How to choose the best indoor basketball

Best Indoor Basketball

What's important when buying an indoor ball?

There’s nothing quite like playing on the indoor basketball court, and, no doubt the most important bit of equipment you could have at your training session is an indoor basketball. We’ve put together a guide here on what to look for when you want to purchase an indoor basketball. The main things that will be considering in this article for an indoor basketball are material, size, feel, grip, brand and what the differences are with the outdoor balls. And lastly, we’ll give you some recommendations on products that you can buy from Amazon. After you have read this make sure to check out our article on the best indoor/outdoor basketball shoes.

Material

So, firstly, its important to consider the material for indoor use. Material selection changes a bit because a leather option becomes much more available when you are looking at indoor play, as well as some of the composite balls. The main thing to consider here is that on the indoor court, you can have a ball that would normally not last long outside. This means that you can get lots of great trade offs because generally on the indoor court, the ball will be looked after which generally means that software easier wearing balls like leather ones are feasible. These feel good, but we’ll get to that later.

Size of ball

The next most important thing is to consider the size of the ball. So you need to consider what the size for regulation play will be because there’s actually different sizes of basketball. Typically, a twenty nine and a half inch ball is the full size men’s basketball. However, there’s other sizes in other leagues, and depending on whether you’re playing in high school or elsewhere, you may need a different size of ball. Women’s leagues also often use a different size ball (eg twenty eight and a half inches). So make sure you check out what you need. The two most common sizes are generally the intermediate ball, twenty eight and a half inches, or the twenty nine and a half inch ball.

Feel

We mentioned feel earlier, and no doubt this is absolutely paramount to enjoying indoor play. It’s amazing the sense of control that you tend to have in the way the ball feels under your hands. It generally has a lot more cushioning than outdoor balls, and because of the cleaner surface, your fingertips can actually feel the ball a little better. This is particularly important for newer players or younger players, but it is amazing the difference that the feel of the ball can make.

Grip

But grip is a whole, other thing. Grip is the ability to keep the ball well within your control and be able to really control it with those fingertips. The inlaid channels on the ball can actually help you to grip the ball. That’s a nice way that you can actually feel the surface off the ball, and therefore you’re better able to grip it. Grip is definitely important because this is going to lead your ability to be able to grip it with one hand. When you go up to do either a lay-up or dunk it can also be much better as when passing or catching. It really is important that you look for something with good grip, and generally most indoor balls have excellent grip, but you can always check out some of the reviews.

Brand of ball (eg Spalding vs Wilson)

Also, it’s important to consider brand. Brand really speaks for what the tens of thousands who have gone before you actually think of different balls. So although not every player reviews a ball, you can check out the reviews on Amazon to see what people are saying about the ball. Remember you want to be looking out for the different things that we’ve talked about previously in this article. Great brands that you generally can’t go past are Spalding and Wilson. They’re two of the more popular brands, and they’re generally considered some of the official brands of professional basketball leagues, as well as amateur basketball leagues.

Differences to Outdoor Basketballs

Another thing to consider is the difference with outdoor balls. So we talked about this a little earlier, but it really is important to know that you’re definitely going to trade off durability for feel of the ball. You are also more likely to choose a more expensive material(eg leather) because you can afford to do that because the ball will last longer given that it’s not on an outdoor abrasive surface.

Good luck with your indoor game

Well, having gone through that analysis, we wish you luck in choosing a great ball for yourself. We encourage you to check out some of the great options below on Amazon. Good luck with your indoor basketball journey!