Trampolines first surged in popularity during the 1940s and 1950s, initially as training tools for military pilots and competitive gymnasts. But the real explosion in mainstream popularity came twice: first in the 1950s and 1960s when trampolining became a recognized sport, and again in the late 1990s and 2000s when backyard trampolines became a staple of suburban childhood.
The Invention That Started It All
George Nissen, a gymnast and diver at the University of Iowa, built the first modern trampoline in 1936. He was inspired by watching trapeze artists drop into safety nets and bounce back up, and he wondered if that bouncing could become its own activity. Working with his gymnastics coach Larry Griswold, Nissen stretched a piece of canvas over a steel frame using coiled springs. He originally called it a “rebound tumbler” before adopting the word “trampoline,” which he derived from the Spanish word “trampolín,” meaning diving board.
Nissen didn’t just invent the device. He spent decades promoting it, traveling the world to demonstrate trampoline tricks and even bouncing on one in front of the Egyptian pyramids and on a platform in Times Square. He founded the Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company, and his relentless showmanship played a direct role in building early public interest.
Military and Space Program Use in the 1940s
The trampoline got its first major institutional boost during World War II. The U.S. Navy Flight School adopted it as a training tool to help pilots and navigators develop spatial awareness and balance in midair. Bouncing on a trampoline forced trainees to orient themselves while rotating and flipping, skills that translated to managing disorientation during flight maneuvers. After the war, NASA continued using trampolines in astronaut training for similar reasons, giving the device a serious, almost scientific reputation before it ever became a toy.
Competitive Trampolining Takes Off
The 1950s and 1960s marked the first real wave of mainstream popularity. Trampoline competitions began appearing at colleges and athletic clubs across the United States. The first national trampolining championships were held in 1954, and international competitions followed soon after. The sport spread quickly to Europe, particularly to the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Soviet Union.
Trampolining earned recognition from the International Gymnastics Federation in 1998, and it debuted as an Olympic sport at the 2000 Sydney Games. That Olympic inclusion gave the activity a legitimacy boost that rippled into recreation and retail. Suddenly, trampolines weren’t just gym equipment. They were connected to something aspirational.
The Backyard Trampoline Boom
The second, larger wave of popularity hit in the late 1990s and accelerated through the 2000s. Manufacturers began producing affordable, large round trampolines designed for residential use, and big-box retailers started stocking them alongside swing sets and play structures. By the early 2000s, backyard trampolines were one of the best-selling outdoor recreation products in North America.
Several factors drove this boom. Prices dropped as manufacturing moved overseas. Safety enclosure nets, introduced in the late 1990s, gave parents more confidence about letting kids jump unsupervised. Suburban homes with large yards provided the space. And the sheer appeal of bouncing, which requires no instruction and entertains kids for hours, made trampolines an easy sell compared to other backyard equipment.
The numbers reflected the trend. Emergency rooms saw trampoline-related injuries rise significantly through the 2000s, which was largely a function of how many more households owned one. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimated that trampoline injuries in children more than doubled between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, prompting safety guidelines and a push toward netted enclosures becoming standard.
Trampoline Parks Create a New Wave
The most recent spike in trampoline culture came with the rise of indoor trampoline parks starting around 2011. Sky Zone, the first major chain, opened its initial location in 2004, but the concept didn’t take off broadly until the early 2010s. By 2018, there were over 800 trampoline parks operating in the United States alone, turning bouncing into a commercial entertainment experience alongside bowling alleys and laser tag arenas.
These parks offered wall-to-wall connected trampolines, foam pits, dodgeball courts, and basketball dunk lanes, all built on spring-loaded surfaces. They attracted birthday parties, fitness classes, and teenagers looking for something to do on weekends. The trampoline park industry generated an estimated $1.5 billion in annual revenue at its peak, making trampolining not just a backyard pastime but a legitimate entertainment sector.
Fitness Trampolines and the Home Workout Trend
Mini trampolines, often called rebounders, carved out their own niche starting in the 1980s but saw renewed popularity during the 2010s fitness boom and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. These small, personal-sized trampolines are designed for low-impact cardio workouts. Bouncing on a rebounder burns roughly 200 to 300 calories per half hour depending on intensity, and the cushioned surface reduces joint stress compared to running on pavement.
Boutique fitness studios built entire class formats around rebounder workouts, and social media amplified the trend. By 2020 and 2021, with gyms closed and people exercising at home, rebounder sales spiked alongside stationary bikes and resistance bands. The trampoline had come full circle from military training tool to children’s toy to adult fitness equipment.