Bounce strong
Dunking for the vertically challenged, bouncing off the walls and flying are all possibilities for MidSoutherners at Sky Zone, an unusual concept in indoor entertainment and exercise.
An indoor playground made out of trampolines, Sky Zone Memphis spans 18,500 square feet of bouncing mania.
Trampolines on the walls, a basketball court made of trampolines, and dodgeball played on trampolines are at the core of the indoor bouncing park.
“It’s great to get to feel like a kid again,” said Sky Zone Memphis operations manager Jessica Turner.
The Memphis franchise was opened by Chris Avery in February 2012 in a 30,000-square-foot building at 5355 Distriplex Farms Road, Suite 102, in an industrial area of Southeast Memphis.
“I just happened to be watching TV, and on the show ‘Bert the Conqueror,’ he took a group in St. Louis to play dodgeball at a Sky Zone,” said Avery, 43, of East Memphis. “I Googled it and fell in love with it and saw there were franchise opportunities, and in five months I had the franchise rights to Memphis and several other areas in the Mid-South.”
The complex offers socials for different age groups on Friday or Saturday nights, Dodgeball Derby on Wednesday nights, and fitness classes most days of the week.
Fitness becomes a part of the experience, whether the customer expects it or not.
“You’re not just jumping on a trampoline. It takes a lot of strength to keep your balance,” Avery said.
The fitness classes, termed SkyRobics, use calisthenics and strength-building exercises.
“You use 40 to 60 percent more energy working on a trampoline than a regular surface,” Avery said. “Think about doing a push-up. When you press against the floor, the floor is not moving, but when you do the same on a trampoline, you have to push that much harder to get your body weight off the trampoline because the trampoline lowers itself, too.”
Classes are led by Sky Zone instructors.
Parz Boyce, a former child gymnast and occasional Beale Street Flipper, was approached by Avery to become a SkyRobics instructor after Avery noticed his natural ability
I would come in here and just show off, and then one day Avery popped the question,” said Boyce, 24, a piano student at the University of Memphis.
Boyce combines his training as an instructor with his own exercises and philosophy.
“I apply fun with hard training,” he said. “I try to drill in their heads that if they have a goal in mind, they can push themselves and achieve that goal. The main thing is coordination. I try to get them coordinated. Then they can do whatever they want to do.”
Said Avery: “I see people in his class laughing while they’re getting the drill sergeant treatment.”
Mary Haley Hamm, a 30-year-old economist from Cordova, recently tried one of Boyce’s classes for the first time, and couldn’t stop smiling or sweating.
“I run some and exercise, and I thought I would try it as another form of doing cardio,” Hamm said. “It’s great. It’s a lot of fun and a great workout.”
“It’s the funnest aerobic workout I’ve ever had. I will be coming back,” said Hamm’s friend and fellow first-timer Maida Clifton, 50, of
.“Germantown.
Sky Zone also presents itself as a great opportunity for kids to exercise on the sly.
“I have parents come up to me all the time and tell me, ‘My child had the best time, and got some great exercise without even knowing it,’” Avery said.
In the summertime, kids can participate in Sky-Camp, a three-day camp that includes a dunking contest, dodgeball games and a tournament, and activities in a foam pit, an area similar to the foam pits gymnasts use. Healthful snacks and arts and crafts are included.
“It’s not the type of thing where you drop your kid off and they jump on a trampoline for four hours,” Avery said.