Spikeball Pool Attachment

First of all if you haven't heard of Spikeball (as seen on Shark Tank), check out this youtube video! Spikeball top plays. It's essentially volleyball mixed with four square with no boundaries. I always wanted to play Spikeball in the pool or lake and recently the company came out with an adapter kit for just that! Here is what the adapter kit, Spikebuoy, looks like https://spikeball.com/products/spikebuoy. Spikeball is a fantastic game for family vacations, a day at the beach and summer camps! And who doesn't like swimming?
I decided to make my own based on their design since I didn't want to spend the additional 30 dollars on top of the initial $60 and knew I could do it for much cheaper. In total this build took about $10 and one hour. This project is great for kids because it's a very easy build and the end product is a lot of fun to use.
Thanks for checking it out and let me know what you think in the comments! And if you enjoyed it don't forget to vote in the DIY Summer Camp contest!

Materials

1. 1 Spikeball set (Assuming you already have one)
2. 3 pool noodles - $3
3. rope - $4
4. 1 plastic chord lock (make sure this is compatible with your rope or string)
5. 1 draw string sack - $4
6. Exacto Knife
7. Sharpie
8. Lighter

Cut the pool noodles in to five 25 inch pieces. For my noodles I just marked the mid point with a sharpie and cut them in half until I had five even pieces. Now take every cut piece and measure out 12.5 inches to the center and mark it with the sharpie.

Take a section of noodle and center one of the yellow Spikeball feet onto the point that was marked in the previous step. Trace an outline of the foot onto the noodle using the sharpie. Repeat this for every section of noodle that was cut in the previous step.

Next take the exact knife and cut the outline with the blade at an inward angle toward the center of the noodle. This will create a funnel like shape that will help hold the foot in place. Repeat this for each noodle section.

First assemble the Spikeball rim, note you don't have to put the net on. "Pop" each section of noodle into one foot of the rim. At this point you should have noodles in each foot making a partly overlapping pentagon.

It's time to trim wherever two sections of noodles meet. Cut the ends of the noodles diagonally so that the two ends properly seat together and do not overlap one another. Don't worry if they do not perfectly match up but try to get as close as you can.

Now take off each section of noodle keeping track of which noodle goes on which foot. Take your rope and tie something heavy but small onto one end (I used my wedding ring for example). Feed the rope through one section of noodle at a time until you have one giant macaroni necklace.

At this point place the noodle sections back onto the feet of the Spikeball rim. Now it will not matter what order you put the noodles back on since they should always line up the way you cut them. cut the rope leaving some slack at both ends.

Take the plastic chord lock and feed one end of the rope into each hold pinch. Cinch the rope tight and tie the two ends of the string together, leaving some slack. Use a lighter to burn the ends of the rope a little to prevent fraying. Now when the rope is cinched, the noodles will be forced together making everything look a little cleaner.

The official Spikeball adapter kit includes a weight bag that hangs below the net in order to help keep the net from drifting in currents. After some testing I decided that the time it would take to add this was worth the benefit.

Pick one of the points where two noodles intersect and tie one end of rope to the "cinch rope" going through the noodles. Take that rope and loop it around each corner of the pentagon (where two noodles meet) where the "cinch rope" is exposed. You will see a star pattern emerge. When you get to the last point on the pentagon, tie the rope off to the "cinch rope".

Now, take each strand of rope from the newly created star pattern and hold it in one hand. Take the draw string back and tie the draw string to these ropes so that it ties every strand together. This configuration should be self balancing in the fact that the ropes will adjust so the weight will be directly below the center of the net.

Congratulations, you're finished! Grab a few rocks and throw them in the weight bag and toss it in the pool to enjoy.

After testing I've noticed that you can't be in too deep of water as the net sticks out half a foot above the water. Also, after heavy use the "cinch rope" might start to cut through the pool noodles so some upgrades could be made there for future designs. Other than that it works perfectly! Thanks for checking it out!