Verified answer

Trampolines can be very safe and the provide hours and hours of healthy exercise. They are not a toy however. You need to know a little about how to use them safely and correctly. You would not buy your daughter scuba diving gear or rock climbing gear without also seeing that she had some basic instruction on safe and correct usage. Similarly when you buy her a trampoline, also buy her a good DVD video on safe and correct trampolining. You could also enroll her for a few lessons at your local gymnastics school.

The Backyard Pro website also offers a critically acclaimed 90 minute trampoline instructional and safety DVD. This DVD is the best and wisest investment any trampoline user can make. Watch it BEFORE you choose a trampoline. The web link for the trampoline instructional DVD is:

http://www.backyardpro.com/video.html

If you do decide to buy a trampoline this DVD is the best investment you can make because once you have a trampoline in your yard, it is wise to learn how to use it correctly and safely. It is available in many public libraries and you can also purchase it online.

You can also download a FREE 50+ page book filled with useful information about trampolines and safe trampolining. The web link for the FREE trampoline E-Book is:

http://www.backyardpro.com/freebook.pdf

This is a good book to read for consumer background BEFORE you buy your trampoline.

Most people get hurt on a trampoline because they do not know how to use one properly. If most parents bought their children scuba gear the same way they buy them trampolines, they would buy the largest cheapest pair of tanks and regulator they could find, strap it on their child's back, throw them in a deep lake and say, "Have fun, dear. I am sure you will figure out how to use your new scuba gear before you sink all the way to the bottom!" Of course no parent would do that with scuba gear but for some reason many parents do that when buying a trampoline. Again, a trampoline is not a toy.

Safety enclosures are over rated in my opinion. I dislike them myself and would not insist that my children have them. Many of the most serious injuries can occur not from falling off but from landing badly (such as on the head or neck) right in the middle of the mat. No enclosure will prevent that kind of injury. However training and safety knowledge very likely would prevent those kind of injuries. Enclosures do not always work the way they are supposed to either. Sometimes a heavy jumper hitting the enclosure can tip over the entire trampoline. There are some movies of this on Youtube.

The best home trampoline is the Backyard Pro brand. They sometimes have inspected and refurbished USED trampolines for sale. Backyard Pro is the only trampoline used by World Champion trampoline competitors, springboard divers, free style skiers, and other world class athletes to train at home as well as being a trampoline that the whole family can have fun on. Most of the champion gymnasts, divers, etc. train at home on a Backyard Pro trampoline. The good thing about the Backyard Pro web site is that they have an excellent demo movie playing that shows their trampoline actually being used so you can judge its performance for yourself. The Backyard Pro website is:

http://www.backyardpro.com/

The Backyard Pro is the only home trampoline that can quickly convert to up on legs mode or flush level with the ground mode with nothing extra to buy. The web links to Backyard Pro ground level installation are:

http://www.backyardpro.com/InGround.html

http://mgoin.com/Trampoline/

Other trampoline websites boast that their trampolines are superior but only Backyard Pro offers a movie of their trampoline being used so that you can see for yourself.

It depends how you use them, if your just jumping or doing simple flips, then yes, but dont try any front handsprings or anything. If you get one, get a net, thats wat makes them safer. controll the amount of ppl on them... have fun!