When having a portable basketball hoop, securing it from falling over needs to be the number one priority.
I lived in a neighborhood where after a light wind storm you felt like having a driving course avoiding all those hoops on the street. Nobody cared about keeping them from blowing over.
I had an in-ground hoop for a long time, so that was not my problem. Even when I was looking to buy a portable basketball hoop, I haven’t thought about it.
But then I bought one, the winter came, it started to get windy, etc., and then I found out what it means to have this kind of hoop. Not to mention that sometimes I would dunk a bit harder and it would start to shake even though I had sand in the base.
Fortunately, soon I took care of it.
What did I do? I just took two of these 16-inch anchors and lagged them into the ground on the opposite sides of the base. Along with anchors I bought this ratchet strap and tied it to anchors to secure it.
I even added one more combo of these so I have the front and back taken care of and now the stability is fantastic.
You shouldn’t play around with these things. Along with wind, even a fun activity like dunking can turn out to be pretty dangerous.
Now there are some other options here. You can use one of these ways, but you can also do 2 of these to secure it maximally.
1. Replace the water in the base with sand
All the manufacturers are saying it in manuals, but people are continually ignoring it like it’s nothing.
But when the wind blows, and hoop falls it becomes a problem. Sand is about 45% denser than water which makes it more substantial. It weighs around 13 pounds per gallon while water is approximately 8.
So that should be the clear case for this. So do this first if you’re not planning on moving this hoop often. Plus you won’t risk the chance of water freezing in a base.
The only problem with sand is that you can’t take it out so quickly and it won’t be so easy to move it because it’s heavier. But if you protect it on some other ways, for example, by securing the pole and rim with pads, you won’t need to move it, and it will be super protected.
2. Replace the water in the base with BaseGel
The second option here is to replace water with BaseGel that gives the same effect as around 400 pounds of sand.
It’s a super-absorbent polymer that absorbs up to 400 times its weight in water. If you already filled a base with water, you can add a half of BaseGel to make it more firm.
As I heard from a few associates, BaseGel can last for years, and you may be surprised how good it holds the balance.
Also, if you eventually want to empty your portable basketball hoop base, you can quickly reverse the process just by adding table salt and water mixture. It will turn into water in less than 5 minutes.
If the temperature falls below 32 degrees F (0 degrees C), BaseGel will freeze and then return to its normal state when it rises above 32 degrees F.
This product is legit, that’s for sure. Here’s the direct link to Amazon where you can find Basegel for cheap.
When the strong wind comes up, this might not be enough, but it’s the first step. So do it.
3. Use anchors and ratchet strap (the best option)
This is probably the best thing you can do to anchor down portable basketball hoop.
You basically take two anchors and hammer them down on two opposite sides of a portable hoop. Then you thread through the strap, attach it to one end and tighten it up as you mean it.
Just check out this guy’s video.
If your hoop is on a soft surface, you can hammer down the anchors.
For concrete work, all you need is a cordless drill and a concrete bit, and for asphalt, you’ll need to add hammer drill to crack the hole.
Drill it to at least 6′ into the ground.
As we said, this combo of strap and anchors is the best on Amazon, and it doesn’t even cost much.
By the way, if you have a dog, don’t even think about putting the anchors in the grass or similar surface.
There’s also a greater possibility for a hoop to fall than when it’s on concrete so you might want to secure it well.
4. Use Hoop Anchor
You can get a hoop anchor package on Amazon and install it.
They say it will turn out clean and firm if you do the job right.
Plus the opinions are divided on this one. Some say it’s a waste of money, some like it.
You can give it a try, but my advice to you is to buy it part by part, and not give your money away for a complete package just because it’s a complete package.
There you have it, the best ways to secure a portable basketball hoop from falling over. Whatever you do, don’t put bricks or sandbags on top of the base or use duck tape. You might find it weird, but some people do those things. Be smarter, listen to ImproveHoops.
