How Do You Tell If A Basketball Is Fully Pumped?

October 3, 2019 Mike Comments 0 Comment

If you want to know if a basketball is fully pumped and has the right amount of air, there is a simple trick you can do. Hold the ball up to your face and slowly let it drop. If the bottom of the ball bounces up past your waist or slightly higher, then it is fully pumped. If the basketball bounces up close to the chest, it means it has too much air. If it does not bounce up to the waist, it means there is not enough air.

This is a general rule to follow. However, if you want to get a more precise estimation, then there is another trick. For example, if the bottom of the basketball were to drop from a height of 6 feet or 72 inches, then the top of the basketball should come to a point somewhere between 49 inches and 54 inches. You can get tape and place marks on a wall at 72 inches, 54 inches, and 49 inches to measure accurately. Also, make sure the flooring is similar to the one you will be playing on. Drop the ball from the 72 inch mark and the top of the basketball should be between the 49 and 54 inch mark you made. If it bounces higher than 54, it has too much air. If it bounces lower than 49 inches, there is not enough air.

How Do You Actually Pump A Basketball?

1. Buy a basketball air pump.

2. Lubricate the needle of the air pump with water or saliva before inserting it into the ball.

3. Insert the needle into the hole of the basketball and start pumping slowly (Don’t go too fast).

If you want a good basketball air pump, I would recommend the Franklin pump.

Click HERE to get the Franklin Pump

Why Does My Basketball Keep Losing Air?

Avoid keeping your basketball in cold conditions because your basketball will lose air and deflate rapidly.

The air inside the basketball expands as the temperature increases. This will cause air inside the basketball to leak. Also, NEVER pump your basketball in the cold, since it can cause the bladder to explode. The bladder of a basketball is the outside covering that is made of synthetic rubber.

So be sure to store your basketball in a warm safe area, preferably indoors at room temperature.

How Much Does a Fully Inflated Basketball Weigh?

A fully inflated men’s 29.5 inch basketball weights 22 ounces or about 1.375 pounds. A fully inflated woman’s 29.5 inch basketball weights 22 ounces or about 1.375 pounds.

Click HERE to learn more about the weight of basketballs.

How Much PSI is a NBA Basketball?

Air pressure is what allows the basketball to bounce high and is measured in different ways. Basketballs are measured in PSI or pounds per square inch. A basketball should be about 8 PSI.

For comparisons sake, a football needs between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds PSI, whereas a tennis ball needs a pressure of 14 PSI. A car tire has a pressure of 40 PSI!

The higher the air pressure inside a basketball, the higher it will bounce.

You can check for the air pressure of your basketball by inserting a pressure gauge inside the needle opening. A pressure gauge is a measurement tool that examines the condition of a fluid (liquid or gas) that is specified by the force that the fluid would exert. The pressure guard will tell you the PSI value of your basketball.

Does a Basketball Bounce Higher on Concrete or Wood?

Basketballs bounce higher on a concrete than on a hardwood floor. Basketballs bounce higher on harder surfaces than it does on soft surfaces.

The type of surface you dribble the basketball on has a strong effect on how high it bounces.

“This is because when a basketball bounces off of a surface, some of its energy is absorbed by that surface. Some surfaces absorb more energy than others do. A hard surface, such as concrete, absorbs less energy compared with a softer surface. The more energy absorbed by the surface, the less that remains in the ball for it to bounce. This is why you should have seen that when you bounced the basketball on a relatively hard surface it bounced higher (it lost less energy) compared with when it was bounced on a softer surface (where it lost more energy). ” – Scientific American

You can try testing this even further by bouncing a basketball on a soft material like a carpet and then bouncing it on outside on concrete.