Getting Started
So I got this wild idea after watching too many late-night basketball highlights, figured I’d try making a solid wood pad for practicing dribbles indoors. Simple, right? Ha. Grabbed an old piece of timber I found propping up my garbage bins last spring. Looked sturdy enough. Measured roughly one arm’s length – eyeballed it, zero rulers involved. Mistakes start here, obviously.
The Cutting Disaster
Took my jigsaw outta the shed. Dust flew everywhere, almost blinded myself. Cut a rectangle shape, kinda. Edges looked like a beaver chewed through it. Splinters city. Sanding took forever. Went through three sheets of coarse sandpaper. My arms felt like jelly afterwards. Noticed the wood was warped. Drank half a bottle of cheap beer. Regretted life choices.
Materials Used:
- Mystery timber scrap
- Beer (essential)
- Coarse sandpaper
- Jigsaw with rusty blade
- Wood glue
Making It Sorta Work
Figured the warping needed fixing. Stuck the pad between two heavy encyclopedias on my porch overnight. Next morning? Still warped. Said screw it. Used wood glue to stick rubber shelf liner on one side – thought it’d help grip. Glue got everywhere. My fingers stuck together for 20 minutes. Peanut butter saved me, seriously.
Tested dribbling. First bounce: ball smacked the pad, flew sideways into my neighbor’s petunias. Pad slid on the floor like greased butter. Added grippy pads meant for chair legs on the bottom side. Used duct tape ’cause I ran outta glue. Added felt strips on the edges to kill the splinter threat. Looks like Frankenstein’s sports equipment now.
Does It Even Work?
Well… it catches the ball mostly? Dribbling feels weirdly muffled, like pounding on a wet tree trunk. Surface ain’t flat, so unpredictable bounces happen. Cat tried using it as a scratching post. I call it success because I didn’t set anything on fire or lose a finger. Solid timber pad? Check. Basketball function? Eh, passable. Practice rebound pads get expensive anyway. Mine cost $0. Feels right.
Would I do it again? Maybe. But definitely steal smoother wood next time. And less beer during cutting phases.
