What Is the Best Flooring for a Basketball Court?

When picturing an indoor basketball court, you will likely envision a varnished wood floor painted with lines & markings. However, is that the best kind of flooring for amateur hoopsters and athletes? In relation to economics, safety, league regulations, etc., there are many factors to consider including the basketball floor.

What to Consider When Selecting Basketball Floor

We know that not all gym floors are equal. Besides that, the elementary school gym flooring is also not same with that in a university or high school. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) sets the standards for specific requirements in choosing basketball court floor based on 3 aspects: sporting, technical, and financial functionality.

Financial considerations relate to the installation and maintenance costs for the amount of time the court will be used. On the other hand, technical specifications relate to sourcing material & installation from experienced & qualified vendors. Then, sporting functionality is much more complicated. Below is a list of the basic requirements:

1. Elasticity

It enables floor to deaden the impact of running and jumping as well as affect the muscles of the athletes and the ball performance.

2. Point Elasticity

This refers to the materials consisting of the overlay flooring & must be consistent across the surface entirely.

3. Area-elasticity

For your information, it refers to the subfloor including stiff yet flexible joists.

4. Uniformity

Then, uniformity means that the playing area must be level perfectly.

5. Shock Absorption

On the indoor basketball floor, shock absorption is useful to measure the impact absorbed by the court floor as opposed to return the athletes’ energy force.

6. Deformation

This is about how the floor’s thickness, viscosity, and elasticity respond to pressure.

7. Superficial Friction

Talking about superficial friction, different sports have different optimum values. However, the foot should be able to move across the floor surface without any risk of spraining.

8. Ball Bounce Uniformity

The uniformity of the ball bounce means that the floor cannot absorb too much bounce so that it is difficult to play. Besides that, this ball bounce uniformity must be consistent across the whole floor surface.

9. Color

Basketball wooden floor must have a dull color with a light reflection factor between 0.25 to 0.50 so that the court markings are visible clearly.

10. Insulation

This requirement doesn’t only increase comfort but also affect the consumption of energy.

11. Acoustic Insulation

Then, aims to ensure jumping, running, and bouncing the ball don’t cause excessive vibration on the court floor.

12. General Safety Guidelines

This includes no toxic substance release, fire resistance, no splinters, and ability to withstand the sports equipment load.

To choose the best flooring for a basketball court, you have to understand who will use it & how often, as well as learn the specific regulations for that play level.

Wood as the Traditional Flooring Material of a Basketball Court

Mostly, indoor basketball courts have been built from wood with various kinds of substrate constructions underneath for preventing moisture, providing stability, and allowing for cushion. If you have ever been in a basketball gym, you will hear almost a hollow sound when kids are running down the basketball floor. That’s the elasticity of the court. That allows for that movement while players run Up & down.

The typical construction is parquet or wood planks. For your information, parquet is a combination of wood’s small strips locked forming a pattern within 12 inches or 24 inches square. Both parquet or wood planks belong to quality materials. However, they are certainly not the only choice for a quality court.

Is LVT the New Standard for Basketball Floor?

Many lower education facilities, rec areas, and church gyms, use LVT. Until now, the only reason why colleges & professional levels don’t use it is because LVT is not typically thought as the product to use in those environments.

Traditional gym or court floors have always been wood. The limitless amount of LVT patterns and the wear layer tech makes LVT a real challenger to wood floor. In addition, when doing a logo, the floor is the logo in LVT. For your information, it is not painted on and laminated on as a sticker.

The Safety of LVT Flooring

Safety relates to a wide spectrum of characteristics in basketball floor tiles outdoor. The clear consideration is the impact from a fall. Actually, there’s no different performance between LVT and wood floors. However, you need to know that you use an epoxy adhesive to install LVT in order to ensure planks will not break loose when athletes run the court in shoes gripping the floor.

Besides that, the slip coefficient on LVT is around 0.6 dry and 1.05 wet for a rubber sole, which is higher compared to a polyurethane sealed wood floor. LVT will be less slippery wet compared to what the polyurethane is. In fact, it will have more grip to it.

Cost Comparison Between LVT and Wood Basketball Floors

Budget always becomes an important consideration when you plan a project. Don’t forget to look at the installation & maintenance! A benefit of an LVT floor is that you do not need to apply finishing after it has been put down. For your information, LVT is easy to maintain. On the other hand, a wood basketball court floor should be sanded down & refinished with polyurethane, once every 3 to 6 years. that may cost about 60,000 dollars.

It means, if your return on LVT investment is in 3 years, you will save 60,000 dollars. Maintenance is simple enough. You just need to damp mop it. Alternatively, you can run an auto scrubber on it. So, we can conclude that LVT is cheaper to install compared to wood.

There are some purposes when choosing the best way to construct the basketball floor. The bottom line is to ensure you know who will use the court & how they will use it. So, make sure that you understand the profile of the users fully to build a court that will be a responsible investment fiscally and safe & functional for those playing there. To purchase the best material for court floors, you can find out on jla.co.id.

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