A net hangs from a basketball rim to control the basketball and prevent it from traveling too far as it enters the cylindrical hoop. It's also used to make it easier on officials to see the net move and thus distinguish whether a basketball went through the rim or not. There is a standard height of rim used in all basketball competitions except for youth leagues.
Standard Basketball Goal Height
The standard height of a basketball goal is 10 feet. This standard height is used by professional basketball organizations, such as the National Basketball League and the Women's National Basketball League as well as college, high school and middle school teams. There has been discussion of raising the rim for NBA competitions, but as of January 2011, the standard height remains at 10 feet.
Youth Basketball Goal Height
Because youth are not as strong as older basketball players and would thus have difficulty shooting a ball comfortably at a goal that is 10 feet tall, many use an 8-foot high rim. Some competitive associations for move advanced youth, such as the Amateur Athletic Union use the 10 feet high rim.
Net
The standard height of the actual basketball net used in the NBA is 15 to 18 inches. The ones purchased for home are likely to be 9.5 inches. This would mean that on a standard height rim, the net would hang down to be 9 feet, 2.5 inches above the ground. On an 8-foot rim, the net would hang down to 5 feet, 2.5 inches above the ground. The netting in official competitions is always white, but for home use, you can purchase neon yellow or multicolored basketball nets.
Considerations
Some basketball hoops purchased for home use allow you to manipulate the rim to be varying heights. This allows you to purchase the rim while a child is young and have the unit still be appropriate to use as they get older. Younger athletes will be able to practice the appropriate shooting technique instead of having to throw the ball up with all of their strength. Once a young athlete can shoot comfortably at the standard height of 10 feet, however, they should continue to practice shooting only at that height. Accurate shooting requires a significant number of repetitions.
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