Looking For More Information About Soccer Balls?
Posted on May 28th, 2009. Filed under: General.Knowing that you need to better understand this topic I recommend that you take 5 minutes to read what we have to say.
The key element for one of the most popular sports in the world, soccer balls come in different designs, sizes and weights. Plus, the materials used for the construction of the soccer balls are also very diverse, directly influencing the features of the finite products as well as the price. Here are a few technical details on the structure and the making of soccer balls that many of us know nothing of when having fun in a nice game.
Several covering layers are included in the surface structure of the soccer balls and they are not made of natural leather as it may appear at first sight but they are manufactured from lightweight plastic that keeps the balls dry. Poly vinyl chlorine or PVC and polyurethane or PU are the main materials used for synthetic leather production. Even the types of artificial leather remain a mystery to most soccer fans, because these patterns too, come in great number of varieties.
Depending on the design of the soccer balls, the various segments of the exterior cover, also known as the panels, present specific features. There can be 32, 26 or 16 panels with the mention that 32-panel variant is normally used in the majority of official games. Yet, the others are encountered with some leagues in Scotland and England. After being sewn together and inflated, the panels create the nearly perfect sphere that we call soccer ball.
A special material called the lining is used between the internal bladder that holds the air and the outer covering. Laminated cotton or polyester are normally used for the intermediary layer, and they play an important part in the bouncing and strength features of the ball. In the professional design of soccer balls, up to five different linings can be used, although practice balls include fewer linings.
As for the bladders that actually keep the soccer balls inflated, differences do appear here as well, particularly because of the nature of the materials. Soccer balls can be manufactured either from latex or butyl. While natural rubber or latex creates a great surface tension, the tiny pores in the structure of this material cause the soccer balls to deflate.
This means that you’ll have to re-inflate the ball at least once a week to maintain pressure and keep the ball practical. Butyl soccer balls on the other hand have an excellent air retention capacity and rely on valves for this process.
Help me to keep more articles like this coming by checking out some of my other articles.