Buying A Football (All You Need To Know!)

Last Updated on October 13, 2023 by Alex PT

When buying a football, consider the size, material, and price. Size 5 is the standard size for adult matches and training. Leather footballs are the most durable, but they are also the most expensive. Synthetic leather and PVC footballs are less expensive and more durable than leather footballs, but they may not perform as well.

Choosing The Right Size

The size of the football you are getting would be determined by the user’s age and size. You might be getting the ball for a kid or a teenager, you should know the size of the ball that would suit the person you are buying for. Football has a variation of three sizes, they are sizes 3, 4, and 5 for the normal balls. The mini footballs we have are 0, 1, and 2 for promotions. For the sizes and their designated user’s age. A child that is 6-9 years old should use a ball of size 3, the ages 9-13 should use the size 4, and ages 14 upward should use size 5. These sizes do not work for standard football games and adults can get their balls themselves. 

Sometimes the kids you are working with are not even this big, they could be smaller than the ages mentioned. Size 1 and 2 football should be good for this age grade. These footballs are referred to as mini or midi footballs. These mini and midi sizes are used by professionals sometimes when training because it helps them get good ball accuracy and coordination. These sizes of balls are known to be used for promotional balls and events for brands. 

Choosing Good Materials

The footballs many people know of were made with leather but nowadays, they use different stuff to make the footballs. Although every material used on different football brands is used to meet the needs of different users. 

Match Balls

These are large and well-constructed using PU fabric. Although PU is expensive, it is the best material to make a football easier to play and is best for any time and any weather some balls are made from Korean  Dunk Sung and Japanese Corderly. The balls are made from four-ply too. 

Training Football

These are balls made to last for long periods, are completely reliable, and don’t need much to maintain. Because of this, you will notice that the training calls available are mostly made with PVC materials and TPU. TPU materials have foams added to them so they are soft with good quality and gentle touch so players can easily gain control of the ball. PVC is a harder material but is more reliable than TPU materials. They are better to use on pitches that will likely get your football spoiled. 

Promotional Football

The brands used for promotional purposes and other occasions are used in a situation where the expense is the major factor. The football is made with good PVC materials and 2 later of cotton are laminated. They are cheap but also reliable. Don’t let the price you get them to think that you are not getting the real deal, might not be as good as the training ball but they do just fine. 

Stitching 

There are different choices when stitching a football. Most of the footballs used today are stitched using a machine, maybe all of them are. The machine stitching method is more reliable and easier to use. On the training balls and promo balls, you notice that the stitching is good and would hardly fumble. Among the kinds of stitching we have available for people to use, the only traditional way is by using your hand to go through the whole thing. Using your hand to stitch is a cooler skill than using the machine to do it. Also, it has more benefits than machine-stitched football. It gives the ball more aerodynamic playing skills and lets in more tension than the ball sewn with a machine. The hand-stitched ball will give you a better time on the field. 

The Bladder

Most people tend to say that a ball is only as good as the bladder used to make it. Most footballs used today are made up of latex and synthetic bladders. Traditionally, late is used as the main material for football bladders. They are the best because the material provides good quality and rebound features. The only bad thing is that balls made with this latex material are porous so air is lost from the ball. The only thing to do is give the ball average inflation. 

The training balls and match balls are known to have strong artificial and or rubber bladders. The material used for the bladder is butyl. The best thing about this material is that it helps the ball hold in the air so you don’t have to pump the ball that much. Also, the bolstered layer of the ball lets out a better ball form and dimension. Well, as we said before, every ball made with different materials meets the needs of a group of users. 

Final Words

There are a lot of things that make a football a good one. These things listed here are part of them although these are mainly the things that make up every football. Other things to look out for when buying a football are the circumference which helps it roll well on the ground, its ability to stay round, its bouncing nature, porosity, weight, pressure loss, and stability of the size or form of the ball.

References:

https://medium.com/@theworlddaily.ke/what-to-look-for-before-buying-football-77d435c6ee57
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/protips/sports-and-activities/football/how-to-buy-a-football