EZGoal Pro Lacrosse Folding Throwback Rebounder, Orange, 6'X6'

I purchased this for my son for lacrosse who outgrew our old cheap baseball pitchback (which worked fine when he was younger but now that he's 10 we needed something stronger). Knowing EZGoal from hockey, I knew they'd be a good choice. This rebounder is SOLID, all thick pipes and some strong netting and bungees. After reading many reviews I was not looking forward to the assembly, in particular the part where you attach the net. But once I jumped in I realized it was a lot simpler than everyone made it out to be. The hardest part was figuring out the spacing for the bungees (and realizing there are 2 spares you're not supposed to use). Once I had them all in place I attached each corner, then the middle (middle one side and then middle the other so it was stretched evenly, then middle on top/middle on bottom), then just kept attaching the middle of what was left until it was all done, no special tools required and not a ton of muscle either. All in all I'd say assembly start to finish takes about an hour if you take your time and stop for lunch in the middle, definitely not the nightmare some made it out to be.

Metal framing went together easily except for a couple slightly dented spots. Bungees are an absolute nightmare unless you use the correct tools AND do the math to realize the directions are wrong - it's 5 holes between each one not 4! After spending hours and enormous amounts of energy I figured out that a ratchet strap simply put through the hole and wrapped around the tube and through the next hole (3-4 holes, including and ending on the one the bungee is installed on) and manually pulled tight gives all the mechanical advantage needed to touch the net to the frame. Then pull the bungee around the tube and use the allen wrench provided (a skate key is probably a lot easier) to pull the hook up and release it so it clips to the net (I used the second net line and went around from outside to inside and then turned hook so facing in like directions kinda showed). Would have saved me half a Saturday and lots of pain if I could have found those specific assembly tips somewhere - this thing relies on massive tension provided by the bungees and the net itself and seems impossible until the correct tools are used. Net is tight enough for experienced high-schooler to use for warm-ups then as a pass to himself so he can shoot on a goal 90 degrees away. Two small leg braces rattle b/c they're just pinned in place, but makes less noise than trampoline rebounder we had - I might jam something in the slot to see if that helps. I just bought 1 1/2 Inch Round Plastic Plug (for 1.5" tubing) to cap the bottom of the front posts so doesn't get scraped up when storing on covered concrete porch, hopefully that works. I'll post pics of everything I described as soon as I get a chance, as I didn't take any during assembly. Would have given 5 starts if not for all the time wasted trying to figure out exactly how to use tools to assemble.

Great product, seems sturdy and the netting appears to be quite durable. In previous nets (other brands), the bands that hold the net seem to be the things that break, so time will tell whether these hold better. As for the assembly, it took my son and I 2.5hrs to complete. As others have mentioned the instructions are a little difficult to follow but the real difficulty is the tension when securing the netting. It is very difficult to get enough stretch to tie it. We secured one side, then used 4 ratchet ties (pictured) to tighten the other side so that we could get the ties secured. I don't know how people did that by hand - it would take a lot of strength. The other thing to note about the instructions is that it should have 9 ties per side, and the instructions suggested 4 squares in between each strap. That is NOT correct. Mathematically, that would take 11 ties per side. We went with 5 squares in between and there was a spot that had 6.

Overall we’re very happy with this product - or at least we can say that now that we’re on other side of the assembly process. Upon opening the box and attempting to read the awful instructions, my husband wanted to give up multiple times. But we didn’t give up. We persevered. For us, the frame was actually the hard part, and we are still not sure if we were supposed to remove the upright collars. The prior reviews telling us how to do the net really helped. Start with the corners for sure. The adjusting tilt is pretty easy and it overall works great. So alls well that ends well.

Like others have stated, the assembly was quite difficult. The instructions are not entirely clear. For example, there are metal collars on the uprights that are supposed to be removed, but that was not stated in the instructions. I called to verify. I wish the manufacturer would post an assembly video online. Attaching the bounce back netting required 2 ratchet straps (as recommended by another reviewer, not the manufacturer.) The straps made attaching the bungees manageable, but still difficult. Once assembled the item seems sturdy and of good quality, and is portable. The price was very competitive compared to similar products. Plus, this can be used as a lacrosse goal with the purchase of a net. I’m sure I could resell this item in a few years to a family with a young athlete.