Man, I always hated fiddling with those little flip scores during my tennis club matches. Last weekend I finally grabbed this scoring board kit from the local sports shop – let me walk you through setting it up real quick.
Unboxing & First Impressions
Ripped open the cardboard box like a kid at Christmas. Inside was this light plastic scoreboard frame, two sets of number tiles (one red, one white), plus these tiny screws that looked like they’d vanish if I sneezed. No batteries needed though – big win since my remote controls always eat batteries.
Assembly Time
Laid everything on my kitchen table with the instruction sheet – which was basically just pictures, no words. Started slotting the frame pieces together like adult Legos. That back panel snapped in weirdly until I realized I was holding it upside-down. Duh moment right there. The slots for the number tiles were super tight – had to wiggle ’em in gentle-like.
The screw part got messy though. Needed to attach the mounting bracket using these microscopic screws. Dropped one under the fridge (RIP little guy) but found a spare in the box. Key things I messed up:
- Used the wrong screwdriver head first – stripped one screw
- Forgot to align the bracket hooks before tightening
- Panicked when tiles wouldn’t slide – turns out I’d put ’em in backwards
Testing It Out
Flipped all tiles to 15-love just to see. Smooth slide-action feels weirdly satisfying! Did the whole scoring sequence for an imaginary match – 30-40, deuce, advantage, game. White numbers showed up clearer than red under my dim kitchen lights. Might mark the “SET” tile with tape later for visibility.
Mounting On Court
Took it to the court chain yesterday. Hooked it straight onto the fence near the net post – zero drilling required. The plastic legs fold out to stand if you prefer ground mounting. Played two sets while flipping scores after every point. Only issue? Wind almost blew it over when a truck passed. Fixed by shoving my water bottle against the base.
End verdict? Takes 15 minutes max once you survive the screw battle. Beats yelling scores across courts or writing on paper like a caveman. Now if only fixing my backhand was this easy…