What was the worst surface you played on as a child?

[Spinneret]

Regular concrete soccer

 

[cropper]

soccer field with 'goat head' stickers

 

[RangerPooh]

Gopher hole ridden playing field at my elementary school. It sucked at recess and PE. Was even worse when used for soccer games and practices. Just screamed for sprained or snapped ankles.

 

[BrianL]

Ha ha - I see these playgrounds today with their soft rubberized surfaces. Back when I was a kid we had those little rocks that would get all in your shows, or just dirt, mud, or even concrete! We'd jump off the swings to see who could go the furthest/highest and land right on it. We'd get that merry-go-round cranking so fast as to throw people off. And let's not forget that metal slide that was as hot as the surface of the sun. Parents didn't even look up - IF they were even around to begin with.

It's amazing that any of us survived!

 

[citruscurtis]

Ha ha

It's amazing that any of us survived!

Joshua Tree village park!!!!! 1960s

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Asphalt in summer
Those rock covered playgrounds in winter - those rocks are worse when frozen !!!

 

[citruscurtis]

soccer field with 'goat head' stickers

Here in Yuma they're intentionally left in the green grass that any of these children will ever see...the grass/bullheads are grown in flood abatement basins in newer neighborhoods ...saves the grass!!!

 

[TippyThomas]

Probably the animal pastures. Always fun surprises hiding everywhere.

 

[citruscurtis]

Don't forget the freeway !!!

 

[citruscurtis]

Probably the animal pastures. Always fun surprises hiding everywhere.

Sunday night after NFL all the boys went out to the pasture to reinact the players.... and the sidelines were already in place be it diagonal boundaries

 

[BrianL]

Actually, I never answered the question, as while our surfaces were harsh, I didn't mind them. What I did mind? New England beaches! They are rocky-ish, the water is super cold, and there are lots of gross seaweed and other stiff (like those weird black things) everywhere! I've never been much of a "beach guy" I think because of that. I've seen beaches in SoCal and Hawaii though, and they are like night and day!

 

[amcnj]

I guess asphalt. We played quite a bit on street surfaces in our neighborhood. The elementary school playground area was mostly asphalt too. Except for under swings and monkey bars, and on the small baseball field. But kickball and stickball and anything else was on asphalt.

Plus in my neighborhood the grass area we used for football had an asphalt parking area on one end, which became painfully aware to me one game!

 

[bcla]

Always hard concrete or asphalt surfaces. Even today, most outdoor basketball courts are some sort of hard surface. That hasn't really changed. At one school we played two-hand touch football on asphalt. PE softball or kickball was usually played on some sort of hardtop with painted lines for bases. The actual dirt/grass softball surface was saved for organized team sports. I also remember hard dirt that might be covered with wood chips. We were lucky if there was a decent layer of wood chips, which didn't really break a fall by much and that would often leave a lot of splinters. I also remember padded surfaces, but maybe 1/2" of some rubbery stuff on top of a hard surface. You might not break skin as a result, but there could still be bruises or even broken bones.

Basketball courts could be crazy, where the backboard was typically mounted on a pole maybe right at the baseline and was typically not padded.

I used to play on Sport Court, and that had its own problems - especially with grip. If there was a wet spot, slipping was way more frequent than on hardwood.

 

[barkley]

Ha ha - I see these playgrounds today with their soft rubberized surfaces. Back when I was a kid we had those little rocks that would get all in your shows, or just dirt, mud, or even concrete! We'd jump off the swings to see who could go the furthest/highest and land right on it. We'd get that merry-go-round cranking so fast as to throw people off. And let's not forget that metal slide that was as hot as the surface of the sun. Parents didn't even look up - IF they were even around to begin with.

It's amazing that any of us survived!

our elementary school playground was entirely built on asphalt (k-6th). swings/monkey bars/basketball hoops all on asphalt. we did have an untended field that I guess was meant to be used for other sports but I don't recall it mowed more than once per year.

in addition to the wonderful ground surface of the asphalt and the scorching hot slides there were also a number of playground items built way back in the day out of fiberglass-if you slid a hand, arm or other bar bodypart across one you had invisible slivers that HURT!

Asphalt in summer

yup and a what a hazard to your toes if you were like most of us and ran barefoot . between burned soles of your feet and scabbed up toes it was agony when the school year rolled around and you had to wear 'proper school shoes' (athletic shoes were neither the fashion nor allowed when I was in public elementary-at least for the girls).

we also had lots of open fields around us-no animals grazing just undeveloped dirt fields with lots of prickly stickers and an abundance of rusty nails. when my doctor these days talks of needing a tetnus shot every 10 years now I just shake my head b/c back then the rule of thumb was you got one everytime you stepped on something rusted and it broke the skin (I think on average the kids in my neighborhood got at least a dozen a year).

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Yup I think that’s why my feet are dead I never wore shoes !!!

 

[Skywalker3]

The metal slide. In the Deep South. I don't know how we didn't all get third degree burns.

 

[barkley]

anyone else ever use wax paper on a slide to speed up the ride?

 

[ronandannette]

Don't forget the freeway !!!

I had a grumpy old bachelor uncle that lived in my grandma's basement before that was cool. He'd often tell us kids to "go play in traffic" when we were getting rowdy. Good memories.

I was a farm kid so I guess I'll say the worst surface was on a stack of straw bales. Always an adventure and 1,000 ways to play make-believe but boy, you'd come home grubby, itchy and covered with scratches. Good memories also!!

 

[jimmymc]

My first elementary school just had asphalt, aside from one corner where the asphalt started to crack away and expose the dirt underneath.

 

[amcnj]

anyone else ever use wax paper on a slide to speed up the ride?

We used to do that, and it sure did make a difference!