Soccer Balls - How To Buy And Choose A Good Ball

Surprisingly, questions on soccer balls is something I seem to receive quite frequently in my emails. Many readers have asked if I know anything about the different brands available such as Mitre soccer balls, Diadora balls, and even funny questions like whether indoor soccer balls are better than the normal ones. This is why I thought of writing a post on what I think are the best ones around and to make practical decisions on how to select soccer balls.

Now, when I was playing soccer for my school at a national level, we never had the treatment dished out for professional soccer players. We had to buy our own soccer balls, the school never even had budget for any. You could just imagine during training, we were left carrying our own balls around under the hot sun and trying to get our workout going but feeling so sorry for ourselves because we were basically kicking our own balls bought using our savings!

From that time onwards, we learnt a lot on which soccer balls were better, which ones were suitable for different conditions and matches, and which ones were well worth our money. It was also fun providing autographed soccer balls (yes, with our own signatures what else?) for fans who turned up for our matches. Those were few and far between although you were likely to see the stands filled up more when you started to win and cause numerous upsets. It went to a point where we were no longer huge underdogs but even expected to beat the bigger teams, which we did.

The first thing you need to know about selecting a good soccer ball is that it must be able to withstand the constant pressure and stress it undergoes during a match or training. If you thought soccer players have to withstand a lot going on in a game, think again. Soccer balls are kicked left right centre for the full 90 minutes and sometimes even more when it goes to sudden death. So what happens? You need a ball which can take all that punishment and has solid material and when pumped full of air, is DIAMOND HARD. One sure way of making sure that this happens is to head the ball. Does it give you bumps on the head? If so, you've got a great ball.

At this point, you might be asking, so which brand of soccer balls are better? Is it Mitre or Diadora? Reebok or Nike? To be honest, there is never a BEST ball. I've always loved the feel of a Mitre ball, so you may wish to give that a try. Diadora isn't too bad either, but why not go for the world cup soccer balls? I am sure the quality is guaranteed and it can probably last for its fair share of kickabouts.

The next requirement you would do well to consider is that of the high-tech features the ball provides. Soccer balls are now not just a normal leather stitched round object that you simply kick around or aim at a friend's head. With David Beckham and so many other players trying to perfect their free kicks, they demand more verve and spin in their balls. They want to trick the goalkeepers and score more goals so that they can indulge in their knee slide victory rolls and wait for the birds to land on their feet. If you want the same to happen to you, yes, you need more than your normal football. You need a fantastic high-tech football that can give you maximum velocity and move so much in the air that even Peter Shilton would have trouble stopping unless you were German (again).

So, where can you find such great soccer balls? Unless you have been living in the 18th century, you should have known something called the sporting goods stores. They sell lots of football equipment and not just soccer balls, so you know where to get them. Just about every store stocks equipment for soccer nowadays and they have every brand available usually. Make that trip now on Sunday or online!