| How to Select a Basketball System |
With all the different choices out there we thought we could offer our many years
of experience to help you select a basketball system that fits your needs. If you
still can't decide or if you have questions please feel free to call or email us and
will do our best to help out.
In-Ground vs. Portable 
There's no question that an in-ground system is a better way go. More stability and
safer play are just two of the reasons. Most portables on the market today are very
cheaply built and don't last very long, just drive through any neighborhood and look
at how many of these portables are broken, most don't last a year. And if you plan on
getting one of these portable systems to move in and out of the garage for your kids
to play on consider this...
These systems are hard to move when the base is empty, you have to tip it back on its
wheels to roll. Now put the sand or water ballast in the base and try to move it,
nearly impossible and there's no way you are going to drain it or empty the sand
every time you want to move it and you can't play on it with out the ballast. Now you
have this system with it's big ugly plastic base taking up space on your driveway. If
your site location demands using a portable look for systems that have 4 wheels, this
makes moving the system, with ballast in it, much easier.
top
Adjustable vs. Fixed Height
This decision should be made based upon the ages of the players and the level of
basketball you want to play. The official regulation height of a basketball goal is
10', but a new basketball system fixed at 10' will be a big disappointment to
youngsters learning to get the ball into the goal. Also with today's high quality
adjustable systems built by Bison anyone can lower the hoop and slam-dunk like the
big boys. A 10' fixed height system is a good choice if you only want to play at
regulation 10'.
top
Backboards
Glass backboards are used for competition play in high school, college and the pros
because glass gives you the best ball rebound. A home court with a glass backboard is
the best possible training ground to work on competitive-level skills. One of the
reasons we sell Bison is that they offer more systems with glass backboards for the
home than any other manufacturer.
Acrylic (plastic) backboards will give you the look of glass but if you want a good
rebound try to buy a system with a minimum of 1/2" thick acrylic material for the
backboard. Thinner material acrylic backboards and molded graphite backboards look
great and have price benefits - but nothing compares to playing on glass.
top
Poles
Only buy a basketball system with a one piece pole. This is the most important thing
you can do in selecting a system. Every basketball system sold at major department
stores and chain sporting goods stores have a multi-piece pole that you have to put
together. The reason for this is it makes it much easier for the store to stock the
item and the customer to put in the car and take home.
Multi-piece poles become wobbly after a short time and rust easily at the joints
because the paint scrapes off when you put the sections together. Square poles are
also better than round poles because of strength. The square corners provide for more
rigidity, beware however of square poles that are multi-piece. Always insist on a
system with a one piece pole.
top
Goals
Not all goals are the same. Look for goals that use heavy duty construction. Features
like wrap around braces, heavy return springs, and metal net ties are very important.
A lot of manufactures today use plastic net ties that are clipped on the rim to hold
the net on. These break off very easily and now the net won't stay on, nobody wants
to play on a hoop with no net.
We like Bison because they use metal net ties, hand-welded to the rims on all their
goals.
top
Plan ahead
Select a system that will keep up with changing skill levels. Kids that are young now
and are happy to have any hoop to play on will probably want to play/practice on a
quality system when they get older, a system that duplicates the same feel they have
playing at the gym. If you choose the right system now you will only have to buy one.
top
|
