So the volleyball bug bit me hard last month. Been playing on concrete like an idiot – knees screaming after every match. Scoured the web, found this “shock absorbing” assembled wood flooring thing. Looked decent, kinda cheap. Clicked buy. No clue what I was in for.
The Big Unpacking Disaster
Boxes arrived. Heavy. Annoying. Hauled ’em to the backyard, ripped ’em open. Pieces everywhere. Boards, connectors, weird foam strips, plastic clips. Felt like dumping out a giant puzzle made for giants. Instructions? One crumpled paper with blurry pictures. Probably Chinese. Useless. Threw it aside. Figured I’d wing it. Big mistake.
Step 1: Sweeping and Leveling (Sort Of)
Dragged the rake over the dirt patch I picked. Kicked rocks away. “Level” meant kinda flat-ish. Laid out those black foam pads first – supposed to help, apparently. Tried lining them up. Wind blew them around. Stabbed ’em with rocks to stay put. Classy.
Step 2: Connecting the Damn Boards
Started snapping panels together. Tongue-and-groove thing. Looks simple. Wasn’t. Had to hammer them? Gentle taps did nothing. Whacked it harder. Wood cracked. Swore loudly. Neighbor probably heard. Switched tactics. Stood on the connected part, jumped. Crunch – they locked. Felt like an idiot. Crawled around the edge like a crab, ruler in hand trying to keep the lines sorta straight. Impossible. Ended up just butting them close.
Step 3: Edges, Clips, and Pure Rage
Perimeter pieces had these flimsy plastic clips. Instructions said “push firmly.” Hah. Bent plastic like crazy, refused to snap onto the board edge. Used pliers, squeezing till my knuckles went white. Broke two clips. Finally jammed them on, but knew they’d pop off if someone stepped near the edge. Whatever. Threw those foam corner things under the edges. Probably pointless.
The Moment of Truth
Sweating like mad, covered in dirt, knuckles scraped. Knees already hurting from kneeling on the “shock absorbing” floor that wasn’t connected yet. Grabbed the volleyball. Tossed it up. Dropped it. Listened hard.
Thump.
Not the sharp crack like on concrete. A duller, woodier thud. Actually bounced okay! Did a little hop myself. Didn’t jar my spine. No metallic ringing sound like before. Just… silence and rebound.
- Bought cheap flooring kits.
- Cracked a board hammering.
- Jumps to connect panels? Weird but works.
- Plastic clips are garbage.
- Dirt underneath still not perfectly flat? Still works.
- Ball bounces. Knees don’t scream. Mission sorta accomplished.
End result ain’t winning beauty contests. Got gaps. Boards aren’t perfectly aligned. Edges look dodgy. But the ball lands quiet. Jumps feel softer on landing. Way better than concrete. Stood there after, sweaty and tired, drank a beer staring at my damn “homemade” court. Felt pretty good. Got a match tonight. Hoping my knees send me a thank-you note.
