Building Safer Thrills: How We Invented Shock Adventure Park Attractions

By Luke Schueler, Co-Founder, Shock Trampoline

I didn’t set out to be “the trampoline guy.” In the late 2000s, my twin brother, Cody, and I were trampoline park operators trying to build high-quality entertainment facilities.

Back then, there were no standards for indoor trampoline parks, no shared rulebook, and certainly no supplier solving the problems that kept us up at night. Issues such as equipment failing due to regular use, noisy springs that drove parents crazy, or pads that looked friendly but didn’t protect the way they should.

When Padding Meets Physics

If you’ve visited early-era trampoline parks, you know the look: big, inviting fields of trampolines, bright pads around the edges, wall trampolines for big, courageous bounces. Those colorful pads made guests feel safe. But underneath was a straight steel frame. Land hard on that pad and the energy went straight into the steel, then snapped back into the body. That’s how a simple misstep with a freestyle maneuver outside of your skill level turns into a compound fracture.

We were the ones filling out the incident reports, talking to parents, and asking ourselves why.

It wasn’t enough to put up signs warning guests not to land in specific spots or stay within your skill level. The equipment had to do more than decorate the danger zone. It had to manage the physics.

So I started sketching. What if the trampoline frame structure didn’t act like a brick wall? What if it somehow absorbed a landing the way a high-performance car dampens a pothole? The idea that became Shock began as a single-square prototype and immediately proved the obvious: you can’t meaningfully test a trampoline system one square at a time. Trampolines live as a grid. The perimeter affects the interior. The interior loads the perimeter. I went back to the drawing board and asked a better question: how do we design an entire system that absorbs energy instead of reflecting it?

That’s when it clicked: if we were going to do this at scale, we couldn’t keep buying generic gear and praying for the best. We had to build something better ourselves.

Designing a Frame that Thinks like a Shock Absorber

The solution sounds simple, but took years to create. Put the “give” into the frame, not just the foam padding. We engineered a trampoline frame structure with integrated shocks that compress under load, slow a fall, and return gently, rather than rebounding energy back into joints and bones. To allow this design to work in a grid, we designed hinged rail connections that let the rails move meticulously—expanding and contracting as the posts travel—without binding or tearing anything else apart. The result is a structure that does not punish bad landings but handles them with ease.

That same hinge concept solved another problem only operators obsess over: access to the ceiling after install. Traditionally, you finish the floor with attractions, then realize you still need to hang black lights or swap out high bays, and now your electricians can’t get a lift over the equipment. Our rounded, hinged rails can unbolt and “lift and tilt up,” so you can drive a lift through the courts. It’s one of those little design tweaks born from living in parks every day.

We paired our new frame with German-engineered shock components tuned to our loads—yes, the same pedigree you find in performance vehicles—and assembled the system here. Proudly made in the USA isn’t marketing for us; it’s about control. Control that allows for predictable tolerances, real Q&A, and parts we can stand behind for years.

Shock now has patents for the United States, Russian Federation, the European Union, and now China.

We pride ourselves on being the premium trampoline park manufacturer and will continue to create amazing new technology to keep jumpers safer everyday.

Quiet Equals Calm (and Why that Matters)

Ask any parent what wears them down in a park and you’ll hear it: the shriek of metal on metal. Screeching springs are more than a nuisance; they’re a reliability warning. Friction like that means wear, and wear means failure. We re-engineered our spring interfaces so that when the music drops, you hear laughter and joy, not hardware. While it seems like a minor issue, when you factor in “dwell time” (how long people stay) it becomes clear that dwell time is a major driver of both revenue and repeat visits. Comfort is incredibly important and it creates loyalty.

From operator pain to patented products

We installed the first Shock structure in Hamilton, Ontario. in 2016. Since then, we’ve outfitted Flying Squirrel Sports (our operating company) and other parks across North America. Flying Squirrel has not recorded a single compound fracture on Shock-equipped courts since 2016. That’s not luck. That’s design.

And design never stops. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, when foam pits suddenly became “germ pits” in the public mind, we didn’t wait it out. We developed and patented an antiviral foam-pit cover—a neon-glow surface manufactured to allow the cover to expand and contract without tearing—to allow operators to keep pits open with confidence and offer health departments something to sign off on. The first sketch to market took months, not years, because we built Shock Trampoline to solve operator problems fast.

Recently, we’ve begun refining sealed-air structures—ultra-rigid inflatable modules that assemble into rooms and obstacles. They’re strong, safe, and surprisingly quiet. For an operator, sealed air can turn a “someday” buildout into a pop-up attraction room that doesn’t require heavy construction or permits, at a fraction of the cost. Laser tag today, toddler maze tomorrow, seasonal themes all year.

Safety is the Blueprint

People sometimes ask if we’re trying to “change the perception” that trampoline parks are dangerous. My answer: we’re trying to change the reality. Risk never disappears in active play—just as it doesn’t disappear on a ski hill or a playground. But safer designs can reduce the odds dramatically.

