My Crazy Idea for Portable Volleyball Court

Alright guys, let’s talk about this wild project I just finished. So you know how finding good volleyball court space is a nightmare? Especially ones with that nice bouncy feel under your feet? Yeah, that. I had this idea brewing for ages: build a portable wooden floor section, with built-in shock absorbing, just big enough for a home setup or practice. Like those fancy sport halls, but you can pack it away.

First things first, I gotta get wood. Not gonna waste money on fancy hardcourt stuff, nah. I headed to my local hardware place – you know the one with the loud saws and sawdust smell? Grabbed some decent-looking birch plywood sheets. Why birch? It seemed smooth enough and felt sturdy without being crazy heavy. Chopped a bunch down to equal squares using their machine (thank god they did that, my table saw ain’t that precise!). Ended up with like 20 panels, each about 2×2 feet.

Now, the “shock absorbing” part had me scratching my head. How do I make this portable wood actually protect my knees? Looked up all sorts of fancy foams and rubbers online, prices made my eyes water. Then I remembered these cheap, thick anti-fatigue floor mats my buddy uses in his garage workshop. You know, the kind that looks like puzzle pieces? Got myself a big pile of those. Figured, hey, if they work for standing all day, maybe… just maybe?

Here’s where the real work started:

• Step 1: Laid all those puzzle mats flat on my concrete garage floor, snapped them together tight. Covered the whole space I wanted.
• Step 2: Carefully placed my birch plywood panels right on top. Had to make sure they sat flush, no big gaps. Took some shuffling.
• Step 3: Big question – how to keep them together when moving? Screwing them down directly seemed dumb for portability. Solution? Industrial strength hook-and-loop tape. Sounds simple, but man, peeling off all those paper backings on that tape took forever and made my fingers sore! Stuck the hooks to the bottom of each plywood panel corner, pressed them down hard onto the fuzzy stuff on the mats.
• Step 4: Edges looked rough, so rounded off the corners with a sander so nobody trips. Then hit the whole plywood surface with a couple coats of water-based floor varnish – makes it kinda slippery when it’s dusty, but gives it that nice finished look and protects the wood.

Moment of Truth

Okay, time to see if this bunch of plywood and garage mats actually works. Called over some buddies. We unrolled the puzzle mats (took up way less space than I thought!), snapped them together, then plopped the wood panels down – the hook-and-loop grabbed hold instantly. Felt surprisingly solid walking on it. Then we passed a ball around.

Holy cow, it actually worked! That thick foam underneath? You really feel the difference landing on it compared to just playing on concrete or regular wood-over-concrete. That “dead” feeling? Reduced a bunch. It wasn’t pro-gym level bounce, but for something I slapped together? Way better than I expected! The “shock absorbing” actually happened! And breaking it down later? Super easy. Peel up the panels, unsnap the mats, stack it all away.

It’s a bunch of messiness, sure. The varnish needs redoing occasionally where we jump most. Sweaty feet make the hook-and-loop lose its grip sometimes. And moving the heavy wood panels still sucks. But dude… having that portable section with a proper feel? Totally worth the finger cramps and the garage looking like a workshop exploded. Definitely gonna tweak it, maybe try slightly thinner or different foam next time. If you wanna try something similar, hit me up! It ain’t perfect, but it works.