A hoop or a net: one needs two people, the other needs six

What each one needs from your pool

A basketball hoop mounts on a weighted base at the poolside or hooks over the wall, depending on the model. Bases are water or sand filled, and most sets include a ball or two and a pump. Nothing about it depends on the pool’s width, which is why it works in a 12-foot pool as well as a 24-foot one.

A volleyball net has to span the water. The sets sold for pools are adjustable, with some expanding to around 24 feet, and they use weighted or water-filled bases that sit on the pool floor or on the deck. That immediately rules out small pools, and it needs depth people can stand in to play properly.

The one that actually gets used

On the evidence of how people use backyard pools, the hoop. It works with one child and one ball, it does not need setting up, and it does not need anyone else to be free. A net is a party product: excellent when six people are in the pool, and in the shed the rest of the time.

Our pool games roundup makes the same point across the category: the things that get used are the ones that work with the number of people who are actually there.

The above-ground safety point

A hoop that hooks over the pool wall gives a child something to grab and climb from outside. On an above-ground pool the wall is the barrier, so anything mounted on it deserves the same thought as a ladder — our fence roundup covers what the barrier is supposed to do.

A freestanding weighted base at the poolside avoids that entirely, and is the version to prefer where small children are around.

Who should buy which

The hoop for nearly every above-ground pool, and especially for households with children. It is cheap, it suits any pool size, and it converts a swim into a game without organizing anything.

The net if your pool is genuinely wide, the water is standing depth across it, and you regularly have four or more people in it. Our party roundup is the context where it makes sense.

Neither, in a very small pool. Under about 12 feet the water is the constraint, and our small pool roundup covers what does work.

Mounting, and what to check

Bases are water or sand filled on most sets, which means two things: they are heavy once filled and effectively permanent for the season, and they must be emptied before winter storage or they split.

For a hoop, the choice is between a weighted base at the poolside and a bracket that hooks over the wall. On an above-ground pool the second option puts a handhold on the outside of the barrier, which is worth avoiding where small children are around — the same reasoning our fence roundup applies to ladders.

For a net, check the span against the pool’s actual width rather than its nominal size, and check whether the bases are designed to stand in the water or on a deck. Sets sold for inground pools frequently assume a deck on both sides.

The balls, which outlast nothing

Both sets usually include one or two balls and a pump, and the balls are the first thing to go — UV, chlorine and being left on hot paving. Buy a spare with the set rather than finding out mid-August, and store them out of the sun with the floats, per our storage guide.

Inflate them to firm rather than hard, for the same heat-expansion reason that applies to every other inflatable in the pool.

If the pool is too small for either

Under about twelve feet, a net is out and a hoop is marginal. What does work is games that need no fixed equipment at all — dive toys, water guns, races across a short pool — and our pool games roundup and pool toys roundup are built around small-pool reality.

The general rule holds across the category: the equipment that gets used is the equipment that works with the number of people who are actually in the pool on an ordinary evening.

Hard edges, and where they sit

Both of these put rigid structure at the edge of a pool where people are jumping in, and that deserves a moment of thought before the first game.

A weighted base at the poolside is a trip hazard on a wet surface and something to land on if somebody slips. Site it away from the entry point and away from the side people jump from, not simply where the hose reaches. A net’s bases sit in the water on some models, which puts a hard object where feet land.

The pole and rim on a hoop are the other one. In a shallow above-ground pool, an enthusiastic jump toward a rim that overhangs the water is how teeth get broken. Mount it so the rim sits over the wall rather than over deep water, and keep the game to shooting rather than dunking.

None of that makes either product unsafe — it makes the siting decision worth five minutes. Our pool games roundup covers the alternatives that put nothing rigid near the water at all.

The honest recommendation

Buy the hoop. It suits any pool size, it works with one player, it costs less, and it is the one that will still be used in August. For most backyard pools that is the end of the decision.

Buy the net as well, later, if you regularly have four or more people in a pool wide enough to span. It is a genuinely good product for that situation and a poor one for any other, which is a fair description of most party equipment.

Store them properly and they last years

Both sets are mostly plastic, foam and a net, and all three degrade in sun. Empty the bases before winter — water left in a base freezes and splits it, which is the most common way these sets die — and store the net dry rather than rolled up damp.

The balls are the consumable. Deflate them slightly for storage rather than leaving them hard, for the same heat-expansion reason that applies to every inflatable in the pool, and keep them out of direct sunlight with the rest of the float gear.