We attempt to separate age groups and keep toddlers play away from adult airtime. We put higher-risk attractions near entrances and exits, so if something does happen, you’re not pushing a stretcher through a maze. We plan sightlines for court monitors and design traffic like an airport: clear lanes, minimal conflict points. None of that shows up in a catalog photo. You feel it in the ease of a Saturday crowd and the calm over your staff radios.

Because we operate parks ourselves—and we do not franchise—we aren’t guessing. We know exactly how things fail, where and when lines actually form, and which rules need hardware to enforce them. That’s why our deliverable isn’t just equipment; it’s a playbook operators can follow from day one.

From Colored Wristbands to Intelligent Time

One operator headache we refused to accept: managing time and access with paper wristbands and stickers. It steals attention from the most important job: safety. So, we design and built Jump Ringz., an LED, magnetic-lock RFID/NFC wristband that integrates with our RFID Alarm Gates and attraction “hotspots.” If the band isn’t activated, the gate doesn’t open. If their time is up, the band glows red and staff doesn’t have to decode color-coded scribbles. Soft play might be green today, trampolines blue—the system can be as simple or as granular as you want.

The next step (coming soon), a handheld activator with reporting. Think of it as POS-agnostic, with an open API for the big systems and a standalone mode for new operators who can’t yet justify a fancy front desk. Everyone gets accurate waivers, clean activation, and real data: utilization by attraction, dwell time, peak bottlenecks. That helps with staffing, pricing, and, yes, design.

Why we Build here, and what we Build with

Oftentimes, people are surprised when I tell them we source European, Canadian, and U.S. materials and pay a premium. They promptly stop being surprised when they compare the lifetime cost. Cheap frames and fabrics don’t merely wear out; they steal the one thing you can’t buy back: time. If you’re opening Park #6 while Park #2 is tearing itself apart, you’re not scaling—you’re just rebuilding in circles. Shock Trampoline is designed for longevity so owners can focus on the guest experience, not repairs.

The Operator Advantage (and why we’re not a Franchise)

Most multi-park groups eventually franchise; it’s easier to sell playbooks than to operate on a scale. We chose the harder path. Flying Squirrel Sports remains an independently owned operator with parks in the U.S., Latin America, and Canada. That matters because it keeps us honest. Every design decision at Shock has to survive our own Saturdays. We don’t ship headaches we wouldn’t accept in our buildings. And when a customer calls, we’re speaking from experience, not theory.

It also means we think beyond install day. We train teams on how to run the floor with technology that handles timekeeping. We share what our best parks do on busy nights. We lay out ride-risk zoning so EMS can reach the right places fast. We help you set maintenance rhythms that prevent surprises. Our success is tied to your uptime, guest reviews, and repeat visits. That’s a different relationship than “deliver, bolt down, and move on.”

What the Numbers Say and why Feelings Matter too

I love data. We’ve logged injuries since 2009; across every park we’ve touched. Since installing the Shock system, the trend has been exactly what we hoped for: reduced serious events, reduced Saturday scrambles, and NO 2 a.m. welders or emergency repairs. But numbers aren’t the only proof. It’s the sound of a court humming along without metal shrieks. It’s the way a parent exhales and stays for a second, coffee. It’s the look on a guest’s face when they stick a landing, and the quiet confidence of a monitor who knows the system has their back.

What’s next

We’re shipping the Jump Ringz handheld soon, and we’re deep in sealed-air environments that let operators add immersive rooms and obstacles without a construction circus. And, as always, we’re watching for the next blind spot in the industry, the thing nobody owns because everyone decided it’s “just how it is.” That’s usually our cue.

Why we Keep Doing this

People assume inventors chase patents. I chase Saturdays that run smoothly. I chase the feeling of walking around a new park before opening and knowing the team will spend their shift watching people, not watching the clock. I chase the phone call from an owner who says, “We had our busiest day, nothing broke, and no one got hurt.” That’s the reward. That, and the simple fact that a safer park is a better business. Safety, quality, guest experience—treat them like a Venn diagram and aim for the middle. That’s where repeat visits live.

If you’re an operator, a developer, or a first-time owner thinking about opening a park, here’s my promise: we won’t just sell you equipment. We’ll hand you everything we’ve learned as operators, designers, and problem solvers—from the CAD file to the training checklist—so you can launch strong and stay strong. Follow the playbook and you’ll feel the difference on day one. Your guests will, too.

Thanks for reading. If you’ve got a stubborn problem, a wild idea, or a building you can’t quite picture yet, send it over. This industry rewards people who try, test, and try again. That’s where Shock was born, and it’s where we still live.

Luke Schueler is the Co-Founder, Owner, and COO of Flying Squirrel Sports and the Co-Founder, Owner, and CEO of Shock Adventure Park Attractions. Recognized for dedication, leadership, and innovation in the sports recreation industry, Luke has helped set new safety and experience standards for modern trampoline parks.