Alright, so I wanted to get this volleyball court setup right in my backyard. Kept hearing folks talk about wood flooring with shock absorption being way better for the knees than concrete or that cheap roll-out stuff. Saw this “shock absorbing Volleyball pine assembly wooden flooring” kit online. Looked simple enough in the pictures, right? Big mistake.

The Big Unboxing Surprise

First thing, box arrives. Man, it was heavy. I dragged it to the backyard, sweating buckets already. Opened it up – wow, just a pile of planks, some weird foam pads, and a bag of nails and screws. No instructions. None. Just this crumpled piece of paper with a blurry picture of the finished floor. Fantastic.

Figuring Out the “Shock Absorbing” Part

Okay, so the foam pads were supposed to be the shock absorbers. Thicker than I thought, kinda like gym mat pieces. Idea was to lay these pads down first on the dirt base I’d cleared. Seemed logical. Started laying them out, trying to fit them together like puzzle pieces. Problem? The ground wasn’t perfectly flat. Like, at all. Found a low spot, tried shoving dirt under the pad – felt like building a sandcastle. Not ideal.

Next came the actual wood.

• Planks Everywhere: Each plank had these tongue-and-groove edges. Thought it was supposed to snap together easy-peasy. Yeah, no. Had to wrestle with the first few. Hammer time.
• Hammer = Bad Idea: Tap tap tap… crack. Great. Split the tongue right off one plank. Lesson learned: be gentle, or get angry real fast. Needed spacers between the planks too? Didn’t even think about that at first. Dug around for some old washers to use.
• Aligning Nightmare: Trying to keep everything straight while hammering gently? Pure comedy. Lines started looking wavy, like a drunk snake laid them. Had to undo a whole section. Sweating buckets again.

The “Assembly” Struggle

Once I got the hang of the “gentle hammer and spacer” method, things sped up a bit. Still slow going. That shock pad underneath? Every time I walked on the planks I’d laid, it felt like walking on a sponge cake. Weird sensation. Didn’t feel bouncy, just… squishy.

Made it halfway. Big problem. The foam pads underneath were shifting! They weren’t stuck down, just sandwiched. When I stepped near the edge, the plank sunk way down onto the dirt. So much for my shock absorption there. Had to lift up planks, straighten the pad underneath, lay it down again. Rinse and repeat.

Getting It Done… Mostly

Finally got all the planks down. Looked pretty decent from a distance! Took me most of the damn weekend. Sweated more than playing a match. Now for the real test – dropped a volleyball on it.

Bounce? Eh. Okay? Not amazing? Definitely softer on my feet than concrete though. Tried jumping – felt a little give, absorbed the impact alright. So maybe the shock part kinda works. But honestly, the biggest shock was how much work it was. “Assembly” my foot.

Walking on it now, there’s a slight creak in one spot where the pad might still be shifting. A couple of planks feel subtly uneven. Might need to revisit that low spot. Is it perfect? Nope. Does it let me play volleyball without feeling like concrete slammed my joints? Yeah, seems like it. Would I do it again? Ask me next summer when I’ve forgotten the pain. For now… just glad it’s over.