Why is a Basketball Floor Wood?
Early construction practices in this country used wood for just about everything. Unlike today, wood floors were ubiquitous. School class rooms had wood floors, not tile or vinyl. In fact, every floor surface in a school was wood, with one exception, restrooms were normally ceramic tile. Gymnasiums had wood flooring as well.
Early in the 20th century, schools began to use tile (sometimes asbestos tile) for classrooms, restrooms and other areas like the cafeteria. However, the gymnasium floor continued to be wood. It is likely tile was tried in gyms, and found to be unacceptable for all the reasons wood is used. Wood is forgiving when someone falls and creates less fatigue. The finish on a wood floor provides superior traction or grip to the players and wood provides a clear surface where game lines can be easily seen.
The Wood Basketball Floor
Basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith to keep students at his school active and possibly to keep football players in shape during the winter months. It was mostly played indoors in school gyms, as it is today. Because these gymnasiums had wood floors, floors for basketball continue to be wood flooring.
As the game of basketball developed into a national pastime, equipment for the game evolved. The ball became purpose made, the “hoops”, even shoes were designed and engineered specifically for the game. The floor was no exception.
Evolution of the Basketball Floor
These floors have become engineering marvels. National and international governing bodies have strict performance guidelines and testing agencies to ensure the floors meet or exceed their standards for top tier levels of competition. Flooring manufacturers have risen to the challenge and today produce the safest, highest performing basketball floors ever made. Today, companies like Horner Sports Flooring, have developed multi-stag resilient floors, high performance portable floors, and low profile floors that meet or exceed DIN, PUR, FIBA and other standards.
Basketball Floor Development Continues
Horner Sports Flooring continues to perfect the basketball floor. With advancements in active resiliency, low gloss finish, and progressive locking, Horner stands at the forefront of basketball floor development.
A synthetic paired flooring system is a wood floor system that has been paired with a synthetic floor system such that they can be successfully used together. The most common use of these wood-synthetic pairs are field houses with wood courts and synthetic, indoor tracks.
