Alright so this all started because my knees were killing me after volleyball practice. Like seriously, hurting real bad every time I jumped and landed on that concrete floor in the garage. Gotta fix this, I thought. No fancy gym shock stuff for me though, too pricey.

The Dumb Idea Phase

First thing? Grabbed leftover cardboard boxes from those ramen deliveries. Taped like five layers together, stomped on it. Total garbage. Flattened out in two minutes flat. Felt so goddamn stupid holding that roll of tape.

Moved on to those interlocking foam squares people put in kid’s rooms. Yeah, the colorful ones. Looked promising at the store. Got home, threw ’em down, took one dive for the ball. My knee went right through the foam like it was butter. Waste of thirty bucks right there.

Getting Real With Wood

Okay, fine. Needed something solid but springy. Remembered seeing plywood floors somewhere. Hit the lumber yard. Not the nice finished stuff, no way. Got the cheapest 1/2 inch plywood sheets they had. Rough as sandpaper, but cheap is cheap.

Tools gathered:

• A borrowed circular saw (mine’s garbage)
• A beat-up hammer
• A bag of those thick 1-inch nails
• Got some rubber exercise mats too, the dense ones

Making The Big Mess

Measured the garage space. Yeah, messed up the first measurement. Cut two sheets too short. Sawdust everywhere, smelled like a forest fire in there. Swore a lot.

Cut the rubber mats next. Huge mistake doing it inside. Stunk the whole house up like old tires. Wife was pissed. Lesson learned: Cut rubber outside.

Layering time:

• • Swept the stupid garage floor (twice)

 

• • Threw down the cut rubber mats. Shoved ’em together tight.

 

• Plonked the plywood sheets right on top. Lined ’em up best I could.

Started nailing the plywood sheets together where they met. Hammer slipped. Dinged the concrete underneath. Oops. More swearing. Nails kept bending. My hammering sucks apparently. Got it done though. Ugly joins, but functional.

The Jump Test

Stood on it. Creaked a bit. Didn’t collapse. Good sign. Took a small jump. Knees felt… different. Not cushy soft, just… less smashy on the landing? Tried a proper volleyball jump spike motion. Landed heavy.

Holy crap. It worked! No sharp pain shooting up! Just a thud that kinda spread out. Felt it in my whole leg evenly, not just the knee joint. Success!

Is it pretty? Hell no. Looks like a wood monster puked in the garage. Got splinters just looking at it sideways. Doesn’t slide around though, shock actually absorbs. Knees ain’t screaming. That’s the win.

Cheap, ugly, works. My kinda project.