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They say that for you to be really good at something, you will need lots and lots of practice. When it comes to basketball, your options are limited for practice are limited not unless you have your own court. Thinking of having your own hoop installed might come across as expensive so here’s our step by step guide on how to make a basketball hoop.
How to Build a Basketball Hoop in 4 Easy Steps
Step 1: Cut and Paint a Backboard
A backboard is basically the raised vertical board to which the basket is attached. In the NBA and in the other professional basketball scenes, the backboard is made of Plexiglass. If you don’t have a budget for that, then you can just use a piece of plywood that is thick enough to absorb the force of a basketball.
The whole backboard is 1.8 meters in length and 1.20 meters in height. Don’t forget to draw a smaller box in the center that is 0.59 meters in length and 0.45 meters in height. Once that is done, go ahead and saw the wood, paint it and then paint the linings of the box inside.
Step 2: Make a Hoop
The first thing you will need for the hoop is the ring. The standard basketball ring is 18 inches in diameter. You can use a half inch metal rod to make the ring. Turn the straight rod into a circular rod and then once you get the diameter you want, go ahead and cut the ends off. You can put them together by using a bar clamp. To make sure the ring is flat go ahead and put it in the ground and bash it until it’s flat.
Step 3: Make the Ring Frame
The ring frame is going to be the one that will connect the hoop on the backboard. To begin, take a flat metal that is about 4mm thick and weld it or have it welded to the flat part of the hoop. After that, take 2 rods that are about 12 4/5 long and weld them from the sides. Fold your flat metal to see where the other end of the rods goes. Drill 4 holes into the side of the flat metal that will go into the board.
Step 4: Attach the Net Brackets
If you are going to attach a net to your hoop, then you will need net brackets. Simply cut 12 wires that are about 3 ½ inches long. Bend them in the middle and with the help of a rod and then bend them again so that the folded part almost meets the 2 ends of the wire. Once done, you may now weld it onto the hoop and attach your net.
Once you have all of those done, you may now look for a nice wall or post where you can drill the basketball hoop into! It’s a lot of work to make a basketball hoop but it’s totally worth your time. However, you can also check out our guide to choosing the best affordable basketball hoop if you don’t have time to build one yourself.
