We’ve posted on this topic before.
Dr. Bill Sands is doing some research on the innovative new springs at Mesa State College:
Bills Sands:
Here are my criteria for evaluation of the spring floor:
1. Stability
2. Tuned response frequency that matches the gymnast’s take off actions
3. Reliability, no matter when you hit it, or where you hit it, the spring floor reacts the same. There is some evidence that the spring floor can act like a trampoline and the athlete can experience a “double bounce.”
4. The floor should not “tip” the foot or shank at impact due to inconsistent foam or floor characteristics.
read more on Facebook (from March 2010)
Bill feels that the spring is on the right track, but that confirmation awaits testing.
There is no evidence (yet) that the Weller spring reduces the incidence of Achilles tears.
If you don’t want to wait for scientific confirmation, each spring is $2.95 right now, on sale.
13 comments ↓
Well you definately wont see it used by usag because AAI would never allow it and the inventer wouldnt sell it to them.(why would he?)
Can we further explain why we won’t see it ysed by USAG. I think that if it is shown that these springs are considerably safer then your current used springs you might see the use of such springs in international gymnastics equipment providers, and also in world, and Olympic competitions. However given the cost of the springs there would need to be considerable evidence to show it is justifiable to replace the current springs.
ok the information i have is from other vendors so take it with a grain of salt. the person who invented the spring has the patent on it. From what i understand he isnt interested in selling the patent to another company. He wants control of the product which is understandable. However if it isnt sold or licensed to a major manufacturer(AAI, Janssen-Frittsen, Gymnova,etc…..)You wont be able to see it in any big competitions. Now that wont stop clubs from installing them.(I plan on it as soon as i have room for another floor) Also there was some werid emails sent out by the company which I found fairly odd Ill see if i can find them tomorrow.
Interesting Corey, wounder why he would not want to sell a patent for use of his springs. is costs between $3000 (for 32 springs per floor board) and 6000 (for 64 springs per floor board). It is pretty expensive really.
Can someone first worry about phasing out foam block floors in international competitions? I can’t believe they are advantageous to springs in any way.
“Well you definately wont see it used by usag because AAI would never allow it and the inventer wouldnt sell it to them.(why would he?)”
If USAG wanted to use weiler springs, they could just do the same thing they did before Beijing. I believe it was either Nationals or Trials that they had a JF floor installed but put the AAI carpet over it. AAI got their sponsorship money’s worth and the gymnasts got more practice on the official Olympic equipment.
xmaestro – I guess you have never used the foam blocks. They are much better than any springs. They are not only bouncier, but are also much softer, so they reduce the risk of injury a lot.
I dont think I agree that foam blocks are bouncier, Yea the women competed on a jf floor and the men used an aai at trials in 2008
The bounciness of the foam blocks does vary – the Spieth ones are a little less bouncy. But in general they are bouncier. Although, if you are used to springs, you will have to adjust a bit, the bounce is much slower compared to springs, if you rebound too quick you won’t get the full bounce.
i am the inventor of the weller spring and would be happy to answer any questions about it.
AAI asked for exclusivity but never followed through. We did impact style testing in their factory for their engineer and CEO (read about it on weller spring on fb) and proved all our claims. AAI has the data that proves a closer matched response but has not acted. (over 2 years ago.)
I went to great lengths to make it fully interchangeable to keep the cost reasonable to gyms that want to retrofit their floors. They save $1000s by keeping their boards, foam, carpet, etc.
Dr. Sands research goes further by using force plates, accelerometer, high speed video, strain gages to name a few. He’ll be finished soon and data will likely convince many to switch to this safer spring floor.
i am happy to license other companies but they cite many reasons, none of which include safety.
interested gyms can get a great deal now as Rick said.
Thanks Scott.
We’ve got to do something to reduce Achilles injury.
Coach Rick,
thanks for following our progress. The data is in now. Watch how the the data was collected at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnUQh_ig0kY
to see the data results “like” our facebook page:
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weller-Spring/300310477322)
and/or follow @WellerSpring on twitter and you will be notified as soon as it’s available.
Scott
P.S. there is a summer sale through 8/31/11. Use the code “purple” at checkout on http://www.wellerspring.com for a 25% reduction.
GREAT. Here’s the shout out, Scott:
http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2011/08/bills-sands-test-the-weller-spring/
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