Alright folks, buckle up. I finally finished that stupid shock-absorbing basketball thing I’ve been messing with in the garage. Took way longer than it should have. Here’s how it went down.

Getting the Stuff Together

First, I saw those fancy portable floors online, man, the price tags made my eyes water. Forget that. Decided I could bang something out myself. Headed down to the hardware store, stared at the wood section like a confused owl.

Grabbed:

• Some 1×4 pine boards – not too heavy, figured they’d do.
• A few sheets of that rubbery underlay stuff, kinda like what you put under carpets? Looked cheap.
• A box of deck screws – long enough to bite.
• Wood glue, because why not make it stronger.
• Some rubber feet thingies for the bottom corners.
• Oh, and my trusty circular saw – dusty as heck.

Measuring and Cutting Disaster

Alright, time to make dust. Figured I wanted this thing big enough to shoot jumpers without stepping off. Marked where to cut on the boards using a tape measure that kept wanting to curl up.

First cut? Straight up crooked. Like, embarrassingly bad. My sawing skills were rusty. Took me three tries just to get four boards the same length. Used the first messed-up ones as a guide later.

Sweating buckets already, garage felt like an oven.

Glue and Screw Time

Laid the good boards out side-by-side on the garage floor. Like making a weird little raft. Smothered the edges where they touched with wood glue – sticky fingers instantly.

Then came the screws. Pilot holes? Yeah, skipped that. Started driving screws straight in. One board split right at the end with a nasty crack. Heart dropped. Had to back the screw out slowly, glue squeezing out like it was crying. Ugh. Added pilot holes after that, extra work I was trying to avoid.

Shock Absorbing – Or Trying To

Got the main board glued and screwed together finally. Looked alright-ish. Time for the “magic” shock part. Measured the size of my board base and cut chunks off that rubber matting.

Placed them underneath, kinda spaced out. But the whole floor wobbled like a drunk guy when I stepped on it. Rubber pads were uneven. Super sketchy.

Had to pull the rubber off. Used wood glue like cement this time to stick the rubber pieces directly underneath the board base, pressing them down hard with bricks overnight. Next day? Solid.

Put the little rubber feet on each corner underneath the rubber layer too. Needed something to lift it off the concrete a bit.

Testing Phase – Does It Even Work?

Dragged this Frankenstein creation out onto the driveway. Rolled the ball on it. Nice and smooth, wood felt good. Took a few dribbles… felt kinda springy? Definitely better than concrete, my knees didn’t scream immediately. Jumped on it a bit near the edge. Wobbled a tiny bit still, but nothing major.

Best part? Could actually drag the whole thing by myself to stash it behind the shed. Boom, portable.

Final Thoughts

Is it perfect? Hell no. The joins aren’t pretty, I sanded it roughly just to avoid splinters. Maybe different wood next time? It works though. Dribbles feel softer, landings are less jarring. Cost me way less than buying one, even counting the wasted wood.

Learn stuff by messing up, right? Next project: maybe figuring out why it still squeaks when I run hard on it…