We are sure many of you reading this participate in one or more sports, and maybe if you are young enough, still dream of becoming a sporting superstar. Even if you are at an age where that possibility has passed you by, you may still wish to practice your skills in the garden, and this is where ball stop netting can become invaluable.

Sports nets are often the forgotten piece of equipment but if you think about it, they are often essential. They may not cause the same debate as to which golf clubs hit the longest, which cricket bat is the easiest to hit sixes, or which soccer boot provides the best surface to control a shot, but sports netting does warrant special attention.

Obviously, at certain levels of sport, the net is part and parcel of the game. In tennis, many an Australian Open title has been won when an opponent has hit a return into the net, and for football fans there can be no better feeling than when your team’s star forward  hits the ball into the back of the net. However, not all sports netting is used at elite levels.

Going back to our scenario of you wishing to practice your favourite sport, or sports in the garden, sports netting can be the key to being able to practice properly, or even at all. For those sports that use a ball, without netting there are several situations that might occur, that could prevent you from being able to practice properly. These include:

• The risk of the ball breaking a window
• The risk of the ball damaging plants and flowers
• The risk of the ball damaging other items e.g. greenhouse, plant pots, car in the driveway, etc
• The risk of the ball damaging a neighbour’s property
• The risk of the ball being lost, especially if it is small like a cricketer or tennis ball
• The risk of the ball hitting traffic passing by outside
• The risk of the ball hitting pedestrians passing by
• The risk to children in traffic when they go to retrieve the ball
• The risk of the ball being damaged if it hits a hard or sharp object

The other point we would add here is that if you are trying to practice a sport without ball stop netting, all the above risks will be on your mind, and may distract you from focussing on what you are trying to improve. Also, you are likely to feel restricted in how hard you can hit, throw, or kick a ball, given that if you do so with too much vigour, any of the above could happen.

For all the reasons above, the wise and sensible move when you are practicing or playing spot in your garden, or in an area where some of those risks still exist, is to use sports netting that will keep the ball within the area in which you are practicing. With this ball stop netting, you, and those you are playing or practicing with, can give it your all, safe in the knowledge that you are not in any danger of causing damage to the ball, property, or others.

You should be able to find net suppliers or net manufacturers who can produce sports nets for specific sports, or if you simply want generic ball stop netting then you should be able to purchase this in different sizes, depending on the size of garden you have.