How the Evolving Science of Ball Design Has Changed Football

People used anything even slightly spherical as the ball when football was initially played, including a human skull, a bundle of linen, or a hog’s head. Early footballs were made of inflated pig, cow, or bullock bladders within leather casings with the seams stitched together with boot laces in the 19th century when the sport became more organised.

These balls were utilised until the middle of the twentieth century, with various alterations such as rubber bladders substituting animal bladders. The leather balls were notoriously heavy, and in rainy weather, they might quadruple in weight as they absorbed the rain on the surface.

It was difficult to play beautiful football since these balls were difficult to manage, control, or run with for long periods. It was never something you treasured; rather, it was something you got rid of, and on muddy grounds, the brown balls may be difficult to spot.

Worst of all, the balls were impossible to head, causing migraines and perhaps knocking players out. Last year, an English coroner determined that former England striker Jeff Astle, who played from 1959 to 1977, died at the age of 59 from injuries sustained from heading these hefty leather balls throughout his career.

The first synthetic balls, which could mimic the properties of leather without absorbing water, were used in the 1960s, although the game continued to utilise some type of leather until the 1980s.

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The 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico were the first to use a synthetic ball. The balls now retained their shape and were much lighter, allowing players to better control them and run with them more, fostering greater flair and expression overall.

Could it be a coincidence that Diego Maradona scored probably the best goal in football history for Argentina against England in the same World Cup in Mexico? In recent years, most sports brand manufacturers have attempted to improve the football design.

However, technological advancements do not always result in improvements, as the Adidas Jubilant, which was worn in the 2010 World Cup, was a flop and much despised by players.

It was hailed as the most precise ball ever, but it was quickly discovered to crazily fly around in the air, changing direction multiple times in flight, much like the £1 plastic balls you can still purchase from your newsagent.

Goalkeepers, understandably, despised it. On the BBC, England’s David James described the game as “dreadful and horrific.” “I realised the first day that this Jabulani ball was not right,” remarked Gianluigi Buffon, Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning goalie, as reported by the BBC. The World Cup brings together the top players in the world, and you must deliver something acceptable to those guys. The new ball is not very good.”

When the ball reached speeds above 44 mph, it became unpredictable, according to NASA’s Ames Investigation Centre.

Because so many passes went awry, the ball had the combined effect of making players lose confidence in their abilities and making them timider.

Shots at goal were higher in the air, making goalkeepers’ jobs harder, however, these shots were so unpredictable that the 2010 World Cup had the lowest average goal total since 1990.

The ball shared part of the blame for the tournament’s lacklustre performance. The ball used in most of the world’s top leagues, including the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s La Liga, is currently manufactured by Nike. The Maxim is the most recent version, which they claim is the most accurate, powerful, easy to operate, and recognise football ever produced.

The ball’s micro-textured shell regulates airflow evenly across its whole surface, making it less prone to wobble, thanks to its perfect spherical form. These balls have undergone extensive testing in wind tunnels. It provides more accurate and truer shots because it has less drag in flight.

It is also claimed that players will use less energy striking the ball at larger distances, with the ball travelling 6.8 metres further on average than any other ball when struck with identical force. The ball’s five-layer casing and structure can help players have a better grip on the ball, and it has a 360-degree sweet spot by uniformly spreading pressure throughout the whole surface.

Modern balls also have visuals that have been scientifically demonstrated to improve players’ ability to see and respond to the ball. Because a person’s peripheral vision accounts for up to 99 per cent of their vision, visual experts investigated how the human eye locates and responds to the colour and design of a football while in motion.

Of course, such is the notion, but technology like this can only aid the world’s best players, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, and encourage flair and proper passing. With a hefty leather ball, would Barcelona’s Tiki-Taka have been possible? Most likely not.