The origins of the game of basketball can be traced back to a gentleman by the name of Dr. James Naismith. In 1861, Naismith was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. During his early school days, Naismith would play a game called duck on a rock whereby the child would endeavor to knock the duck off the top of the rock with a toss of another rock. Later on, Naismith would go on to McGill University in Montreal and would later become McGill University’s Athletic Director. He would subsequently move on to YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts and in 1891, the game of basketball began.

Given the cold Massachusetts winters, Naismith needed to find a recreational activity that could be played indoors and he preferred a sport that would develop skill and one that was not exclusively relying on strength. The first game was played with two peach baskets for goals and a soccer ball. Further to his credit, Naismith became a medical doctor specializing in sports physiology and a Presbyterian minister. Naismith was able to see his beloved sport of basketball, gain acceptance in numerous countries through the YMCA since 1893. As well, the sport of basketball was brought forth at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. As we speak, the game of basketball has become a very popular professional sport.

What accessories can you add to your basketball hoop to make playing basketball more fun? More importantly, what can you add to bring your game to the next level? The things you can add are lights to play into the night, return aids, rebound helpers, retention net, and a ball carrier. Lights are most definite for outside courts. They allow you to truly play at night, and nighttime is some of the best time to play. It is cooler and simply has a better atmosphere. Some options for lights are just your average light that you put on your garage, or you could get a light up basketball net. These nets glow in the dark and some even light up extra when you score. Kind of cool. You can also get glow in the dark basketball as well.

Return aids also called basketball return nets or basketball chutes are very helpful when you are shooting and you want the ball to come back to a desired location like shooting free throw. These are connected to the rim and when a shot is made, the ball goes back to where the return net was pointing. Rebound helpers can be people, but I was talking about a piece of equipment that helps improve your rebounding ability. This device is placed inside the basketball hoop and helps with your rebounding skills. We all know how important rebounding is in the game of basketball. You need to practice more than just your dribbling and shooting out on that court.

A retention net helps you in rebounding ball. They are hooked the back of the basketball hoop and are big nets that catch all makes and miss of shots. These are somewhat spend, but allow you to get off a lot more shots because your ball will not be flying everywhere because the retention net will be catching it. Ball carriers are also very helpful if you have a lot of balls to go with them. With a lot of balls you do not have to chase after the misses. You can just grab the next ball of the rack. After you are done with a drills, you can take a break by picking up all the balls that went all over the place.