under 12's size 5 ball, why not an 8 foot ring too?

my 9 year old son whom has been wanting to play basketball for a long time has finally gotten a chance to do so, he plays at school with mates but has never played a formal game and is finally in a team but is under 12's due to him turning 10 next May,

i know they have recently changed the ball size to 5 for under 12's (In Country VIC) i am curious as to why they havent lowered the rings too?

Considering that the reasons for changing the ball size was to encourage more retention/enjoyment for the players...

i am a little bit worried about his overall enjoyment considering he will be a lot smaller than other under 12 kids and the rim being a lot higher than what he has so far been used to

any ideas on if they will change the ring height?

should i just 'throw him in the deep end' so to speak and adjust the ring at home so he can get used to it?

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Anonymous
Years ago

Not changing height of the ring due to the cost involved of changing rings at venues across the state.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Throw him in the deep end, will probably struggle to begin with but that's always been the case.
Soon it'll be can we lower the ring because my 12 year old wants to dunk it in a game.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Many top age Under 10s find the low ring too low. Most Associations around Aust don't use the low rings at all.

He'll manage on the full size ring just fine. Relax.

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-
Years ago

i like the size 5 for U12s - no need to lower rings IMO. Will make better shooters.

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D2.0
Years ago

Depends on the cut-offs as to what ages you're actually seeing. But keep in mind that standards such as ring height have to also cater for the elite end of competition. A lot of the kids, that are going to go on to really have a future in BBall, are already quite tall at 11.
Yeah, it's probably still a bit high for the average 10 year olds, who just want to play, and even for the late-bloomers.

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4 real
Years ago

Lower the rings, I say. I want to dunk!

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Anonymous
Years ago

Because that's the natural progression.
Start in 10s with a small ball and low ring.
On to 12s same size ball but higher ring
14s larger ball
and so on.

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Easy As
Years ago

As somebody above stated, its all the do with the current infrastructure in place. They want to have the rings at 9ft for U12, but 1% of the equipment around the country would be able to cater for it, and the cost to have it retrofitted would be far too expensive. 8ft rings for U12 would take away all the positives of changing to the smaller ball.

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Grovermister
Years ago

thanks for the feedback,

have discussed with him that he 'may struggle' for a bit but he is determined and just wants to play ball,

his first training is this sunday so will see how he goes.

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Anonymous
Years ago

i think a low ring for under 12's is too small but keep the size 5 ball

Reply #873923 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

I believe the only courts used for district in SA that can do 9 feet rings is St Clair.

Would be great if others can retrofit and we can go 8 feet at 10s, 9 feet at 12s, and 10 feet at 14s.

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Anonymous
Years ago

No. Terrible idea. St Clair go 10, 8'6 and 8 btw. Terrible idea. Nothing wrong with 12s on a 10 ft ring.

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Anonymous
Years ago

St Clair can go to any height you want them to between those ranges. You have to wind them down and up.

Anything that makes Under 12s resemble real basketball is a winner in my books.

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Camel 31
Years ago

For me. at 10 years, I recall first starting practice on our home court on 10 foot rings, then coming out to play games with 8 foot rings and it was so easy...
A good memory of the old days ...enjoyed it...

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Dave Q
Years ago

Nah, keeps the hoops at 10 foot. I 100% support size 5 balls for u10/u12 however.

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Shano76
Years ago

My son is going up to u14s- with the change, will he use a 6 or 7?

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Anonymous
Years ago

U14 = size 6
U16= size 7

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Chairman Of The Bored
Years ago

The message I got from our club is that the ball change was to ease the transition, so the ball change and ring height change doesn't occur all in one go. The kids will adapt fine.

Reply #874569 | Report this post

Hoops

under 12's size 5 ball, why not an 8 foot ring too?

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