Patent ID: 7735280

Claim:
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; and a pyramid portion extending from the first side of the base portion, the pyramid portion formed of a single elastomeric material and having stepped sides, wherein the stepped sides of the pyramid portion of the shock absorbers are dimensioned such that the strips of material, 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.