My little boys love basketball, but they’re outgrowing their Fisher Price basketball hoop. I want to get them something bigger, but we have no good outdoor space to bounce a ball. Our driveway’s at the top of a hill, so it’s no good–the ball’s going to roll into the street. We have no patio, and our deck won’t work because (1) there are glass windows and doors, and (2) they’ll have to run up and down the stairs every time the ball goes over.
I was thinking about pressure-treated plywood, but I don’t know that it’s strong enough to support them running around, especially since it will have to be laid over grass, and I hoping for something I can take apart or roll up or something, so it’s only down on the grass when they’re using it…
Anyone have an idea? My 4 year old will be 5 in June, and he’d really love it.
Packed down dirt’s an interesting idea and I’ll keep it in mind. I was hoping for something a bit more temporary though. We’ve got a fairly small space to work with, and having grass for the times they’re not playing would be nice. Now I’m thinking of places we can pack down dirt in. Thanks for the idea, satoridt.
Anything that temporary is going to soak up a lot of energy from the ball, meaning they are going to have to dribble it very very hard. Even plywood has a lot of give to it if you just lay it on the grass.
Yeah, a ball won’t bounce on plywood, which would be very frustrating. The ball won’t bounce on anything laid over grass unless there’s something very inelastic involved, unfortunately, which obviously takes away from the temporariness of the arrangement. Plywood would work with a bunch of bricks under it, but that’s a pain.
Given the circumstances, if the ground is dry, the grass might not be so terrible, since a temporary measure wouldn’t improve it much, and you’d probably end up killing the grass in exchange for any much better solution.