ASTM F 3740 : 2025

1.1This guide for sports facility padding

describes wall and fixed object padding practices in and around indoor and outdoor overall playing areas for sports and recreation. This guide intends to inform owners, facility operators, and designers/installers of the performance properties and material components of sports padding to be considered when selecting wall and fixed object padding, where other standards from sports-governing bodies or sports associations are not available.

1.2This guide directs its user to other sources

such as ASTM Standards (Specifications, Test Methods and Practices), that offer numerous testing options to determine the performance properties of the different padding components separately and as a whole at any chosen time in the life-cycle of the product. It identifies other standards organizations, sports-governing bodies, and other sports associations that can offer additional guidance for sports padding.

1.3This guide does not apply to

horizontal surface padding, such as; wrestling mats (see Specification F1081), weightlifting and fitness floor mats. This guide is of general interest to all sport activities, but does not specifically apply to special sports equipment padding or extreme sports padding. It does not apply to climbing wall padding, trampoline equipment padding, pole-vault padding, gymnastics, cheerleading padding, skateboarding, roller sports, and bicycling. This guide does not apply to snow sports venues, such as recreational and sport ski and snowboard venues, luge, and skeleton venues. This guide does not apply to amusement rides and adventure venues. Those guidelines for these activity areas may be addressed by other ASTM committees, governing bodies for those sports and sports associations for those particular recreational activities.

1.4This guide is not a specification

for the properties of the pad itself. Impact attenuation for indoor padding3 is addressed in Specification F2440. Head injuries are one of the most serious injuries that can occur during an impact, therefore the ability of a padding system to reduce the likelihood of head injuries is critical; that is its primary purpose. Specification F2440 for indoor padding, allows users to quantify the impact in terms of G-max values and the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) values from specified drop heights (see Test Method F355), and specifies the maximums for impact attenuation. In addition to looking at impact attenuating testing, this guide identifies numerous other material testing standards for other properties and characteristics of indoor and outdoor padding. Look to other standards referred to in this guide for test methods and specifications.

1.5This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.6This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.