Trampoline Safety Checklist: 7 Things to Inspect Before the First Jump of the Season

Before your kids take their first jump of the season, spend 15 minutes with this checklist. It could save a lot more than a trip to the ER.

Winter is harder on trampolines than you think

Three months of freeze-thaw cycles, UV exposure, wind, and moisture quietly do a number on your trampoline. Springs lose tension. Stitching weakens. Rust forms in places you never think to check. Most parents assume if it looks fine from the back door, it's fine. It's not always fine.

Quick stat: The majority of trampoline injuries are linked to equipment failure — not just user error. A 5-minute inspection at the start of the season is one of the easiest ways to prevent an avoidable accident.

7 things to inspect before the first jump

Work your way around the trampoline in order. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.

Frame & legs

Walk the perimeter and crouch down to check the legs. You're looking for rust spots, any bending or warping in the frame tubes, and welds that look cracked or separated. Give the frame a firm push — it should feel completely rigid, not flex or shift.

⚠Any visible crack in a weld means stop. Don't use the trampoline until that part is replaced.

Springs

Count your springs. One missing spring creates an uneven bounce that throws jumpers off balance. Check each spring for rust, stretching (a spring that looks longer than the others has lost its tension), and kinks. They should all look roughly the same length and be firmly hooked at both ends.

⚠Missing or over-stretched springs: replace before use. Rusty springs: replace as a full set for even bounce.

If you need to replace: Skybound replacement springs are sold in sets sized to fit your trampoline — so the tension is consistent across the whole mat. Shop Springs↗

Jump mat

Get up close and run your hands across the mat surface. You're feeling for thin spots, small holes, or fraying along the edges where the mat meets the V-rings. UV damage shows up as a chalky, faded surface that feels brittle. If the mat snaps rather than stretches when you pull gently, it's overdue for replacement.

⚠Any hole larger than a fingernail — replace the mat immediately.

Mat showing its age? A mat that's gone brittle doesn't get better with the season. Skybound mats are UV-treated and come in sizes to fit most trampoline frames. Shop Mats↗

Spring pad (safety cover)

The spring pad takes a lot of UV punishment. Press down on it in several spots — the foam inside should spring back. If it's flat, compacted, or you can feel the springs through the padding, it's no longer doing its job. Also check that the cover straps are all attached and pulling the pad snugly over the springs.

⚠Flat or torn spring pad = exposed springs. This is one of the most common injury points.

The pad is the most-overlooked part. Most people replace springs and mats, and forget the pad until someone lands wrong. Skybound safety pads use high-density foam with UV-resistant covers. Shop Pads↗

Enclosure net & poles

Hold the net up to the light and look for holes — even small ones stretch over time. Check the seam where the net attaches to the poles and the zipper entry. Push on each pole — they should be firmly seated in their brackets with zero wobble. Also run your hand along the pole foam covers: if they're cracked or splitting, exposed metal is a scrape waiting to happen.

⚠A wobbly enclosure pole is a fall waiting to happen. Tighten or replace before use.

Net has holes, or poles feel exposed? Skybound enclosure nets and foam pole covers are sold separately — so you only replace what's actually worn. Shop Nets↗

Shop Pole Covers↗

Ladder & anchor stakes

Check ladder rungs for cracking or bending. Pull up each anchor stake and push it back in firmly — winter frost heaves the ground and can loosen them significantly. In windy areas, anchoring is non-negotiable.

⚠Loose anchor stakes in a wind storm turn a trampoline into a projectile.

All hardware — bolts, clips & connectors

Grab a wrench and do one full walk-around tightening every visible bolt and checking every clip. Vibration from repeated use and temperature swings loosen hardware over winter. This step takes 5 minutes and is almost always skipped — which is exactly why it matters.

Tips

🧹 Clean the mat twice a season. A soft brush and mild soap removes the grit that acts like sandpaper on the stitching every time someone jumps.

☀️ Apply UV protectant to the mat in spring. It's the single cheapest thing you can do to double the mat's lifespan.

🌧️ Never jump on a wet mat. It's slippery, and repeated wet use breaks down the mat fibres from the inside out.

❄️ Cover it before next winter — seriously. Everything you just inspected today? Leaves, snow, mosquitoes, and random backyard debris will quietly work their way into it the moment you stop watching. A good cover keeps all of that out, and means next spring's inspection takes 5 minutes instead of 15. → Skybound Trampoline Cover

Closing

A trampoline is one of those things that feels permanent — it just sits in the yard and works, season after season. But like anything that takes a beating outdoors, it needs a little attention. The good news: 15 minutes once a year is genuinely enough to catch the things that matter. Your kids will thank you. Well — they probably won't. But you'll know.

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