volleyball, basketball, aerobic training, and dancing.
- Higher Surface Friction
Wood flooring provides an ideal amount of surface friction in a wide range of sports that require players to slide on the court. Some of these sports include basketball, volleyball, and dancing. Lower surface friction leads to accidental slips across the sports floor resulting in falls and injuries. In contrast, too much friction isn’t good as it poses a hurdle to athletes and other players.
Therefore, the finishing of the hardwood flooring plays a vital role in determining the amount of surface friction it retains.
- Ease of Maintenance
Wood flooring is easy to clean and maintain. After installation, it’ll only require little upkeep. Even better, the floors can be dust mopped daily to remove debris on their surface to ensure nothing clings to it.
- Basketball Rebound
Ball rebound is impacted by the level of shock absorption on the flooring. It is important in many sports, including basketball. In testing how an inflated ball bounces from the floor, basketballs are always used.
For instance, a basketball bounced on softer surface results in a lower vertical rebound, due to the floor’s high force reduction. However, on wood flooring, a minimum of 93 percent rebound measurement suffices.
- Ease of Customization
Do you know that wood flooring can be resurfaced? Yes, one can get creative and change the floor paint layout whenever the hardwood floor is due for refinishing. In most cases, this occurs every 10 to 15 years. With this, it looks like a new flooring every 10 to 15 years and is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
Conclusion
The performance and safety of the players and athletes should dictate the sports flooring selection process. With their shock absorption, wood floors are most ideal for sports arenas. It doesn’t stain and only requires regular mopping to remove dust and other particles clinging to its surface. Even better, it is highly durable and can be resurfaced every 10 to 15 years.
