Shock absorber for sports floor

A floor assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of strips of material cooperating to form a floor surface;
• a sub-flooring positioned beneath the strips of material to support the strips of material;
• and
• a plurality of shock absorbers positioned between the sub-flooring and a rigid support base to support the sub-flooring in a spaced apart relation with respect to the rigid support base, each of the shock absorbers comprising:
• a base portion having a first side and an opposing second side, the base portion formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness;
• and
• a nodule portion extending a distance from the first side of the base portion, the nodule portion having a first layer formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness substantially equal to the durometer Shore hardness of the base portion and a second layer formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness less than the durometer Shore hardness of the base portion and the first layer of the nodule portion.

A floor assembly, comprising:

• a plurality of strips of material cooperating to form a playing surface;
• a sub-flooring positioned beneath the strips of material to support the strips of material;
• and
• a plurality of shock absorbers positioned between the sub-flooring and a rigid support base to support the sub-flooring in a spaced apart relation with respect to the rigid support base, each of the shock absorbers comprising:
• a base portion having a first side and an opposing second side, the base portion formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness;
• and
• a nodule portion extending a distance from the first side of the base portion, the nodule portion having a first layer formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness substantially equal to the durometer Shore hardness of the base portion and a second layer formed of an elastomeric material having a durometer Shore hardness less than the durometer Shore hardness of the base portion and the first layer of the nodule portion,
• wherein the strips of wood, the sub-flooring, and the shock absorbers cooperate to provide the floor assembly with shock absorbing characteristics that enable the floor assembly to absorb at least about fifty-three percent of an impact force applied to the playing surface while maintaining a firmness that limits vertical deflection of the playing surface to be at most about 2.3 mm and produces a ball response off the playing surface of at least about ninety percent.