So this shock absorbing basketball plywood wooden flooring thing… man, where do I even start? Right. Needed a decent spot to practice my jump shots without wrecking my aging knees, you know? Concrete patio wasn’t cuttin’ it anymore. Heard plywood could be a cheap fix if done right. Had my doubts, but hey, gotta try stuff.

First step was figuring out what kind of wood junk to even buy. Went down to the big orange hardware store – you know the one. Wandered the lumber aisles like a lost puppy. Guy stacking two-by-fours looked at me funny when I asked about bouncy plywood for basketball. “You want shock absorption? You need the fancy gym stuff, pal.” Yeah, thanks, buddy, don’t got Olympic athlete cash.

Picked out these thick sheets labeled “BC Plywood.” Seemed sturdy enough. Saw online folks used Maple often, but that stuff costs a fortune. This was cheaper. Bought six big sheets. Big mistake? Maybe. We’ll see. Loading that into my hatchback was a whole workout itself. Scraped the roof liner. Fantastic start.

Back home, time for prep. Garage floor needed to be flat. Swept like crazy. Found a cracked tile. Fixed it with leftover concrete patch from who knows when. Figured this crap plywood needed some give underneath. Dumb idea alert: cut up my old yoga mats into squares. Thought, “Hey, free shock absorbers!” Looked janky as all get-out. Squares everywhere.

Here’s the actual laying process:

• Dragged the first plywood sheet off the car pile. Felt like lifting a dead horse.
• Plonked it down on my precious yoga mat squares near one corner of the garage. Wrestled it roughly into place. Was it straight? Nah. Close enough for now.
• Started drilling pilot holes around the edge. Safety glasses on. Didn’t wanna lose an eye over this nonsense.
• Screwed it down with heavy-duty wood screws. Made sure the screws sank flush. Didn’t need my ball catching an edge and rocketing into my face.
• Wiped sweat, sawdust itching like crazy. Only five more sheets to go. Joy.
• Got to the second sheet. Alignment got tricky. Needed to butt it right up against the first without a gap. Used these little plastic spacers meant for tile work? Found ’em buried in my toolbox. Genius? Or dumb luck? Felt like a fiddly mess.
• Repeat the sweating, drilling, swearing cycle.

By sheet four, surprise problem: Those yoga mats? Way too squishy. Felt like walking on a waterbed. Board wobbled. Great. Had to unscrew it. Took out like half the squares underneath. Replaced them with smaller pieces ripped off another old car mat. Less bounce, more firm. Better.

Finally got all six sheets down. Surface wasn’t perfectly smooth – little seams where the sheets met. Nothing major. Sanded the whole thing roughly with coarse sandpaper attached to my random orbital sander. Dust everywhere. Made me cough like crazy. Opened the garage door wide.

Big reveal moment: Grabbed my old outdoor ball. Dribbled once. Twice. Huh. It sounded… duller than on the concrete. Felt different under my feet – less of that nasty jarring impact traveling up my legs. Took a jump shot. Landing wasn’t painful! Not like bouncing on clouds, mind you, but miles better than asphalt or that cold patio slab. Ball bounced true enough for my hack game.

Real talk? Is it as magic as the $$$$ sprung floors in pro courts? Hell no. Did my ghetto rigged plywood-on-yoga-mat-and-car-mat junk absorb some shock compared to concrete? For sure. Knees felt way less beat up after an hour of shooting around. Took about a weekend and some creative cursing. Cost way less than proper sports flooring. Good enough for this old streetball dreamer.