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Try It Before You Buy It: Spikeball

WZZM 13's Lauren Stanton puts Spikeball to the test in this Try It Before You Buy It report.

Spikeball

ROCKFORD (WZZM)-- Spikeball is the latest backyard, beach game that's starting to gain in popularity. It was featured on ABC's Hit show "Shark Tank". It's a little beach volleyball, a little hand ball, with some sort of mini trampoline in the center.

It requires teams to play 2-on-2. The ball is like a softball sized volleyball. It's perfect in the sand so players can dive after the ball. You volley just like volleyball, with each team getting 3 hits before having to spike the middle trampoline-like net in the middle to get it back to the other team.

I took it to a group of teenage girls who have experience playing volleyball at Myers Lake in Rockford. They had a bit of trouble getting any kind of volley going at first. It's difficult to zero in on the net in the middle, and the ball is small and hard to control.

The makers suggest tightening the net if your ball doesn't bounce high enough off the net, and we did do some adjusting.

After a while, I joined in and after going at it for some time, we started to get the hang of it and had a very competitive game. The makers say it's the easiest game to learn and the most difficult to master. We found that to be true, but really had a great time getting better at it.

We gave it a thumbs up. Just know, it takes coordination, so this is not for young kids. It'll take a lot of practice, but it's a blast.

We found it locally at Dick's Sporting Goods for $53.

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