If you’re looking for a nice wall mounted basketball goal, there aren’t very many options currently without getting into the goals that they mount in actual gyms. The basketball goal space is dominated by either cheap portables, higher end goals mounted to fixed pole, or high end gym goals. When I was searching for nice glass backboard goal with a wall mount, I couldn’t believe the lack of options. Luckily, Goalsetter had exactly what I was looking for.
Goal Options
When looking at the goals, I had to choose between 48, 54, 60, and 72 inch goals. I figured that if I was doing it, I might as well buy the biggest one since the cost wasn’t that much different at only a couple hundred dollars. I ended up buying it from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Goalsetter-GS60-Adjustable-Basketball-Backboard/dp/B008BG2JKE/?th=1&psc=1
When it arrived, the first problem I had was that it required a pretty wide wall to mount to. The posts on my shed were only 4 1/2 inches wide and 6 inches deep, not nearly big enough. What I ended up doing was making a 10 foot tall by 6″ wall of boards sandwiched together. I wish I had a picture but I don’t, it’s now covered up unfortunately. The only downside is that there was some side to side shaking until I added some additional bracing to adjacent poles.
Once the wall mount was up, it was time to install the goal. A 72″ backboard is HEAVY, like 250 pounds. What we ended up doing was putting the goal in the back of a pickup, then lifting it just enough to get it attached to the wall mount. Took 3 people to do, it would be pretty hard to do with less unless you have some special tools.
Putting it to use
So now that we had it installed, how did it play? Just like a high school goal honestly. I was really impressed with the whole package, you could mount this in a real gym and I don’t think you’d be able to tell that this is a consumer grade model. Everyone that comes over is just blown away by how big the backboard is and how nice it is. The only thing I haven’t splurged for but probably should are the foam pads underneath.
If there was one negative to the whole setup it’s that if you need to raise and lower the goal a lot, raising the goal is really hard to do. The cylinder just doesn’t have enough counterweight so you really have to struggle to raise it. Pretty sure that it would be impossible for kids to adjust upwards (they could probably do down). Not that you’d want them to adjust it anyways, but just for the consumers info.
So is it worth the $1500 over say your $200 portable goal? I would say that if you’re going to playing with it very much, absolutely. The goal will last way longer than a portable goal and having good equipment is very important in encouraging kids to play more.
Additional Options
One of the other things you can add to the goal is a pair of backboard pads. I’ve thought about adding those to mine but they’re a little pricey at $150 for the pair. You can find those here:
I’ll update this review if I end up buying them. The pads are available in red, blue, green, and black. I also added a video review below if you’re interested, you can see how I mounted it and other details:
