I bought this hoop for my family, thinking they would like a hoop that stopped bouncing out of position every time somebody slammed the hoop too hard.

Though there are cheaper hoops that can be cemented into the ground, I needed a portable hoop because our family moves frequently. This one is great, because it can be used with either water or sand. While I prefer to use sand (water can get skunky), sand is not always something that can be easily found when moving to a new neighborhood.

The system is not difficult to install once you know how, but discovering how is a trial. The instructions are very difficult to understand, with parts that only loosely correspond to the diagrams. The instructions are quick and vague (perhaps to make it seem simple?) but are difficult to get the correct parts in the correct spots.

The adjustable height is a nice feature, but not something that is easily done, so it's better to decide on a height and stick to it. Though I'm told the glass backboard is a more "authentic" feeling for the basketball players, it also gets dirty very quickly. Any bit of weather or muck attaches to the glass and sticks there. Because ours it set to the ten foot height, the only way to get close to it is to spray it with the garden hose. This is not terribly effective.

The best part of the system is that it is extremely sturdy for a portable hoop. It takes a lot of punishment and never shifts away from its spot or threatens to topple, like a portable hoop we had in the past. The backboard is smaller than one found in a gym, but it's worth trading for a bigger backboard with increased stability. This isn't a bad system and, once assembled, works really well. However, the assembly is not easy.