Glass vs acrylic vs polycarbonate backboards: rebound, durability and what the makers say

The table

The rebound, impact and scratch rows draw on Lifetime's backboard guide (tempered glass has an “amazing rebound factor,” polycarbonate surfaces “do not crack or chip” and are “stronger even than acrylic,” Impact HDPE has a “lower rebound factor”) and on the makers' product pages; the sun and scratching rows are what owners of acrylic and polycarbonate boards commonly report after years outdoors, stated as reported rather than measured.

Tempered glass

A sheet of glass 5/16 to 1/2 inch thick, heat-treated so it breaks into pebbles rather than shards, in a steel or aluminum frame. It is what gyms use, and every maker's premium line is glass: Goalrilla at 3/8 inch, Silverback and Goaliath at 5/16, Pro Dunk and Mega Slam at 1/2. It rebounds hardest and most consistently, never yellows, and barely scratches. Its two costs are weight, which is why glass boards ride on 4x4-to-6x6 poles and portables built for glass (the Lifetime Mammoth, Spalding Beast) have metal-framed or 55-gallon bases, and breakage: Lifetime's warranty terms exclude “breakage of the tempered glass playing surface,” while Goalrilla's GS-series pages say their lifetime term includes the glass and Mega Slam offers a one-time backboard replacement. Read the term before assuming.

Acrylic

A clear plastic sheet with the look of glass, lighter, tougher than glass under impact, and cheaper. Spalding builds its U-Turn in-ground and Momentous portables around it; Goalsetter and Spalding's Beast offer it as an alternative to glass. It rebounds better than polycarbonate and worse than glass, and it can scratch; what owners most commonly report after several years outdoors is yellowing and haze, which changes the look more than the play. On a budget in-ground with a ground sleeve or a fast-assembling portable, acrylic is a reasonable middle.

Polycarbonate (and HDPE)

The unbreakable one. Polycarbonate is what Lifetime calls shatterproof and what Escalade uses on its NXT and GoTek lines; it takes a bat, a rock from the mower or a fall in a storm without cracking. The trade is a softer rebound (the sheet flexes and absorbs the ball) and a surface that scratches and fogs over years and cannot be polished back. High-density polyethylene (Lifetime's Impact boards on 44-inch hoops) is a step further in the same direction: unbreakable, cheap, and with what Lifetime itself calls a lower rebound factor that suits “children and beginning players.”

Which one for your driveway