A basketball is an inflated basketball for the game of basketball, standard orange color.
The ball should have a spherical shape, the set color – any shade of orange with the traditional pattern of eight inserts and black seams.
The standard weight of such a ball ranges from 567 to 650 grams, the circle – from 750 to 780 mm. The size of a basketball may vary for different types of games.
All basketballs can be divided into two main types:
- designed for indoor play only – indoor;
- Universal, suitable for use both indoors and outdoors – indoor/outdoor.
It is worth noting that just a few years ago in basketball games used an ordinary soccer. It was not until 1894 that Naismith asked AG Spalding & Bros. to design a ball specifically for the game of basketball. Thus, the first basketball was made of 4 panels of leather sewn together with small laces.
In those years, balls were far from being perfectly rounded, so it was impossible to dribble a basketball. That wasn’t required, however, since the first rules of the game called for moving the ball around the court using only player-to-person passes. Now it’s considered jogging. Only by the end of 1937 it was possible to abandon the external connections with laces. And in 1970, these balls began to be produced not from 4 panels, but already from 8. Balls changed and the rules of the game changed.
A modern basketball consists of:
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- The chambers are a cavity with air, usually made of rubber or butyl;
- Filament Wraps – The chamber is wrapped with a large number of nylon or polyester threads, so the ball is given the desired spherical shape;
- Carcass – it reinforces the internal components of the ball, most often made of thick and dense rubber materials;
- Outer cover: it is divided into 8 panels, which are then attached to the carcass.
The surface of the ball is covered with small bubbles, they give it a characteristic texture, and black lines are the lines of attachment of the same 8 panels to each other.
In this way, the new basketballs could be easily carried around the court, which was an important element in the rules of the game.
Dimensions of basketballs:
- Size 7, diameter – about 25 cm, weight 567 – 650g, this type of ball is used for men’s basketball competitions;
- size 6, diameter – about 24 cm, weight 500 – 540g, this type of ball is used for women’s competitions;
- Size 5, diameter – about 23 cm, weight 470 – 500g, used in youth competitions;
- size 3, diameter – about 19 cm, weight 300 – 330g, used for mini-basketball games.