Basketball Equipment

Basketball is a game played with two teams. Five players of each team are on the court at any given time of the play.

It is played in 4 Quarters of 10 or 12 minutes.

The idea is to take the ball and throw it into the basket of the opposing team.

Briefly, basketball does not require much in the way of equipment, especially for a player. The court is indoors, and all a player need purchase is his dress (which comprises of a loose, sleeveless vest and loose shorts) and the ball.

Here is a little bit of trivia about Basketball Equipment:

When the game was invented, the game was played with a soccer ball. It was in the late 1950s when Tony Hinkle introduced the orange colored ball which is used in the game today. The ball was chosen to be orange so that it would be easily visible to the players.

Also, when the game of basketball was invented, the baskets were made of peach baskets. These baskets had their bottoms. So when the ball was put into the basket, it took some amount of effort to remove the ball from the basket so as to play the game further. So a hole was drilled into the bottom of the basket and a stick began to be used to push the ball out of the peach basket. Soon enough, the bottom of the basket began to be removed altogether and later on it developed into the kind of the basket we see today in basketball games.

The equipment needed for playing basketball, thus, has gone through a lot of change through its history. Here is a list of Basketball Equipment that you will need in order to play a game of Basketball today:

• Basketball Courts: This is the place where the game of basketball is actually played. A standard basketball court is a rectangular surface of the size 28 Meters by 15 Meters (or 92 Feet by 49 Feet) which has baskets at opposite ends. Most of the basketball courts are made of wood. The top of the rim of the basket is exactly 3.05 Meters (or 10 Feet) above the surface of the court and 1.2 Meters (4 Feet) inside the baseline.
• Basketball Ball: The ball is made out of 8 panels of leather, or rubber or any other synthetic material. The circumference is between 75 to 78 Centimeters (29.5 to 30.25 Inches) and its weight should be between 600 Grams to 650 Grams (20 Oz. to 22 Oz.). The ball should be so inflated that when it is dropped from a height of 1.8 Meters (6 Feet) it should rebound and rise to a height of 1.2 to 1.4 Meters (4 Feet to 4 Feet 7 Inches) which is measured to the top of the ball.
• Dress - Basketball Jerseys, Shoes, Shirts and Shorts: The dress consists of shorts, shirts, shoes and socks. Each team will have their own uniforms and basketball jerseys. The clothing should be loose and comfortable. The vests should ideally be sleeveless and the shorts should be loose fitting.
Other Equipment: Competitive Basketball games will also include equipment such as clocks, score sheets, scoreboards, and whistle-operated stop watches.

So go ahead and begin your training for basketball armed with all this equipment.

All the best of Luck!