What's the right basketball hoop for my family?
Basketball Hoop Features - A strong, solid pole, tempered glass backboard and breakaway rims that will give you the most consistent play. If you have little ones, an adjustable backboard is a must and you’ll find this on all of our hoops except for baseline wall mounts.
Basketball Hoop Location - Keep in mind your location – and whether you choose a wall mount or an in-ground hoop common considerations include ball retrieval, direction to the sun, play surface, under net play (overhang).
Basketball Hoop Backboard - The size of your play area often helps to determine the size of your backboard. Most starter basketball hoops are 54 inch backboards, followed by 60 inch and then the professional (and High School) 72 inch. If your kids are young, you may want to think of them growing into the hoop as they start to prepare and strengthen skills for school play.
Backboard sizes vary in width from 46” wide all the way up to 72”, but for the sake of regular game play we recommend choosing backboard no smaller than 54” wide. Anything narrower will limit the ability to make bank shots. Look for 54″ or 60″ size boards with 3/8″ thick glass and 72″ boards with 1/2″ glass for gym-correct rebounds. Remember that skill level also plays a part in selecting a backboard size. Since high school and college use the standard 72 inch backboards many people like to purchase this size to closely reproduce actual playing conditions.
Basketball rim regulation height (in NBA, college, and even high school courts) is 10 feet. However, you may want to lower the rim to accommodate younger players.
For junior level play or to allow novice players to improve their shooting mechanics, 8′ or 9′ is a common height. Most junior leagues set the rules for rim height for junior competition. Lowering the rim is common for developing shooting technique, and then slowly raising will help challenge and bring confidence to the new player. Our hoops adjust from 6’ (Goalsetter) or 7 ½’ (Goalrilla) to 10’ with an external or internal crank adjustment system.
All our poles made of a one-piece structural steel post. The larger the backboard, the thicker the pole. Our pole sizes range from 4 x 4 (48” or 54” backboards) 5 x 5 (54” or 60”) and 6 x 6 (60” or 72”). A thicker pole helps reduce shake and vibration when playing.
Our Goalrilla pole has a powder coated finish and corrosion-resistant hardware for long lasting durability.
Our Goalsetter pole has a patented process using 1 primer coat and 2 coats of baked-on acrylic enamel to withstand the outdoor elements, year after year.
The distance from the baseline to the front of the backboard is 4 feet in regulation play. When overhang does not allow for safe play, it causes players to slow WAY down when running in for a lay-up because they don’t want to hit the pole and they don’t want to roll their ankle in the grass.
This can have detrimental effects in actual game play. Safe Play area under the hoop is 2.5 to 4 feet so be sure to match your overhang with the size of your driveway and play area.
