There are four main components of a soccer ball -- cover, stitching, lining, and bladder. In this blog post, football fan Alexander Sabadash discusses these main parts that contribute to a soccer ball's overall performance. By knowing these, you'll be able to decide on which type of soccer ball you are going to choose, based on your preference and level of play.
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source: premiumballs.net |
In the past, a football's surface is usually made of full grain leather, says Alexander Sabadash. But since leather tends to absorb water, the ball becomes heavy, which may cause inaccuracies in the way football is played. It then improved into either (PU) polyurethane - for professional players and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for ordinary games.
Stitchings
It is essential to understand first the panels making up the surface of the soccer ball, points out Alexander Sabadash. The outer surface comprises 32 panels, which is the most common and primarily used in professional matches. Because of this, the soccer ball is considered a Buckminster Ball, having 20 hexagonal (six-sided) and 12 pentagonal (five-sided) surfaces. These panels are then stitched with a polyester cord. Ordinary balls are machine-stitched, while high-end balls are hand-stitched.
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source: soccerball.com |
These interior layers help a soccer ball to retain its shape and bounce, explains Alexander Sabadash. This is achieved by bonding together layers of polyester to give the ball the desired thickness and strength while considering structure and bounce. A professional soccer ball consists of four or more layers of lining, while a promotional or practice balls have fewer layers of lining.
Bladder
The bladder is the innermost chamber of a soccer ball. Alexander Sabadash notes it holds the air and is usually made from latex or butyl. In comparison, butyl bladders hold the air much longer than latex bladders. The latex bladder, however, provides better surface tension, although when it comes to combining contact quality and air retention, the butyl bladder is still an excellent choice.
