MFMA’s PUR Standards focus on shock absorption, vertical deflection, area of deflection, ball bounce, and surface friction.
These standards have been designed, utilizing exacting testing methodologies, to ensure that customers receive a reliable, well performing, competitive sports surface. No one knows more about how a good floor should perform and how it should be installed than the MFMA members. As an organization representing the worldwide sports flooring industry, our goal is to balance technical standards with practical flooring system design in order to create uniform standards of performance for competition sports floors.
Area of Deflection
Measures the floor system’s ability to contain the deflected area under an athlete’s impact, measured at 20” (500 mm) from the point of impact.
The area of deflection is a measurement of the surface of the floor that is deflected during impact. Area of deflection is based on the relationship between vertical deflection at the point of impact and the deflection at 20” (500 mm). A person jumping on a trampoline, for example, creates a very wide area of deflection. Someone jumping on sand creates a very limited area of deflection.
Basketball Rebound
Measures the basketball’s rebound response off the sports floor system as compared to the ball’s rebound response off concrete.
At 100% rebound, the basketball returns to a height equal to its rebound off concrete.
Obviously, ball bounce may not apply to all sports activities.
Shock Absorption
Measures the flooring system’s ability to absorb impact forces generated by the athlete.
As an athlete impacts a sports surface, the impacting force is translated into two resultant forces: one absorbed by the floor and the other absorbed by the athlete. While hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt provide little or no force reduction for the athlete upon impact due to running, jumping or falling, MFMA sports floor systems absorb these impact forces (shock) and are rated by the percentage of force reduction they provide as compared to hard surfaces. In general, a sports floor with a force reduction value of 60% will absorb 60% of the impact force and the remaining 40% is absorbed by the athlete.
Surface Friction
Measures an athletic flooring finish’s ability to control the sliding of athletes on a sports surface.
The surface friction must be low enough to permit sliding when a large amount of horizontal force is applied to the floor surface and high enough to prevent uncontrollable sliding.
Surface friction is a function of the specified floor finish.
Vertical Deflection
Measures the floor system’s downward movement during the impact of an athlete landing on the surface.
This characteristic is the measure of the floor system’s ability to provide vertical displacement at the point of impact. For example, a person jumping on a concrete floor would result in zero vertical deflection, while that same person jumping on a trampoline would create a vertical deflection of many inches.
