Man, this shock absorbing floor idea hit me last Tuesday afternoon after smashing my knees on concrete courts for decades. Was watching neighbors install fake grass when I realized – why can’t volleyball have cushy floors too? Pulled out my sketchbook, chugged cold coffee, and started scribbling nonsense designs.
The Bloody Beginning
Grabbed random tools from my disaster zone garage first. Needed something stronger than Ikea stuff, so I dragged home these gnarly birch planks from Larry’s Lumber Shack. Smelled like a hamster cage but Larry swore they’d hold up. Cut ’em crooked with my janky handsaw – wood chips flew everywhere like angry hornets.
Major screwup list:
- Measured court lines wrong THREE times
- Forgot shock pads needed breathing room
- Almost glued my fingers together twice
Neighbor Bert walked by yelling “Another doomed project Dave?” while I was sweatin’ through my shirt wrestling with rubber spacers. Little shit.
Rubber Meets Road
The magic happened with old truck shock absorbers from Junkyard Jeff. Greasy as hell but dirt cheap. Hammered ’em between the planks like a caveman. Cussed when springs pinched my thumb – left purple bruises for days. Nearly quit when whole sections kept popping up like possessed jack-in-boxes.
Here’s the dumb fix that worked: duct-taped bricks onto corners overnight. Weight squashed the rebellious planks flat. Woke up to find my cat pissing on the tape. Classic.
Victory Jump Test
After two weeks smelling like sawdust and WD-40, did the first jump. Legs braced for splinters… but holy crap! Felt like jumping on grandma’s feather bed. Ran inside, dragged wife out in pajamas to witness. She took one hop and grunted “Better than cracking your thick skull on pavement I guess”. High praise.
Now neighborhood teens keep sneaking onto my driveway court. Little turkeys scuffed my perfect birch lines already. But hearing that thump-thump of balls hitting bouncy wood? Yeah. Worth every splinter.
