The Spring Loaded Mat
by Gerald Lafon
The Ultimate Spring Loaded Judo Mat
As a coach with over twenty five years of teaching experience, I have always looked for ways to better my program. Looking back at my own training, the only thing that I never really liked about Judo as an adolescent or as an adult was landing on concrete hard surfaces, especially in the cold winters. I also realized that many who started Judo in the clubs I was attending, including my very own brother, soon quit Judo because they didn't appreciate the falling. Early on as a coach, I made the vow that I would not subject my students to unnecessary hardship just as soon as I could. After a few years teaching in YMCAs, community colleges and recreation centers, I opened my first permanent dojo and in came the spring loaded mat, for good!
Why the Spring Loaded Mat?
Judo coaches consistently struggle to maintain rolls. Judo is a very physically demanding activity that doesn't need to be made any harder to learn. With these truths in mind, the benefits of the spring loaded mat are numerous and invaluable. No longer should we take for granted many of the common injuries, no longer should we assume that falling must include some degree of "torture" or "pain", and no longer must we acquiesce to losing 95% of our beginners. Judo can be made a little more palatable and safe without losing any of the benefits that we derive from the activity by using a spring loaded mat. The advantages of this mat over other mats typically used are as follow:
- Prevents many common injuries
- Minimizes wear and tear on body
- Lengthens Judo career
- More "pleasant" landing surface
- Increases student retention
What is a Spring Loaded Mat?
So what exactly is a spring loaded mat? It is a firm wooden platform that rests on some type of resilient, springy material such as small springs, tires, carpet foam, tennis balls etc. Mats or tatamis are then laid on top of this platform making it a fast, springy and forgivable surface. Without a doubt, the spring loaded Judo mat is the ultimate Judo mat and should be required for all permanent sites!
The Best Spring Loaded Mat
We built our first spring loaded mat in 1975. It was a carpet foam, plywood, ethafoam, canvas covered mat. A great improvement over the hard felt roll out mats or the rice straw tatamis I grew up with. Since then, we have built over a dozen other mats, each time experimenting with materials and trying to improve upon the previous models. The current spring loaded mat at Judo America San Diego consists of tires, 2" x 4", plywood, screws, 1" x 1" and European Olympic tatamis. We consider this mat to be the very best we have built for the following reasons:
- Most suitable resilience for Judo
- Most economical over long term
- Relatively maintenance free
- Sturdiest construction
- Easy and quick to construct
- Easy to find the building materials
Getting Started with Your Volunteers
You don't need to be a construction worker, carpenter or framer to build the spring loaded platform. The ability to use some power tools- drill, saw and router- is all it takes. It takes approximately eighty man hours to build a 30ft x 44ft platform from scratch. This time doesn't include the time it takes to purchase the building materials and gather the tires. In our last remodel project, we replaced the foam we were using as our resilient material with tires. Two of our parents gathered half of the tires we needed on Friday. After Friday night practice, we removed all our tatamis from the platform and stacked them out of the way. On Saturday, two volunteers with pick up trucks gathered the remaining tires that we needed. Approximately ten real workers disassembled half our platform plywood, got rid of the foam under the platform, replaced the foam with over 100 tires, and rebuilt the platform. The next day, the tatamis were put back on the platform by a few volunteers and the dojo was vacuumed within a few man hours.
Building Your New Platform
- Lay out your used tires in rows two foot on center over the entire mat area. The closer the tires to one another the firmer the mat. When choosing your used tires keep in mind the width of the tire as well as the firmness of the tire when it lies flat. Some tires may appear to be the correct width but are so used and flimsy that they will offer little or no support once placed under the 2 x 4s.
- Lay the 2 x 4s flat (not standing up on their 1.5" side) over the middle of the tires, making sure that they are two foot on center. The first row is flush with the beginning of the mat.
- Starting in a corner, screw your first sheet of plywood to the 2 x 4s. Take your time while screwing as stripped screws that are sunk are no fun to remove. Continue screwing your first row of plywood.
- Once your first row of plywood has been screwed down, make sure your mat is square to any adjacent walls. Now is the time to nudge the mat this way or that way so that when you get down to your last row you donít find out that there is not enough space to complete the project. A one inch mistake at the beginning can be disastrous over a 30ft length.
- Continue laying the next rows of plywood. Periodically check for firmness and weak spots. Keep in mind that the mat may at first feel too bouncy, but it ultimately firms up more as it gets completed and loaded down with mats. A good suggestion is to space your tires a little closer together over the area where your heavyweights work out. At Judo America San Diego, our heavyweights work at one end, our light weights at the other end (for safety reasons) while our middle weights are in the middle.
- After completing the construction of the platform, you're now ready to frame in the mats onto the platform. Screw cheap 1 x 1s to the platform for an effective border frame. Beforehand, router one of the edges of the 1 x 1 to give it a safe, rounded shape. Once that is done, stick your mats in and Hajime! Your club is now the proud owner of an economical, sturdy, maintenance free spring loaded mat.
ADDITIONAL HELP!
To order a packet containing detailed installation instructions, specific building material requirements and platform plans, please send $10 to Judo America, 8621 Andromeda Road, San Diego CA 92126. For more information, please contact us at info@judoamerica.com
