The quality of your gym flooring matters. If you plan on hosting competitive tournaments and practices, superior solutions that are resilient, maximize traction, and promote player safety are crucial. Even if your gym flooring is exclusively used for casual gym classes and exercise, maintaining a safe, dependable, and multipurpose surface type should be a top priority for every facility.

While comparing the best gym flooring installation types for your facility, we recommend organizing your update around the sports you most frequently host. In this helpful comparison, you’ll discover the characteristics of our most widely used gym flooring types and their suitability for these popular sports.

Hard Court Varieties 

While the possibilities are truly limitless with a hard court, competitive sports like basketball, tennis, and volleyball are common beneficiaries. Since factors like consistent ball bounce and responsive foot traction are essential in these fast-paced sports, a hard surface type promotes competitive-level game performance. 

The most common hard court types for sports like basketball include: 

  • Hardwood surfaces like maple: A resilient option that is naturally cushioning and provides great traction. Hardwood courts also benefit from the ease of refinishing; a small layer can be removed from the upper portion, restoring the stylish finish and traction quality for significantly less than the cost of replacing other flooring types. 
  • Acrylic surfaces over concrete or asphalt: Player safety and surface durability are key benefits of acrylic. This superior coating option is easy to maintain, prevents slippery surface conditions, and can withstand years of intense athletic use.
  • Standard concrete or asphalt surfaces: With or without a protective coating, concrete and asphalt are time-tested hard court options. These sturdy material types provide great ball bounce and consistent surface traction. For best results, we always recommend sealing these surface types with acrylic or polyurethane to prevent moisture and surface impact damage.  

Synthetic Court Options

Many sports, such as tennis, can also benefit from a less rigid synthetic material. Even though asphalt, acrylic, and hardwood surfaces are great for these fast-paced sports, sometimes a surface type that promotes player safety or slower-speed action is preferred. 

Since a softer surface material absorbs a larger percentage of ball contact and foot-fall forces, the result is reduced ball speeds and a slight reduction in athletic responsiveness. Despite these variables, a balanced surface type like a synthetic rubber or clay often provides more than enough stability to achieve desirable surface performance.

If an even balance between athletic performance and reduced impact injuries is your goal, here are common sports that benefit from our rubber and Har-Tru synthetic gym flooring solutions:

  • Wrestling and martial arts
  • Tennis and volleyball
  • Pilates and yoga 
  • High-impact aerobics and CrossFit
  • Gymnastics and dance 
  • & Any other sport that can benefit from enhanced shock protection

With all of these athletics, there is plenty of room for customization. For example, if you would like to design a gym floor that is used for tennis and other high-impact activities, our creative experts at Keystone Sports Construction can connect you with multi-sport floor striping, removable netting solutions, and many more personalized additions to support your specific athletic goals. 

Indoor Turf for Every Other Sport

Among the most versatile options we offer, our indoor turf installations open up the possibilities for every facility. If you have been searching for a player-safe, durable, and easy-to-maintain option, our rugged indoor turf lineup is the answer. 

With innovative options ranging from enhanced shock absorption for high-impact sports, to trimmer styles for faster-paced gameplay, we make it easy to optimize the performance and aesthetic for your needs. Ideal for sports like soccer, field hockey, volleyball, and many other sports that need a better practice surface, turf can handle it all. 

Still not sure which material type is best for your gym flooring? Reach out to our gym flooring experts at Keystone Sports Construction for free and informative guidance today!