Alright, decided to actually try setting up that trampoline volleyball thing I saw somewhere. Seemed like a laugh, and the kids have been bored with the plain old trampoline lately.
Getting Started
First step was digging out the trampoline. Hadn’t been used much over winter, so had to give it a good sweep. Lots of leaves and general garden gunk. Then, the net part. I didn’t buy a specific ‘trampoline volleyball’ kit, figured I could rig something up. Found an old badminton net in the shed.
The Setup Challenge
Okay, attaching a flimsy badminton net to a big, round trampoline? Not as easy as I thought. The poles that came with the net were useless here. I tried tying the net directly to the trampoline enclosure poles. That kinda worked on one side. The other side drooped like crazy. Spent a good twenty minutes fiddling with ropes and knots. Looked pretty wonky, not gonna lie. The height was all wrong too, way lower than a real volleyball net, but hey, good enough for a first try.
The Actual Playing Part
Got the kids out. Initial reaction: confusion. “We’re playing volleyball… on this?”
First few attempts were chaos. Just pure, unadulterated chaos.
- Trying to jump and hit the ball at the same time is ridiculously hard.
- Timing is everything, and everyone’s timing was off.
- More often than not, the jump itself would send you away from where the ball was going.
- We spent more time laughing and falling over than actually hitting the ball over the makeshift net.
The bounce adds a whole new layer of difficulty you just don’t expect. You think you’re positioned right, then you bounce, and suddenly you’re two feet higher or lower than you need to be. Or you bounce sideways. Total coordination nightmare, initially.
Finding a Rhythm (Sort Of)
After maybe fifteen minutes of flailing, we started to get a tiny bit better. We weren’t really playing ‘volleyball’ rules, more like ‘try to hit the ball back over the net before you fall over’. We managed a few rallies, maybe three or four hits back and forth. Felt like a major achievement!
It’s definitely more about the bouncing and less about skillful volleys. Serving was just lobbing it gently over the saggy net. Trying to spike? Forget about it. Just results in awkward landings.
Wrapping Up
We probably kept at it for about forty-five minutes before everyone was just too tired from laughing and bouncing. The net was sagging even more by the end. Took it down, which was much quicker than putting it up.
Final Thoughts?
It’s silly. It’s chaotic. It’s not really ‘volleyball’. But was it fun? Yeah, actually. It was a good way to get everyone outside and moving, and it was definitely different. You get a decent workout without really noticing because you’re too busy trying not to look completely ridiculous. Probably wouldn’t set it up every day because rigging the net was a pain, but for a bit of goofy fun once in a while? Sure, why not. Didn’t need any fancy kit, just a trampoline, a ball, and some old net.
