When you were a kid, did you ever jump on a trampoline in your, or your friends’, backyard? When I was younger, my sister and I would make up elaborate “routines” on our trampoline and we’d make our parents (and friends) come watch us as if we put on a show they couldn’t miss.
Little did we know that trampoline gymnastics was a real thing, and much, much harder than whatever it was we were doing out there.
Synchronized trampolining is a relatively newly recognized sport, as it appeared in the Olympics for the first time in 2000. It consists of two gymnasts on two separate trampolines doing an elaborate routine completely in sync. Think synchronized diving but, ya know, on a trampoline.
YouTube
As fun as all the flipping and bouncing looks, it requires a significant amount of precision and technique. In the Olympics, each routine is scored by 9 judges in three categories: difficulty, execution, and time of flight. They look at things like how well the body is kept straight and whether or not landings are near the center of the trampoline.
The trampolines are 7 X 14 feet and rectangular with large springs and small holes in the netting which allows athletes to jump about 30 feet into the air. In fact, when the judges give scores on “flight”, they time how long the athlete is in the air which allows them to calculate how high he/she went.
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Just like in traditional gymnastics, trampoline is a sport that athletes start doing at a very young age. In June of 2018, the US swept the gold medals in both men and women’s synchronized trampoline at the Junior Pan American Trampoline Championships. The women’s team also qualified for the 2018 Youth Olympic games.
USA Gymnastics
According to Team USA athlete, Steven Gluckstein, jumping on the trampolines is actually much harder than it looks because it requires so much effort to remain in the right place and keep form while doing it. However, he also says that no one would believe how difficult it is unless they actually stepped on one, and even then they’d “be having so much fun” they’d forget about how hard it is and “fall in love with it.”
We do not doubt it!
Take a look at the video below of the 2011 Synchronized Trampoline World Competition. Once you’re done making big plans for your own trampoline debut, make sure to share the fun with your friends!
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