Spike Pal

I have had this product for three years and it has held up perfectly until about a month ago when the little elastic piece broke. I just tied it back together and it works fine again. To be honest, I didn’t think it would last that long since I leave it outside year-round in the rain, snow, ice, etc., but it was in perfect condition for three years!

Primary thing you need to take away from this, is that it is high quality and great value. Very happy I purchased this for my daughter 5'11" HS volleyball player. It is a perfect height when the hoop is raised to the offical 10'. The thing is awesome for pounding !!Adjustments -The Hook to attach the strap / ball to the rim is small. It would not go around the large HD rim I have. If I had a rope net, I would attach the connector to the rope net .. over time this would wear and break the net but how soon would depend on how many times and how much power the ball was "served". I have an old school metal chain net which would have broken on the first hit so I used a large "D" ring from the dollar store to connect the ball to the rim. If you don't have a dollar store near by, get a really cheap large one from Amazon or even a bent up coat hanger will do.The ball must be hit from the side, player must run directly parrallel to the backboard, so side to side room is required if you need to practice running up and hitting the ball. If your off center a little then the ball will loop around and go in the basket. This is good and bad .. You can hit it a few more times but after a while you need to untangle the ball from the net / rim. Good from the point of view that it forces the player to be perfect with their hit. <wink>Anyway - defintately worth the puchase. Very Happy.

I love sports accessories that allow athletes to confine their playing field to smaller spaces for practice purposes. The TANDEM SPORT SPIKE PAL is such a tool in that it allows players to practice spiking without having to chase the ball (much like the slings used to practice serves). Unfortunately, the SPIKE PAL is only one part of this tool’s equation, you need a basketball rim to attach the device and, depending on the player’s age/height, an adjustable basketball rim … and a ladder.WHAT YOU GETThe premise is simple: a strap holding the ball that attaches to basketball rim so the ball dangles for spiking practice. This tool comes with a strap that is webbed at one end to hold the ball (a Velcro enclosure secures the ball) and a carabiner attached to the other end (to attach to the basketball rim). The length of the strap is surrounded by a foam rubber tube that protects the players fingers from the nylon.HOW IT WORKS/PERFORMSFortunately, my 6th grade daughter plays both basketball and volleyball and we have an adjustable standalone basketball setup in our back yard. Being on the short side, that net needs to be lowered from the standard height every time she wants to use the SPIKE PAL. The strap (made of an elastic cord) is fixed at 15 ½” long (cannot be adjusted), so the height of the play will dictate how and if the tool can be used effectively. The other issue I found is that the carabiner could not open enough to attach to our basketball rim. Luckily, I had a D-shaped carabiner on hand to connect the SPIKE PAL to the rim. Once the strap was attached, I could put the ball in the webbing and secure it in place with the Velcro closure. Once the setup is complete, the ball simply dangles where it can be hit. When hit, the ball swings up and moves back into place to be hit again … a simple device that can be a great practice tool. I would recommend removing the basketball net to prevent the possibility of the player getting fingers caught in the net when using the SPIKE PAL.While I was able to accommodate the SPIKE PAL, I would not have been able to use it if I didn’t have an adjustable net to lower the height or a D-shaped carabiner on hand. I believe this device would be perfect if the strap length could be adjusted and the carabiner was D-shaped or bigger to accommodate thicker rims. Implementing these two changes would make the SPIKE PAL more adaptable and user-friendly.

Daughter and her friends love this. Getting more use than our basketball hoop alone was

Broke after a couple swings. Great concept though!

Muy bueno para practicas de Voley Ball.

The hook wouldn't fit around the hoop bar. It fit well in the net hook, though I don't know if that will eventually break the hook.

I hung it up in a basketball hoop rim and was hotting it softly at first and it seemed to be working fine so I used more and more force until I was using the same force I would use during a real volleyball game. However, after hitting the ball with a few hard spikes, the metal clip part broke and would no longer stay properly closed.