Low Noise Basketball

[paulincanada]

Can anyone help me find a low noise basketball? The car pad next door has some teenagers playing basketball. It's 6 feet from our front bay window. It's not so much the sound noise as it is the vibration off the concrecte pad that is producing a steady series of shocks as I try to read the newapaper.(windows closed tight!)

I've been to 2 local sports stores but they only have real basketballs.

Any and all advice welcome.

 

[KiwiMace]

Try this: Teenagers will invariably leave the ball out overnight. When you get a chance, go over and examine the ball carefully for splits, cuts, cracking that may propagate to form a leak. If you do not happen to find any, proceed to make one with a sharp tool of your choosing.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Remember SuperBalls? Blue solid rubber balls with very high coefficient of restitution? Toss them at a hard floor, and they'd bounce back at you with vigor.

I think it was E-A-R Corp that passed out some samples to demonstrate their damped rubber material. They looked exactly like SuperBalls, but no matter how hard you threw them at the floor, they'd just sort of thud, rebound an inch or two, fall to the floor and just lay there.

Recogizing that a lot of the elasticity of a basketball comes from the pressurized air within, nevertheless a ball made of that material would sure take a lot of energy out of the game. I wonder if you'd even be able to dribble it.

Got front money for a batch of custom energy absorbing basketballs?



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Rob45]

You didn't by any chance post this very same question about a year or so ago did you?

I remember it was answered extensively at that time; if it wasn't you, you might want to do a little search.

 

[paulincanada]

Thanks and yes I remember another chap describing the same problem and he said he found a quiet basketball...but where? I cannot find one. I'm wondering if he made one out of foam, or bought one in a store? Where are they available? thanks

 

[adityak]

How about covering the basketball court with acoustic barrier wall?

 

[COWBOYME]

Is there anything but concrete between the pad and your house? If not, de-coupling the pad from the house would help some. You could saw a joint all the way throught the concrete and filling the void with some elastomeric material. If the house is already de-coupled, you might try to dampen the widow sashes. Otherwise, maybe take up basketball. It's a fun and healthy alternative to newspapers

 

[electricpete]

Here's the thread mentioned
thread384-149393

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[karadenizcan]

Dynamic Water Flow may help solve this problem.

 

[electricpete]

meaning what?....a lawn sprinkler that can be discretely turned on from inside at strategic times?

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