Children should be at the top of the priority list when it comes to their protection when playing sports.
Children tend to have less perception of risk, even lesser developed motor skills and possibly a lack of access to coaching and support. All of these lead to a possibility of an increased chance of a child sustaining an impact with the floor, albeit not always an injury occurring incident.
Regardless of this, the necessity is there across many countries for a high performance indoor sports surface that can provide the required level of safety and comfort for all it’s users. Especially when there are increasing numbers of undiagnosed concussions prevailing.
Are you confident that your sports facilities provide the optimum level of safety for your pupils?
Gerflor is recognised as a sports specialist indoor flooring manufacturer. Our solutions deliver optimum safety, comfort and performance. We are also competitively priced to meet the needs of most budgets.
With 8 million children enjoying the benefits of a Gerflor Taraflex® sports floor everyday, we are the go to trusted provider for sports refurbishments and new build.
Historically, flooring solutions commonly found in sports facilities contained materials such as wood or rubber which offered little or no protection to users. The long term effects of this would result in an increased number of injuries.
Today, when considering a sports floor, specifiers have to prioritise whether the sports floor in question will provide the right level of immediate comfort to the users when falling, sliding or diving on the floor.
The Impact Protection Index identifies the level of protection a sports flooring solution provides. The higher the IPI, the higher the protection levels.
Gerflor’s Taraflex® ranges offer a high performing IPI % when compared to traditional sport flooring materials. Taraflex® Comfort offers the highest level of impact protection on the market with an IPI of 89%.
A good level of shock absorption will minimise the force of impact on the body and reduces long term injuries. The Taraflex® ranges meet and also exceed EN 14904 standard rating for point-elastic floors.
This rating determines force reduction classes for all floors. The objective is to draw attention to the necessity of installing a safe and comfortable floor that reduces the risk of injuries for all users.
The higher the percentage rating, the higher the shock absorption rate, which will protect against long term injuries. Less shin splints, less tendonitis.
Over the last two decades assessments have been carried out with various credible test institutions, in particular the testing to prove that indoor vinyl sports surfaces can be safer than other traditional surfaces.
Using a Taraflex® Olympic pedigree sports floor when compared with other traditional area elastic solutions such as timber sprung floors, delivers a safe solution for all users. With a complete range of P1, P2 and P3 products to choose from, you can rest assured that Gerflor have a solution for the low impact activities right through to elite and performance sports.
When specifying the right sports flooring surface for your facility, the safety of your users is paramount. You may face several challenges when trying to select an indoor sports surface. These would include the right level of protection for your users, whilst also being within budget.
Our Sports Specialists can help guide you through the specification process. We can also conduct a full free site survey.
For all facilities you should list your activities and then decide if any have priority over any other. There is not a single indoor sport than cannot be played on a Taraflex® sports floor. See our specification guide online or contact us to see which floor suits your specific needs.
This figure should not be confused with Impact protection. Impact injuries are far more likely to cause injury to more players, more frequently. The impact protection is an important factor that should be considered. In sport in general, head injury concern is becoming more talked about and specifying a point elastic floor can help in reducing such injuries in the same way that soft flooring has revolutionised injury prevention in outdoor play areas.
With around 70% of sport in the UK played in an Educational property, Gerflor understand that larger spaces are often used for non-sports gatherings. For decades, the foam technology in Taraflex® has meant that on such occasions there are no problems. Tables, chairs, high heels are all used daily somewhere in the country. If Taraflex® could not stand up to this use then simply they would not be used as widely as they are.
One of the biggest benefits of Taraflex® floors is the reduced maintenance requirements. With a surface treatment lasting the life of the material, only periodic cleaning is required. No sanding, sealing, polishing every two to three years, unlike alternative floors. This eliminates costly works and the inconvenience of shut down. Taraflex® compared to more traditional floors will have a significantly lower whole life cost.
The EN14904 standard states that a floor should have 25% as a minimum. A floor with this level should eliminate pain for an adult when running. A child will need less shock absorption due to them weighing less but 25% still should still be the minimum.
Please visit our Safety & Protection page for more information.
The shock absorption figure uses an elite athlete as its model. Not all users will receive the published amount of shock absorption, school age users for example do not exert as much force so the floor will behave differently. With a Taraflex® floor, the floor starts to protect with the smallest amount of force. The headline figure will be lower but it will be more relevant to the users.
