Basketball Accessories

Here's a quick reference regarding a few of the main components and basketball equipment you can buy for your residential basketball court.

The basketball We'll spare you the definition. A basketball is round, it can be for indoors or outdoors or claim to be suitable for both. That claim is always being called into question when you find yourself playing with an indoor/outdoor ball that has been stripped of its cover after half a season. Receiving rave reviews in this department is the Spalding NBA Zi O basketball. Consumers really seem to think this ball bridges the gap between indoor and outdoor balls, giving an indoor feel and outdoor durability.

Basketball hoops and poles

For the most part, portable basketball hoops with water or sand weighted bases do the trick. It's definitely handy if you want to move the hoop to a new home or get rid of it when the youngster finally realizes he's better at fishing. And when buying a weighted basketball hoop, look for a 2-foot overhang. Anything less and you may end up with a nasty bump at the end of your layup drills.

Pole padding

Speaking of nasty bumps, did I mention lawsuits? Kids love to come over and play on a nice hoop, whether you've allowed it or not. If you're not there to supervise or shoo them away, a layer of thick padding is a nice way of protecting the both of you from unwanted cranial fractures and litigation.

Basketball carts While this style of practice is more suited for the gym or tennis, a basketball cart could mean the difference between a 75 percent and 90 percent free throw shooter. And the extra conditioning achieved via chasing the balls down the street never hurt anybody.

>

The height adjusting hoop

There is no doubt, these are a very entertaining way of making believe that you are an NBA superstar. Narrating your drive to the hoop a la Marv Alberts is rather anti-climatic if finished with a fizzling layup instead of an authoritative slam dunk.