The History Of Trampolining
Origins & Folk Lore - Circus, Stage Acts & Diving
It has been said that the first type of trampolining was done by the Eskimos who used to toss each other up into the air on a Walrus skin something like the sheet used by firemen to catch people jumping out of the windows of houses which were on fire. There are postcards depicting the Eskimos being tossed up in a Walrus skin. There also is some evidence of people in England being tossed up into the air by a number of people holding a blanket.
The trampoline itself, according to circus lore, was first developed by an artist called Du Trampolin who saw the possibility of using the trapeze safety net as a form of propulsion and landing device and experimented with different systems of suspension, eventually reducing the net to a practical size for separate performance.
By the late 1800s, top performers were turning double and triple somersaults over rows of horses or elephants.
These may or may not be the true origins of the sport of trampolining but it is certain that in the early years of the 20th century there were stage acts which used a "bouncing bed " on the stage to amuse audiences. The bouncing bed was in reality a form of small trampoline covered by bedclothes on which the acrobats performed mostly comedy routines.
The manufactured trampoline, as we know it today, was created by two men, George Nissen and Larry Griswold. Around 1935, Griswold, then the assistant gymnastics coach at the University of Iowa, and Nissen, a tumbler on the University of Iowa gymnastics team, "made regular jaunts to Bloomington, Illinois where numerous circus people had their winter homes. Among them were the "Flying Wards", some of the finest trapeze performers in the world. Griswold and Nissen worked out with them at the local YMCA, and frequently helped them make or mend their large trapeze nets. Nissen remembered the hours they spent in the basement of the YMCA, threading the long cords of the nets, using large javelin-head needles. This experience was one of several that led them to the idea of creating a trampoline.
In the early 1930s George Nissen made a trampoline in his garage, with the help of Larry Griswold and the wrestling coach from the University of Iowa, They bolted together an angle iron frame, and then a piece of canvas, in which they had inserted grommets along each side, was attached to the frame by using springs. This was the first trampoline. George used it to help with his diving and tumbling activities. He then felt that he could entertain audiences and also let them participate in his demonstrations. Thus were the beginnings of a new sport.
"El trampolin" means diving board, in Spanish. George Nissen, the co-creator of the competitive style trampoline, heard the word on a performance tour in Mexico in the late 1930's. He liked the sound of it, and decided to Anglicize the spelling and call his bouncing rig a Trampoline, a term he registered as a trademark.
World War II
During World War 2, the United States Navy Flight School developed the use of the trampoline in its training of pilots and navigators, giving them concentrated practice in orientation such as had never been possible before. After the war, the development of the Space Flight programme again brought the trampoline into use to help train both American and Soviet Astronauts, giving them experience of variable body positions in flight.
The nature of the activity is natural, easy and rhythmical, and the power of the bed enables participants to have fun and excitement by jumping higher than they would normally be able and to perform many skills landing on the feet, seat, front and back and also to take off from those varied landing positions.
In the USA it was quickly realised by the Physical Educators that the trampoline had something new to offer by observation of the physical benefits which trampolining had produced during the war years and also the enthusiasm of those who participated, and trampolining was introduced into school physical education programmes.
There were of course the detractors who felt that the activity was dangerous and reduced the strength of the legs because the springs assisted the jumping. However, the threshold of skill is low so that almost anyone of any age can get on and do something which is fun, exhilarating, aerobically effective, and caters for the highest level of skill and daring which some are capable of. It is particularly popular amongst the very young, who now have something better than their parents' double bed to jump upon; although many parents complain that the kids jump even more on their beds to try to reproduce the fun they have in the gym.
Competitions
The first competitions were held in colleges and schools in the USA and then in Europe, with the first World Championships being held in London in 1964. Kurt Baechler of Switzerland and Ted Blake of England were the European pioneers and the first ever televised British Championships were in England in 1958.
Soon after the first World Championships, the inaugural meeting of prominent trampolinists was held in Frankfurt to explore the formation of an International Trampoline Federation. In 1965 in Twickenham, the Federation was formally recognised as the International Governing Body for the sport. By 1969 the first European Championship was held in Paris and Paul Luxon of London was the winner at the age of 18. The ladies winner was Ute Czech from Germany. From that time onwards, European and World Championships have taken place in alternate years - the European in the odd and the World in the even.
At first the Americans dominated the World Championships, but due to many law suits over trampolining, less was allowed in educational institutions and the high level of performance of the Americans went down. The Europeans gradually began to dominate the sport and in recent years athletes from the former Soviet Union have almost completely dominated the sport. Germany, France have been the other strong nations in trampolining and the first four ranking places in World Trampolining would go to USSR, France, Britain and Germany. although in most countries trampolining started about the same time in the fifties and sixties, some countries have not been able to develop as strongly as the major European countries.
More Recent Times
- In 1990, Ron Froehlich (USA) became the President.
- In 1998, the I.O.C. accepted the F.I.T. as a federation.
- The F.I.T. underwent fundamental changes. Its structures were dissolved & in January 1, 1999, Trampoline became a F.I.G. (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) discipline. Horst Kunze (GER) retained the Chair of the Technical Committee.
- In 2000 Trampoline became "Olympic" in Sydney, Australia.